Historic & Cultural Districts of Virginia Beach

There are a lot of ways historic areas can be formally recognized for their significance. At the federal level, designations can be made through listings in  the National Register of Historic Places , and at the state level, designations can be made in  the Virginia Landmarks Register . In Virginia Beach, historic resources can also be designated in a Historic & Cultural District, a special kind of designation that requires review of alterations to be made in the district. Virginia Beach currently has 16 locally-designated Historic & Cultural Districts that protect historic resources from the city's earliest years of colonial settlement through the 20th century.

Historic & Cultural Districts are a type of zoning overlay that protect historically significant areas in Virginia Beach. They are governed by by  Article 13 of the City's Zoning Ordinance  and changes in these areas are reviewed and approved by the  Virginia Beach Historical Review Board . Most of the Historic & Cultural Districts designated in Virginia Beach are single-resource districts, meaning they designate a single property, such as the Thoroughgood House and its surrounding property.

For an area to be eligible as a Historic & Cultural District, it needs to have one or more places, buildings, or other structures that meet the following criteria:

• Be listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register, the Virginia Beach Historical Register, or the National Register of Historic Places;
• Be of significant historic, architectural, archaeological or cultural interest;
• Be a location in which historic events have occurred; or
• Have special public value because of notable architectural, archaeological or other features relating to the cultural or artistic heritage of the city that are of such significance as to warrant conservation and preservation.

These criteria are set forth in  Section 1301(c) of the City's Zoning Ordinance .

Historic & Cultural Districts have a mix of historic and non-historic structures. As the goal of these districts is to preserve the the overall character and feeling of historic places, changes to all buildings in the district are reviewed by the Historical Review Board. Change has a cumulative effect, which is why the Historical Review Board looks at all changes in the districts.

Use the interactive atlas below to explore more about each of the City's Historic & Cultural Districts.