1965 Map of Princess Anne

About this map

Oceana Naval Air Station dominates the central and eastern portions of this mid-1960s landscape, serving as a massive anchor for the rapid suburbanization of Virginia Beach. Purple-tinted revisions from the early 1980s illustrate a period of intense growth, where once-open tracts between Princess Anne Plaza and Thalia Village became densely residential neighborhoods like Birchwood Gardens and Pecan Gardens. This transition is particularly evident near the Virginia Beach city center, where municipal expansion is marked by the Virginia Beach City Hall and the sprawling Tidewater Community College. Away from the emerging urban core, the map preserves older rural identities at Murdens Corner and Dam Neck Corner. The tidal reaches of the Eastern Branch Lynnhaven River and Linkhorn Bay contrast with the straightening lines of the Norfolk Southern railroad, showing the persistent influence of coastal geography on local infrastructure.