City of Chesapeake City Map Poster

About City of Chesapeake

The city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. The location of Chesapeake along the Elizabeth River (a primary tributary of the James River) made it an important center for shipping to Norfolk, Virginia, where cargo was loaded onto ships for export by sea. In addition, roads leading from the interior of Virginia and from North Carolina converged in Chesapeake forming one road into Virginia's Tidewater region; this became known as the Great Road. During American Revolutionary War era (1775–1783), British troops under General Cornwallis drove off colonial forces at Cape Henry on April 26-27 1781 in what is now called "the Battle of Hampton Roads".