The comedian Lewis Black has, at least twice on visits here, poked fun at our region's official name: Hampton Roads.
A 2006 conversation with a fellow staff writer went like this:
"I think it's funny that you call yourselves Hampton - whatever it is. The first time someone said, 'Oh, you're going to Hampton Roads,' I said, 'Oh, where is that?' They said, 'It's Virginia,' and I said, 'No, it's Virginia Beach or Hampton. Come on! Where is it?' "
Black had similar thoughts, laced with profanities, during an earlier stand-up routine at a Virginia Beach nightclub. Funnyman Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "I don't get no respect." So, too, Hampton Roads.
Outside the region, "Hampton Roads" has been trying to catch on since the 1980s, when business and government officials convinced the U.S. Postal Service to change the region's postmark from Tidewater to Hampton Roads. Then Chamber of Commerce President Frederick J. Napolitano said the name "Tidewater" made him cringe.
The name is still struggling to catch on. Even The Weather Channel doesn't routinely call us that.
"They usually say Norfolk or the Tidewater of Virginia," Weather Channel spokeswoman Melissa Medori said of the channel's weather forecasters.
Which to some is odd, given that the history of the name dates to the 17th century. Even New York City's moniker, "The Big Apple," is only about 90 years old.
Most sources say the name Hampton Roads originated with the Third Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, a wealthy English nobleman from the southern port city of Southampton, England. (And a close friend of William Shakespeare.)
The earl took an interest in the new English settlement on what is now the Peninsula. The city of Hampton was officially named in 1610. Roads comes from the centuries-old nautical terms "road" and "roadstead," meaning a stretch of deep water safe for passage. But when those two words were put together the first time is a bit of a mystery.
"Hampton Roads," the channel linking the James, Elizabeth, and Nansemond rivers with the Chesapeake Bay, is identified in an act of the General Assembly in 1755. The oldest Virginia map listing the Hampton Roads channel is dated 1807, according to both the Norfolk Public Library and the Virginia Historical Society.
A neighborhood in Hampton is called Hampton Roads. It was built after World War I and borders Hampton Roads, the waterway.
As for the name spreading to the region, that's been a more contentious issue.
A movement launched in the 1950s to turn the lower Peninsula into the city of Hampton Roads died a quick death in the General Assembly, according to Virginian-Pilot archives.
More recently, a push to name the region Hampton Roads emerged from the business community in the 1980s. It began with the change in the region's postmark in 1983.
From there it spread. Or tried to.
On a recent flight from New York, the captain cruised over Hampton Roads, the waterway, touched down at Norfolk International Airport (not Hampton Roads International Airport), and announced, "Welcome to Norfolk, Virginia Beach and the greater Tidewater area."
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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Why dumb it down?
Why not just take the opportunity if asked where you're from to tell someone where you're from and a little about where you call home? If you're from Hampton, tell them you're from Hampton. If they don't know where that is, tell them it's across the water from Norfolk on the east coast of Virginia. This region, including all of it's cities have a rich heritage, and often heroic tales that bear telling.
"Hampton Roads" is kinda cool in the sense that it's actually the body of water that we all share in common. Norfolk NAS is literally bordered by Hampton Roads, and for returning sailors, it's in many cases the first sign of home.
"Tidewater" as nice as it sounds is too vague as a descriptor. Literally hundreds of towns and cities make up Tidewater.
Hampton Roads
When I moved to Va.Beach 15 yrs. ago I remember hearing Jon Cash, WAVY TV's weatherman, greet viewers with a big, cheerful, "Good Morning, Hampton Roads." It was the first time I had heard that term and called the station for a definition. He later explained it on air. Fine, young man, that Cash. Anyway, it seems that Norfolk is the national/international choice probably because of the airport's location. Also, if you look closely, most news channels, when showing National weather, list Norfolk and sometimes Norfolk/Va.Beach...but never, ever, Hampton Roads on their screens. I have actually had people ask me, when I tell them I live in Va. Beach, if it's in Virginia?!? Oh well.
