The history of Virginia Beach goes back to the Native Americans live in the area for thousands of years before the English colonists established their first permanent settlement in 1607. The Colonial Virginia period extended until 1776 and the American Revolution, and the area has been part of the Commonwealth of Virginia ever since.
The growing resort of Virginia Beach was incorporated as a town in 1906. B.P. Holland was chosen to be the Town's first mayor. He had been a clerk of the original Princess Anne Hotel many years earlier, and had witnessed the wreck of the Dictator. During the next 45 years, Virginia Beach continue to grow in popularity as a seasonal vacation spot, and casinos gave way to amusement parks and family-oriented attractions.
Virginia Beach became a tiny independent city politically independent from Princess Anne County in 1952, although the numerous ties between Virginia Beach and Princess Anne remained. The change was seen as part of a larger reorganization of the boundaries and structures of almost all of the counties, cities and towns in southeastern Virginia which took place between 1952 and 1976.
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