Hallowed
Heritage:

T H E  L IFE  O F  V I R G I N I A

by

DOROTHY M. TORPEY

Head of Social Studies Department
FRANCIS C. HAMMOND HIGH SCHOOL
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

1961
WHITTET & SHEPPERSON, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Copyright 1961 by Dorothy M. Torpey
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 60-53266
Printed by Whittet & Shepperson, Richmond, Virginia

TO
MY MOTHER AND BILL
whose encouragement and understanding
were inspirational

INTRODUCTION

From the founding of the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown to the present-day launching of the country's largest ships at Hampton Roads, the name "Virginia" suggests a geographical area which has formed the background for innumerable local, state, national and international events. An understanding of "The Life of Virginia"—geographical, historical, economic, cultural and political phases of living—should result in a better appreciation of the unique role played by Virginia in the development and progress of the United States of America.

—D. M. T.

CONTENTS

HALLOWED HERITAGE

1
Geographical Life

Location and Topographical Regions

The Commonwealth of Virginia is located in the eastern part of the United States, approximately midway between the North and the South, and it is classified geographically as a South Atlantic State. The shape of the state suggests an irregular triangle: the base of the triangle, the southern boundary of the state which divides it from North Carolina and Tennessee; the left side or western side, dominated by the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian and the Allegheny Mountains; and the right side or eastern side, the Coastal Plain.

Virginia is bounded on the north by West Virginia, Maryland and the Potomac River which forms the boundary between Virginia and Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia; on the east by the Potomac River, Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay, and the