Two names better than one
I'm a die hard Norfolk fan but as much as I believe we should get rid of Hampton Roads and call this place the "Greater Norfolk Area", I think its more marketable buisness wise to call ourselves "Norfolk-Virginia Beach" just like Minneapolis-St.Paul, Tampa-St.Pete, Dallas-Ft.Worth etc. Plus, the name "Norfolk-Virginia Beach" says it all, we've got the world's largest Naval Base and the best beaches in Virginia.
Too many names
This article was cool. It corrected some of my knowledge on the name 'Hampton Roads'. I agree with posters here about simplifying the area further; however, I would like to take it a step further. There are too many municipalities in this corner of the state. Too many hands in the pot, too many chiefs and not enough indians, too much greed, etc. Portsmouth and Norfolk and Suffolk should have merged those few years ago when the proposal was put forward. Until there is a centralized committee or some overseeing governmental body (if there are no mergers), total merger, or SOMETHING; we will never be able to truly stand as one in the face of the rest of the nation. Other factors aside, it's no wonder that this area cannot support a sports team. It's a challenge WORTH the undertaking.
We will never make real progress as a region...
...until we, as citizens, force our local and state representatives to quit wasting more time (20+ years and counting), get over parochial hangups and market the region as Greater Norfolk. As a citizen of Newport News (and formerly Hampton and Virginia Beach), I think this is the best (and obvious) thing to do. We can call ourselves anything we want to locally (think "Metroplex" for Dallas/Ft. Worth or "Chicagoland" for , well Chicago). You never hear the pilot of an airliner say "our flying time to the Metroplex will be exactly 3 hours" as you take off from ORF.
The residents are from Tidewater - the Chamber is from HR
There wasn't any referendum - the local business lobby - and Frank Batten's "Future Hampton Roads" lobby sought to destroy Tidewater and reinvent our region in their image. Well, the business lobby isn't our government and their lunacy has lead to decades of failed branding. As so many pointed out, sure, back in the 1600s someone might have known a "roads" was a harbor, but get real; this is a lame attempt by the business lobby to claim some "history" as if we are somehow "one region", which, the truth be told, we are not. But the "regionalists' will never stop because they have convinced themselves that they should lead and who cares what the citizens think, or want? Of course the small pond of self-anointed business "leaders" that claim "control" in Tidewater really aren't doing a very good job are they? The media is part of this same group, so here we are ... stuck with a lousy name no one outside of the "locals" understands - or can find on a map. A nautical chart, sure, but not a map.
Where are you from?
I always answer Virginia Beach. At least they will know what stae youre in.
Hampton Roads?
When people ask where I'm from, I say Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Those unfamiliar with Norfolk, usually know where Virginia Beach is and vice-versa. But Mr. Fab's right. With the politics of this area, the only way that idea will sell with the various city councils would be if it was called Chesapeake/Norfolk/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach/Suffolk/Newport News/Hampton area and then they'd argue about the order.
If only the cities like Chesapeake & Portsmouth could be satisfied helping Norfolk & Virginia Beach draw more people to the whole area, then they could all benefit as those people would inevitably come through other cities, stay in hotels in other cities, eat in restaurants in other cities, and once here, see what the whole area has to offer.
Hampton Roads is a Harbor, Not a Region
Virginia is made up of three Regions. Appalachia, Piedmont, and Tidewater. "Magnum, P.I." once described his home as "Tidewater" during one episode. The Lees of Virginia and the Washingtons of the Potomac are from Tidewater. Who cares what Napolitano or any other homogenous totalitarian-esque culture-bleacher thinks. Our beloved Virginia is made up of counties, towns, and cities. Forget Hampton Roads, forget "Forward Hampton Roads", or any other unintelligent, unread, and uneducated attempt at "equality" that attempts to destroy our fine history that began right HERE, Tidewater, and its specific counties, towns, and cities. It is called Tidewater because virtually ALL of its creeks, rivers, and bays are tidal. They rise and fall by the moon's gravitational pull. Now you know, Tidewater.
