If you were to attempt to find Princess Anne County on a map today, it would be impossible. That is because the county no longer exists. Long ago, from 1691 until 1963, it did exist. In the early days of the colonies, is was located in the British-run Colony of Virginia and later in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The colony was named after Princess Anne, who was the air to the British Throne. She later became Queen Anne.
Over the years, the land of the county dwindled and was annexed. They eventually merged with the small city of Virginia Beach, which stopped Norfolk from taking more of the area. Though it no longer technically exists, the location of the old county is where Virginia Beach is today. You can still see quite an influence on the area when you consider the Princess Anne name. Many places around Virginia Beach still bear the name, and some people still call the area Princess Anne County, although this is starting to fall out of fashion. Here are a few of the more prominent places around the area that have the name.
The Princess Anne Road happens to be the only way that you can reach the area of Knotts Island by land. You have to go through Virginia Beach, and Princess Anne is the only road that reaches it. Of course, there are far more than just roads that have this name.
There is a high school in Virginia Beach called Princess Anne. A popular country club bears the name as well. The Grace Covenant Church of Princess Anne and the Princess Anne Park are popular spots as well. In addition, a new hospital should be completed in 2011 called Sentara Princess Anne.
As you can see, there are a number of places around the area, which are helping to keep this name alive and strong in the community. While it probably won’t change the way that you think about Virginia Beach, it is interesting to delve into the history of the area and see how something as large as a county could dwindle and be swallowed by an emerging city. The next time you are in Virginia Beach, look around and see how many places and things you can see that still mention Princess Anne in addition to the ones noted earlier. You might be surprised to see just how many there actually are!
