Suffolk Virginia is one of seven cities that make up the South Hampton Roads of eastern Virginia. The city is named Suffolk after Governor William Gooch home in East Anglia England. Suffolk is the largest independent city in land area of the entire Commonwealth, originally called Constance's Warehouse. A seaport town along the Nansemond River was established by English settlers in 1742.
Prior to the arrival of the colonists Nansemond Indians lived in the area for thousands of years. Early on Nansemond County encircled Suffolk and had become the independent city of Nansemond. These two cities arranged to be joined together along with the unincorporated towns of Hollond and Whaleyville forming the largest city in the area.
In the beginning, the English grew tobacco, which was so laborious and exhaustive that African slaves were necessary. Eventually the landowners gave up the tobacco trade and changed to farming and assorted variety of field crops.
Peanuts became one of the primary crops for Suffolk. Planters Peanuts originated in Suffolk in 1912 with the inception of Mr. Peanut planter's famous mascot. Planters are now part of Kraft Foods, other large corporations found in Suffolk are Unilever, Lipton Tea, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin with its headquarters for Innovation is based in Suffolk. The campus is referred to as"The Lighthouse "because the campus surrounds a lighthouse.
There are many things to do in Suffolk. Bike trails cover many miles in the Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge with several entry sites. Lone Star Lakes City Park has more than four miles of trails that were also designed for bike riding. Museums and other tourist attractions are also available to learn more about Suffolk's history.