Hampton Roads
I have, literally, traveled the world for over 40 years. Many places I have been asked where I was from. The times I said "Hampton Roads" most had never heard of that name and had no idea where it was. When I said Virginia Beach, a few knew of this name. When I said "Norfolk" everyone knew of Norfolk and the Virginia location. I live in Virginia Beach but if you want this region to have instant world-wide recognition, you better refer to it, as the United States Navy Sailors do so, as "The Norfolk Area." It's a sad commentary but it's a sure thing. Hampton Roads sounds like a toll road going nowhere.
Why a name
If you google map "hampton roads" the arrow points in the water. What good is that? In 2002 the census bureau identified this area as greater virginia beach. Sounds good to me. There is a norfolk in connecticut, in nebraska, in virginia, in mass, and in england. But only one virginia beach in the world. Makes sense.
But since there are multiple cities here, each with their own egotistical politicians, this area will always struggle. So just stick with the city here you live. Someone wants to know where I live, it's virginia beach. Where do you work? In norfolk. Hampton roads is a waterway, not a location.
"Bay" is understood . . . .
"Roads" is not. "Roads" equals streets, highways, and traffic. Regional leaders will never succeed in having the average person outside our region know us as "Hampton Roads." When traveling, any attempt to tell someone that I am from “Hampton Roads” gets the "what planet are you from" look. The only solid identifier is Norfolk, Virginia Beach, or Norfolk/VB (tried Chesapeake once – they thought it was in MD). Our leaders, trying to be fair to all of the cities, are sending us further into oblivion. Someone needs to 'bite the bullet,' and mount an effort to call the region Norfolk/Virginia Beach (VB - let Norfolk have the first place – it’s the historic core). We would advance farther as a region with an already well known identifier than if we continued 20 more years with a name that brings to the mind of the average person outside our region crowded highways in a place called Hampton.
I like "Tidewater" better
I like "Tidewater" better than "Hampton Roads."
If I'm describing the area to somebody, though, I usually just say "Norfolk/Virginia Beach."
Time for Cooperation
Personally, I like the name "Hampton Roads". If the cities of Hampton Roads were to launch a joint, cooperative effort to market the area recognition of the name, "Hampton Roads" would follow. It's a widely known fact that what this area is sorely lacking is the cooperation seen in many other comparable metropolitan areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth, etc. If Norfolk, Va. Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and even the cities on the peninsula, were to work together, pooling funds and human resources to market the area, the results would be rapid recognition of not only the "Hampton Roads" name, but also all that our area has to offer.
Just my two cents worth.
agreed Mr. Fab
I grew up military and have lived all over the world and have lived in other metro areas including Miami, DC, NYC. I ended up in this great region b/c of the military. Hampton Roads never made any sense to me. However, I do like...7 cities. Now that would stick out and take into account all the other jurisdictions. Everyone has heard of Quad cities, and thats in Iowa and Illinois! You have 4?? We have 7!! Make it happen.
Time to change
What is wrong with Norfolk/Virginia Beach? It works for Dallas/Ft. Worth, Minneapolis/St.Paul, and Tampa/St. Petersburg. It is descriptive - infinitely moreso than Hampton Roads. Take a trip outside of Virginia and tell someone you're from Hampton Roads and watch the befuddled look you get.
Yes, yes - I know the other cities in the area aren't mentioned but so what? They aren't the cultural and population centers of the region anyway. Then again, when I tell people where I'm from (VB) they instantly know. So forget everything I've just said.
G'night, Greater Virginia Beach residents.
excellent article
we need more articles like this! Informative, Intelligent, and has value. Not simply a run down of the latest Jerry Springer court case, and 50 comments on how the courts don't work and the kids that spray painted a school should be hung and their parents arrested.
Thank you I learned alot. I still don't like the name though.... I remember when I lived in Miami and told friends Hampton Roads needs a pro sport team they would laugh endlessly at the name.