Virginia Trivia & Tidbits - Page 16

Looking for Virginia trivia? Try our list Virginia little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Opened in 1964, the graceful Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is 18 miles long. It features two bridges, two mile-long tunnels, and extends over the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to connect the cities of Cape Charles and Norfolk.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

Natural Tunnel in Scott County (pop. 23,000), sometimes called the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” began forming more than a million years ago when groundwater containing carbonic acid dissolved surrounding limestone.

first appeared: 6/3/2001

Chippokes Plantation State Park, located along the James River in Surry County (pop. 6,300), is one of the nation’s oldest working farms, founded in the mid-1600s.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Berkeley Plantation in Charles City (pop. 7,000) has an extraordinary history: It was the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison; it is the ancestral home of President Benjamin Harrison; it served as a Civil War headquarters where President Abraham Lincoln conferred with Gen. George B. McClellan; and Taps was composed there by Gen. Daniel Butterfield.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

Belle Air Plantation, in Charles City (pop. 7,000), is one of America’s oldest frame dwellings (circa 1670). The plantation is on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

St. John’s Church, the oldest church in Richmond, built in 1741, was the site of Founding Father Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death,” speech in 1775.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Old St. Luke’s church in Smithfield (pop. 4,686) is the nation’s only surviving original Gothic building, an architectural style related to the great Gothic cathedrals of England. The church was founded in 1632.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

Virginia Military Institute, founded in 1839, is the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. It’s located in Lexington (pop. 7,164).

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Every New Year’s Eve in historic Fincastle, the courthouse bell in Botetourt County rings first, followed by the bells of four town churches. The courthouse bell then rings 12 times, marking midnight, Taps is played, a shotgun is fired, and all bells ring together for 10 minutes.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

Thomas Jefferson, in 1785, was asked to come up with an idea for Virginia’s capitol building uniting “economy with elegance and utility.” Jefferson admired a first-century Roman temple in France and chose it as the model for Virginia’s capitol. It was the first public neo-classical building in the New World.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

Nurse Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, performed her first field duty in Culpeper (pop. 8,581) at the Civil War Battle of Cedar Mountain in 1862.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Charles City (pop. 7,000), was the home of President John Tyler from 1842 until his death in 1862. The longest frame house in America, it was expanded to its present length of 300 feet in 1845, when Tyler added a 68-foot ballroom.

first appeared: 3/18/2001

For nearly 20 years, Arlington was home to Charles Richard Drew, a noted African-American pioneering physician who discovered the means to preserve blood plasma.

first appeared: 3/11/2001

Edith Bolling Wilson, first lady to 28th President Woodrow Wilson, was born in Wytheville (pop. 8,038). She has been called “the first female American President” because after her husband had a stroke, she took over routine details and duties of government.

first appeared: 3/4/2001

Rockingham County is the self-proclaimed “turkey capital” of Virginia. It tops the state in poultry production and ranks second in the country in the same category.

first appeared: 2/25/2001

Ephraim McDowell, born in Rockbridge County (pop. 19,100) in 1771, was known as the “Father of Abdominal Surgery.” He performed the first successful removal of an ovarian tumor in the United States on Christmas morning in 1809.

first appeared: 2/18/2001

Governors of Virginia serve a single four-year term. The state constitution allows a governor to be re-elected only after a break in service.

first appeared: 2/11/2001

Chase City (pop. 2,442) was incorporated in 1873 and named for Salmon P. Chase, who became the U.S Supreme Court Chief Justice in 1864 after serving as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury.

first appeared: 2/4/2001

—Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry County, Va., (pop. 6,300) is one of the oldest working farms in the United States, retaining its original 1,683 acres since 1619. It is named for a Native American chief who befriended English settlers.

first appeared: 1/28/2001

Emporia (pop. 5,700) pigs out every second Wednesday in June, when 15,000 people eat 20 tons of pork served in 30 different ways at the Virginia Pork Festival.

first appeared: 1/21/2001

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.