Norfolk Virginia Bed and Breakfasts

	About Norfolk, Virginia.....
	Freemason Inn Bed and Breakfast Step back in time...Cobblestone streets, quiet neighborhoods, tree lined walks, and breathtaking sunsets just a block away
	Page House Inn Offers elegant B&B lodging in a restored downtown Ghent Historic District mansion, convenient to Chrysler Museum of Art, MacArthur Memorial, Waterside Festival Marketplace & Nauticus.
	The Walker's Bed and Breakfast An antiques lover's paradise on the banks of the Lafayette River, this exquisite gem (c. 1922) is filled with the genteel Southern charm and grace of a bygone era.

About Norfolk, Virginia (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. It is an independent city, and therefore not included in any county. Norfolk is one of Virginia's largest cities; as of the 2000 census, the city population was 234,403. The 2004 census estimate indicates that the city's population has since risen to 237,835.

Norfolk is located on the Elizabeth River, in Hampton Roads, a large natural harbor. It is a part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA. Norfolk is considered to be the urban and cultural center of Hampton Roads, surrounded by the suburban independent Virginia municipalities of Virginia Beach, Hampton, Portsmouth and Chesapeake.

The city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. Norfolk is home to both the Norfolk Naval Base, the world's largest naval base, and the Norfolk Southern Railway, one of North America's principal Class I railroads. It has many miles of riverfront and bayfront property, and is linked with its neighbors through an extensive network of Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnel complexes.

Since the 1970s, the downtown area and waterfront has undergone substantial revitalization. It is home to the Norfolk Tides, the International League affiliate of the New York Mets, and the Norfolk Admirals, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The site of what is now Norfolk was originally the Chesipean Indian town Skicoak. (The Chesipeans had been destroyed by Powhatan by the time of the arrival of the first English settlers, who, in 1585, settled on Roanoke Island in modern-day North Carolina. In 1591, the colony of Roanoke disappeared without a trace.) The city was laid out in 1682 and incorporated in 1845. It became an independent city from Norfolk County in 1871.

On New Year's Day, 1776, the royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, shelled the city of Norfolk. (A cannonball from Dunmore's siege may be viewed today in the wall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.) Dunmore's forces had been defeated at the Battle of Great Bridge, and he was seeking to take control of the rebellious colony. The damage from the shells and fire destroyed 800 buildings, almost two-thirds of the city. Colonists, essentially completing the destruction of the city, later destroyed another 400 buildings as part of a scorched earth policy.

In 1855, the city suffered an epidemic of yellow fever which killed 1 of every 3 citizens. In 1858, the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad built by William Mahone was completed to Petersburg, where major connections were made with railroads to points north, west, and south. During the US Civil War, in 1862, the Battle of Hampton Roads between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimac was fought off Norfolk. Early in the war, Mahone commanded the city's defenses during the period of Confederate occupation which ended in May, 1862.

In the late 19th century, the Norfolk and Western Railway established the community as a major coal export port and built a large transloading facility at Lambert's Point.

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