Chesapeake, VA Real Estate For Sale

Located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the City of Chesapeake, VA is a relative newcomer, having been created in 1963 by the consolidation of a city and a county. However, Chesapeake’s history stretches far back into the roots of Virginia’s colonial past, with the area settled by English colonists in the 1690s. Even George Washington has a close tie with Chesapeake, surveying the site of the Dismal Swamp Canal, sometimes known as “Washington’s Ditch.” The canal is still in use today, some 230 years later, and is the oldest, continuously used man-made waterway in the United States.

But ‘ol George would not even recognize Chesapeake today, a burgeoning city situated along the teeming waterways of Hampton Roads at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It is an integral part of the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News-Hampton metropolitan area, considered as one of the top eight U.S. cities for international business and ranked as one of the best places to live in America.

With more than 215,000 residents, Chesapeake is the third largest city in Virginia and has more than 350 square miles of area, encompassing many historically significant communities. And yet, much of Chesapeake remains virgin forest, wetlands and contains a large section of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which lies south of the city.

Adjacent to the world’s largest naval base at Norfolk, Chesapeake is rapidly becoming known for its economy and business, ranking in the top 25 American cities for percentage of job growth. It is one of the top 10 U.S. cities for women and has one of the lowest crime rates in the country for a city of its size.

In addition to the giant naval base at Norfolk, along the South Elizabeth River, the Intracoastal Waterway, the nation’s longest navigable water route, stretching from Maine to Florida, passes through Chesapeake.

Within an hour’s drive is Colonial Williamsburg, a restored community of pre-revolutionary houses and buildings, populated by re-enacters who dress, work and live in the culture of that by-gone era. Busch Gardens, a more modern tourist destination, is just a short drive from Chesapeake. Nearby Virginia Beach provides miles of white sand beaches and a vibrant tourism industry. And there are numerous golf, boating and vacation destinations close by.

Chesapeake is within hailing distance of historically significant Jamestown and nearby Yorktown, site of one of the fiercest battles in the Revolutionary War. A city with 67 parks, it is home to The Chrysler Museum, the Nauticus National Maritime Museum and the Virginia Symphony among other fine arts and cultural facilities.

The City of Chesapeake was formed by the consolidation of the former city of South Norfolk and Norfolk County, and derives its name from the Chesapeake Indians, an extinct tribe that populated the area before colonization.

Although it was once just a suburban bedroom community to Norfolk and Virginia Beach, today Chesapeake is rising from the Tidewater flats of the Eastern Shore to become a powerhouse of commerce and a superb city in which to live and work.