The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) membership is comprised of 17 localities: ten cities, six counties, and one town. But did you know that there are 11 towns in total in Hampton Roads? The Town of Smithfield, an HRPDC member, is the largest, but there are 10 others located in Hampton Roads.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, towns exist as incorporated municipalities within their parent county. Town residents are also county residents, and towns and counties share responsibilities (e.g., a town may provide police/water while the county provides schools and courts). Towns generally operate under a town charter.
Independent cities, which are unique to Virginia, are separate from counties and no towns are found within them.
A Brief History
The towns in Hampton Roads exist in the counties of Isle of Wight, Southampton, and Surry. Today’s Isle of Wight County and Southampton County were part of the original shire of Warrosquyoake, and Surry County was part of the shire of James City, both founded in 1634. Isle of Wight became a county in 1637, Surry in 1652, and Southampton in 1749. The earliest settlements in these counties were along the James River and its tributaries, which eventually became Smithfield and Claremont. For more details on the history of the counties, see the Historic County Boundaries of Hampton Roads StoryMap.
Settlements in the interior of the counties gradually took form over the next century, driven by agriculture, industry, courthouse functions, and later in the 19th century, the railroads. Several railroad companies laid tracks through western Hampton Roads including the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad, Portsmouth & Roanoke Railroad, and the Atlantic & Danville Railroad. The town of Dendron was built explicitly for the Surry Lumber Company to house employees of its sawmill in 1896. There were as many as 3,000 people living there by 1927 before the mill shut down. Now, there are only around 300 residents.
Town | County | Community Origins | Settlement (approx.) | Incorporated |
Boykins | Southampton | Rail & agricultural community | 1835 | 1884 |
Branchville | Southampton | Rail & agricultural community | 1888 | 1908 |
Capron | Southampton | Rail & agricultural community | 1888 | 1926 |
Claremont | Surry | Colonial river port & plantation area | 1607 | 1886 |
Courtland | Southampton | Established as county seat (formerly Jerusalem); rail community | 1752 | 1791/1888 |
Dendron | Surry | Lumber company town | 1896 | 1906 |
Ivor | Southampton | Rail & agricultural community | 1850s | 1908 |
Newsoms | Southampton | Rail & agricultural community | 1850-60s | 1946 |
Smithfield | Isle of Wight | Colonial port town | 1634 | 1752 |
Surry | Surry | Courthouse crossroads community | 1796 | 1928 |
Windsor | Isle of Wight | Rural crossroads; rail stop | 1850s | 1902 |
Hampton Roads Towns Today
Several thousand residents still live in these 11 towns. The following table summarizes Census data about the towns, sorted by population. This month’s map shows the locations of the towns in Hampton Roads along with their population density.
These data are estimates from the 2020-2024 5-Year American Community Survey.