Norfolk

About this book

Norfolk's splendid harbor made it an early refuge for mariners against the threat of Atlantic pirates and storms, and later gave it natural advantages as a seaport. Incorporated as a town in 1680, Norfolk has survived epidemics, hurricanes, total destruction in the Revolutionary War, and occupation in the Civil War to become Virginia's largest city, a bulk exporter and coaling station and the world's foremost naval base. Thomas C. Parramore and his research assistants include the lives and contributions of hundreds of the city's little-known citizens, including African Americans and other minorities, as well as its celebrated sons and daughters.