Hampton, Virginia

Hampton is an <a href="/facts/Independent_city_(United_States)/ymWnITpl">independent city</a> in the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Virginia/WSyGxzaH">Commonwealth of Virginia</a> in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_census/dTEm5TRr">2020 census</a>, making it the <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_in_Virginia/sGp3e0Vg">seventh-most populous city in Virginia</a>. Hampton is included in the <a href="/facts/Hampton_Roads/bEl4cN5H">Hampton Roads</a> metropolitan area, the <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_statistical_areas_by_population/Y2yX0KJg">37th-largest</a> in the United States, with a total population of 1,799,674 in 2020. This area, known as "America's First Region", also includes the independent cities of <a href="/facts/Chesapeake%2c_Virginia/4XfqbPLA">Chesapeake</a>, <a href="/facts/Virginia_Beach%2c_Virginia/bdkeDxXt">Virginia Beach</a>, <a href="/facts/Newport_News%2c_Virginia/ypBkAoov">Newport News</a>, <a href="/facts/Norfolk%2c_Virginia/PPAclcuM">Norfolk</a>, <a href="/facts/Portsmouth%2c_Virginia/r3wyfp23">Portsmouth</a>, and <a href="/facts/Suffolk%2c_Virginia/p5eRC77C">Suffolk</a>, as well as other smaller cities, counties, and towns of Hampton Roads.
Hampton traces its history to the city's <a href="/facts/Old_Point_Comfort/g7JAaNHj">Old Point Comfort</a>, the home of <a href="/facts/Fort_Monroe/ArMKQ8Ke">Fort Monroe</a>, which was named by the 1607 voyagers, led by Captain <a href="/facts/Christopher_Newport/fKdjaj2W">Christopher Newport</a>, who first established <a href="/facts/Jamestown%2c_Virginia/dxxU8eMJ">Jamestown</a> as an <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_England/1VqdIuFc">English</a> colonial settlement. Since consolidation by a mutual agreement in 1952, Hampton has included the former <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_City_County%2c_Virginia/pKs9nsaE">Elizabeth City County</a> and the <a href="/facts/Incorporated_town/TK1w6Yrv">incorporated town</a> of <a href="/facts/Phoebus%2c_Virginia/Ym9NocNI">Phoebus</a>..
After the end of the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a>, historic <a href="/facts/Hampton_University/c3FxWywQ">Hampton University</a> was established opposite from the historic town on the <a href="/facts/Hampton_River/v45SvDBJ">Hampton River</a>, providing an education for many newly freed former slaves and for area Native Americans. In the 20th century, the area became the location of <a href="/facts/Langley_Air_Force_Base/l2tVX8mY">Langley Air Force Base</a>, <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> <a href="/facts/Langley_Research_Center/UrNAPV7g">Langley Research Center</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Virginia_Air_and_Space_Center/Jf8XyV2o">Virginia Air and Space Center</a>. Hampton features many miles of waterfront and beaches.
The city features a wide array of business and industrial enterprises, retail and residential areas, historical sites, and other points of interest, such as a <a href="/facts/Langley_Speedway_(Virginia)/wa8bk4Td">NASCAR short track</a>, <a href="/facts/St._John%2527s_Episcopal_Church_(Hampton%2c_Virginia)/n3odUaKm">the oldest Anglican parish in the Americas (1610)</a>, and a <a href="/facts/Fort_Monroe/ArMKQ8Ke">moated, six-sided, historical bastion fort</a>.

Hampton, Virginia open-in-new

Hampton, Virginia