Chesapeake Wedding

Chesapeake is an independent city located in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 199,184, but as of 2004, the population estimates given by the U.S. Census Bureau was 214,725.

The city was created in 1963, when the former independent city of South Norfolk was consolidated with Norfolk County and reincorporated (approval from the Virginia General Assembly) as the new City of Chesapeake. The new name was selected through a voter referendum. Although the city is relatively young, Norfolk County had been formed in 1691.

For more history of these predecessors, see articles on Norfolk County and South Norfolk

Chesapeake's history goes far back into Virginia's colonial roots. The Intracoastal Waterway passes through Chesapeake. On the waterway, at Great Bridge where the locks transition from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal lies the site of the Battle of Great Bridge. This American Revolutionary War battle was responsible for removing Lord Dunmore and any other vestige of English Government for the Colony of Virginia during the early days of the American Revolution on December 9, 1775.