“HAMPTON ROADS” is a condensed version of the original name given by the region’s settlers to the harbor in southeastern
Virginia known then as: Southampton’s Roadstead.
The term “Hampton” dates from the early 17th century when the first royal governor, Lord de
la Ware, named the area in honor of the third Earl of Southampton,
Henry Wriothesley, a major investor of the
Virginia Company of London, the financial backers of the Jamestown settlers. And, “Roadstead” is an old English word for a protected harbor.
Some things never change: just as sports stadiums, libraries, and
college buildings today are named for major sponsors and donors, so it was then.
“HAMPTON ROADS” also refers to the body of water between the Virginia Peninsula (to the North) and Southside, the southern part of southeastern Virginia. It is formed by the confluence of the James, Nansemond and
Elizabeth rivers and flows into the Chesapeake Bay whose watershed covers 64,000
square miles and all or part of six states (NY, PA, WV, MD, DE and VA) and DC.
“HAMPTON ROADS” is one of the world’s biggest and deepest natural harbors, the largest in North
America, and is home to the world’s largest naval base at Norfolk. “HAMPTON ROADS” has been well known within nautical and maritime communities for centuries.
“HAMPTON ROADS” was widely adopted as the name for the surrounding region in 1984 when two planning districts and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) merged, placing the region in the nation’s
top 50.
