OpenHistoricalMap/Projects/Hampton Roads
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Hampton Roads is the body of water in Southeastern Virginia where the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth Rivers meet. It is also commonly used to describe the metropolitan area that is comprised of, at a minimum, the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. Some organizations, such as the US Census Bureau, include more jurisdictions in their definitions of the region.
Resources
- EarthExplorer is provided by the United States Geological Survey, and for the purposes of the Hampton Roads Region, provides online access to digital scans of aerial imagery generally from the mid 20th century onwards. However, downloading files requires the creation of an account, and most of the imagery provided is not georeferenced.
- Virginia Geographic Information Network, Virginia Base Mapping Project has collected aerial photography of the state of Virginia from 2002 to the present. While the iD editor includes the most recent imagery, it is also possible to use the older imagery via a proxy. The ArcGIS MapServers for 2002 - 2025 can be found here.
- The National Archives - The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) contains a plethora of imagery, both drawn surveys and aerial imagery, produced for or by various federal agencies. Unfortunately, most of these do not seem to be readily available online. Special List 25 serves as an index for the aerial imagery (not surveys or satellite imagery) that is available, and is downloadable as an excel spreadsheet.
- The following table lists some of the relevant entries and years present on special list 25. This list is not comprehensive, see the official list for further information.
Locality Years Available Chesapeake 1954, 1958 Hampton 1953 Hampton Roads 1957 Isle of Wight 1938, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1966 Nansemond (Now Suffolk) 1937, 1948, 1953-54, 1958 Newport News 1952-53 Norfolk (May include both city and county) 1938, 1949, 1952-54, 1957 Portsmouth 1954 Princess Anne (Now VA Beach) 1937-38, 1953-54 Virginia Beach 1954, 1958
- The Library of Virginia likewise holds surveys and maps of the region.
- As does the Library of Congress