West Point, Virginia

West Point is located at 37°32′37″N 76°48′19″W / 37.54361°N 76.80528°W / 37.54361; -76.80528 (37.543733, −76.805366).[3] The York River is formed at West Point by the confluence of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey rivers; from there, it separates the Virginia Peninsula and Middle Peninsula regions of eastern Virginia as it flows approximately 40 miles to the Chesapeake Bay.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.7 square miles (17.2 km²), of which, 5.2 square miles (13.3 km²) of it is land and 1.5 square miles (4.0 km²) of it (23.12%) is water.

The current site of West Point was once the site of Cinquoteck, a Native American village of the local Mattaponi, an Algonquian-speaking tribe affiliated with the Powhatan Confederacy. During the first half of the 17th century, the Confederacy and the English colonists who established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown in 1607 were frequently in conflict. By mid-century, the Natives had been largely overcome, including the area of Cinquoteck, by the ever-expanding Colony of Virginia.

Weyers Cave, Virginia

Weyers Cave (/ˈwɪərz/ WEERZ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,473 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Weyers Cave is the site of the first chapter (1927) of the Future Farmers of Virginia, later to become the National FFA Organization. It is also the site of Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport and the main campus of Blue Ridge Community College.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 1,225 people, 462 households, and 354 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 185.1 people per square mile (71.4/km²). There were 490 housing units at an average density of 74.1/sq mi (28.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.73% White, 0.90% African American, 0.08% Asian, 0.98% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.

White Stone, Virginia

White Stone is a town in Lancaster County, Virginia, United States. The population was 352 at the 2010 census. The name "White Stone" refers to the accumulations of white stones in the area's waterways. The stones were dumped there in the colonial era by British ships that dumped their stone ballast to make room for cargo like tobacco to carry back to England.

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 358 people, 163 households, and 101 families residing in the town. The population density was 362.1 people per square mile (139.6/km²). There were 187 housing units at an average density of 189.2 per square mile (72.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 86.31% White, 10.34% African American, 2.23% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population.

There were 163 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.73.

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg was founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation, a fortified settlement on high ground between the James and York rivers. The city served as the capital of the Colony and Commonwealth of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events in Virginia leading to the American Revolution. The College of William & Mary, established in 1693, is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the only one of the nine colonial colleges located in the South; its alumni include three U.S. presidents as well as many other important figures in the nation's early history.

The city's tourism-based economy is driven by Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city. Along with nearby Jamestown and Yorktown, Williamsburg forms part of the Historic Triangle, which attracts more than four million tourists each year.[6] Modern Williamsburg is also a college town, inhabited in large part by William & Mary students and staff.

Prior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area which became Williamsburg was within the territory of the Powhatan Confederacy. By the 1630s, English settlements had grown to dominate the lower (eastern) portion of the Virginia Peninsula, and the Powhatan tribes had abandoned their nearby villages. Between 1630 and 1633, after the war that followed the Indian Massacre of 1622, the English colonists constructed a defensive palisade across the peninsula and a settlement named Middle Plantation as a primary guard station along the palisade.[7]

Williamsville, Virginia

Wallops Island

Wallops Island is a six-square-mile (16 km2) island in Accomack County, Virginia, part of the Virginia Barrier Islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States of America. The island is just south of Chincoteague Island, a popular tourist destination.

Wallops Island proper, originally known as Kegotank Island, was granted to John Wallop by the Crown on April 29, 1692. Ownership was divided down through the years, until the Commonwealth of Virginia seized the property in 1876 and 1877 in lieu of unpaid taxes. From 1877, ownership was again divided and sub-divided until 1889, when it was held by various trustees for the Wallops Island Club. The Club was incorporated and assumed ownership in 1933 as the Wallops Island Association, Inc. Association members and their families spent the summers fishing and swimming on the island. The Association grazed sheep, cattle, and ponies on the area until the mid-1940s. In 1947, the U.S. Navy began using the upper two-thirds of the island on a lease-rental basis for aviation ordnance testing. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (N.A.C.A.), forerunner of NASA, leased the lower 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) for rocket launching facilities.[1]

The island is primarily used for NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, including the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, although the name also refers to the peninsula area surrounding the island for the purpose of mailing addresses. The Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge is located on the island.

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,203.[4] As of 2015, its population is an estimated 27,284.[5] It is the county seat of Frederick County,[6] although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester with surrounding Frederick County for statistical purposes.

Winchester is the principal city of the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. Winchester is home to Shenandoah University and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

Indigenous peoples lived along the waterways of present-day Virginia for thousands of years before European contact. Archeological, linguistic and anthropological studies have provided insights into their cultures. Though little is known of specific tribal movements before European contact, the Shenandoah Valley area, considered a sacred common hunting ground, appears by the 17th century to have been controlled mostly by the local Iroquoian-speaking groups, including the Senedo and Sherando.

Warm Springs, Virginia

Warm Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bath County, Virginia, United States.[1] The population as of the 2010 Census was 123.[2] It lies along U.S. Route 220 near the center of the county. Warm Springs includes the historical mill town called Germantown.

The community grew up around the courthouse and the nearby Jefferson Pools. The Bath County Health Department, Sheriff's Department, and other county offices are located adjacent to the courthouse. The Warm Springs Post Office handles mail for the 24484 zip code. Other notable landmarks in Warm Springs are the Bath County Historical Society and the Waterwheel Restaurant, which is located inside of a converted mill. Warm Springs Gallery, located just downhill from the courthouse, specializes in contemporary fine art. Apart from these landmarks, Warm Springs is primarily residential in character, with many renovated inns and historic homes which serve as accommodation for out-of-town visitors. Cowpasture River draws visitors for fishing and kayaking.

Susan Loy

Susan Loy (born 1951) is an American artist, calligrapher, and author best known for her "Literary Calligraphy" watercolor paintings of the Language of Flowers and the White House Easter Egg Roll. These paintings combine hand-lettered classic quotations from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Biblical sources, etc. with finely-rendered illustration done with steel pens and brushes.

Loy was a 1969 graduate of Midpark High School in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. She graduated in American Studies from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Loy’s graduate studies included art history,[1] literature, and geography at Ohio State University.[2]

Loy took a calligraphy course in Columbus in 1978 and was captivated; she later explained that the pen was like a magic wand when she picked it up.[4] She felt that her research background in cognitive geography and art history brought her into the art world “through the back door,” rather than gaining entrance through studio classes as is typical for most artists.[5]

Warrenton, Virginia

Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census,[4] up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2015 was 9,897.[5] Warrenton is the county seat of Fauquier County.[6] It is at the junction of U.S. Route 15, U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 29, and U.S. Route 211. The town is in the Piedmont region of Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The well-known Airlie Conference Center is 3 miles (5 km) north of Warrenton, and the historic Vint Hill Farms military facility is 9 miles (14 km) east. Fauquier Hospital is located in the town. Surrounded by Virginia wine and horse country, Warrenton is a popular destination outside Washington, D.C.

Like many incorporated towns in Virginia, the town of Warrenton has government and taxation separate from the county. The town and the county do share some services, such as schools and the county landfill.[7]

The settlement which would grow into the town of Warrenton began as a crossroads at the junction of the Falmouth-Winchester and Alexandria-Culpeper roads,[8] where a trading post called the Red Store was located. In the 1790s, a courthouse was built in the area, and the location was known as "Fauquier Courthouse".[9]