Norfolk County, Virginia

Norfolk County is an extinct county in in eastern  in the. It existed for 270 years, from to. After the, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they became parts of the separate and growing of ,  and South Norfolk.

In 1963, the remaining portions of Norfolk County were consolidated with the much smaller to form the new, a name selected by voters. Although organized as a city, and one of the larger in Virginia, the City of Chesapeake has both busy suburban and industrial areas and mostly rural sections, including a large portion of the and large tracts of preserved forest land.

Shires to counties 1634-1691
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the in, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight s or with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. One of these was, which included an area on both sides of Hampton Roads. The northern portion became in, and is now incorporated into the independent city of.

In the southern portion of Elizabeth City Shire became  by order of King  of England. This area was divided again in into Upper and Lower Norfolk Counties.

1691 Norfolk County created: Adam Thoroughgood
In  was in turn divided to form Norfolk County and  (which became the independent city of  in 1963).

Captain (1604-1640) is credited with naming Norfolk County. Thoroughgood was a prominent resident of the colony. Like so many others at that time, he had been born in England and migrated to Virginia, and named the new county after his original "home" county back across the Atlantic Ocean.

After 1691, Norfolk County remained more or less intact for over 200 years. became the and a major area of commerce, along with. Smaller towns were formed at and. Portsmouth became an independent city in, but remained the of Norfolk County even though it was administratively separate from the county, a situation not uncommon in Virginia.

In 1871 and 1919 respectively, Norfolk and South Norfolk also became independent cities and as such, were no longer in Norfolk County. In the following years, the county lost additional territory. The of  as well as the areas of, , and  were lost to the City of Norfolk in multiple annexations. By 1960, the entire area of Norfolk County on the east side of the north of Virginia Beach Boulevard was gone. On other sides, West Norfolk (Churchland) was lost to Portsmouth, and even South Norfolk had annexed a portion of the county.

1963: Creating a new city, Chesapeake
In Virginia, cities are immune from annexation by each other, but the most recent attempt by the City of Norfolk to annex yet another portion of Norfolk County had threatened to completely surround the tiny. That failed annexation would have threatened South Norfolk's viability as an independent entity, still a future threat. Since Norfolk County residents also feared future annexation suits, in this odd battle of municipalities, Norfolk County and South Norfolk became allies.

A strategy successfully used about 10 years earlier by, the , and the offered a solution. In, after a referendum of South Norfolk and Norfolk County's voters and the approval of the , South Norfolk and almost all of Norfolk County were joined by consolidation and reorganized as the new. The new name was chosen by the voters.