Historic Sites & Landmarks: Attractions in Virginia Beach
Cape Henry Lighthouse (note: on an active base — check access rules), First Landing Cross, and the Adam Thoroughgood House — 400 years of coastal Virginia history.
Listings
All attractionsCape Henry Lighthouse
Completed in 1792, the Cape Henry Lighthouse was the first federally funded public works project in the United States — authorized under George Washington,…
Cape Henry Memorial & First Landing Cross
This quarter-acre National Park Service site — part of Colonial National Historical Park — marks where the Jamestown colonists first came ashore in April 1607…
Ferry Plantation House
Tucked into a residential cul-de-sac on the Lynnhaven River, Ferry Plantation House is an 1830 Federal-style brick farmhouse built from the salvaged bricks of…
- Hidden Gem
Francis Land House
Built around 1805 for Francis Land VI, a wealthy Princess Anne County landowner, this Georgian plantation home with Federal-style interiors is furnished to its…
- Free
- Family Friendly
Grace Sherwood Statue (Witch of Pungo)
On July 10, 1706, Grace Sherwood — a Princess Anne County planter's wife accused by her neighbors of witchcraft — was tied cross-bound and dropped into the…
- Free
Lynnhaven House
Built around 1725 by Francis Thelaball, a plantation owner and ship's carpenter, the Lynnhaven House is one of the best-preserved examples of early Virginia…
- Free
- Hidden Gem
Norwegian Lady Statue
The nine-foot bronze woman gazing out to sea at 25th Street has an identical twin 4,000 miles away in Moss, Norway — Virginia Beach's sister city. Both were…
- Free
The Canoes at Lesner Bridge
Ten full-size aluminum canoes, each stamped and punched with a lacy filigree pattern 'reminiscent of the decorative arts of the early settlers,' are joined at…
- Free
- Sunset Views
- Hidden Gem
Thoroughgood House
Likely built in 1719 by Argall Thorowgood II — who died during construction, leaving his wife Susannah to finish it — the Thoroughgood House is one of the…
- Free
- Family Friendly
- Quiet & Peaceful
Upper Wolfsnare
Built around 1759 by Thomas Walke III — whose son, Thomas Walke IV, later voted to ratify the U.S. Constitution at Virginia's 1788 Ratifying Convention — Upper…
- Hidden Gem
- Quiet & Peaceful
Whitehurst-Buffington House
Built in 1793 by the Whitehurst family — a year after the first Cape Henry Lighthouse went up — this saltbox farmhouse sits directly across from the old…
- Hidden Gem
- Quiet & Peaceful