31 articles
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia: independent city in Northern Virginia on the Potomac across from Washington, D.C. Founded 1749 as a tobacco port; part of D.C. 1801-1847; Union supply center in the Civil War; population about 159,467.
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg, Virginia: Montgomery County town founded 1798 by William Black on 38 acres, home of Virginia Tech (founded 1872 as a land-grant college); population 44,826 in 2020.
Bristol, Virginia
Bristol, Virginia is an independent city paired with Bristol, Tennessee across a state line running down State Street. Founded as Goodson in 1856, renamed Bristol in 1890, it is the Birthplace of Country Music, site of the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the Smithsonian-affiliated museum.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia: independent city and Albemarle County seat founded 1762, named for Queen Charlotte, home of the University of Virginia (1819), population 46,553 in 2020.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Chesapeake, Virginia: independent city in South Hampton Roads formed January 1, 1963 from Norfolk County and South Norfolk; Virginia's second-largest city (255,332 in 2025), 338 sq mi of land, home to much of the Great Dismal Swamp.
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in southside Virginia near the North Carolina border. Founded in 1793 as a tobacco inspection station, it had 42,590 residents in 2020.
Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia: an independent city of about 26,800 in Northern Virginia, founded 1805 as the Town of Providence, a town from 1874, and an independent city since 1961, distinct from surrounding Fairfax County.
Falls Church, Virginia
Falls Church, Virginia, "The Little City," is a 2.2-square-mile independent city near Washington, D.C., incorporated 1875 as a town and 1948 as a city, named for the 1769 Episcopal church, with a council-manager government and ranked schools.
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg, Virginia: independent city on the Rappahannock River, founded 1728, incorporated 1781/1879, council-manager government, population about 30,400 (2025), Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg site.
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia: independent city founded 1610 on Kecoughtan, oldest English-speaking settlement in America; site of 1619 African arrival, Fort Monroe's Contraband Decision, and NASA Langley; 137,148 residents.
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg, Virginia: independent city and Rockingham County seat in the Shenandoah Valley, also called the Friendly City or Rocktown. Founded 1780 by Thomas Harrison; home of James Madison University; 2020 population 51,814.
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia: county seat of Loudoun County, founded 1758 as George Town and renamed for the Lee family; largest incorporated town in Virginia, about 50,000 residents, historic 1970 National Register district, site of the 1861 Battle of Ball's Bluff.
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia: independent city and Rockbridge County seat in the Shenandoah Valley, home of Washington and Lee University and VMI; 7,320 residents (2020), historic district listed 1971-1972.
List of cities and counties in Virginia
Virginia's 95 counties and 38 independent cities: all Virginia cities lie outside county boundaries, a system unique among U.S. states, dating from Williamsburg's 1722 charter and the 1870 constitution.
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg, Virginia: independent city on the James River, also called the Hill City, founded 1757 by John Lynch's ferry, chartered 1786, tobacco and railroad hub, home of five colleges, population about 81,000.
Manassas, Virginia
Manassas is an independent city in Virginia that grew from a nineteenth-century railroad junction. It became a transportation and governmental hub for Prince William County in 1976.
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown, West Virginia: county seat of Monongalia County on the Monongahela River, home of West Virginia University; 30,347 residents in 2020, the state's third-largest city, founded as Morgan's Town in 1785.
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia: independent city on the James River, population about 183,000, home of Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia's largest industrial employer and the only U.S. builder of nuclear aircraft carriers.
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia: independent Hampton Roads seaport city at the mouth of the James and Elizabeth Rivers; home of Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base, the Port of Virginia, and a $6 billion floodwall program.
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia on the Appomattox River, 30 miles south of Richmond, best known for the 1864 to 1865 Siege of Petersburg.
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth, Virginia: independent city in Hampton Roads on the Elizabeth River, founded 1752, home of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (Gosport, 1767); 2020 population 97,915, declining slightly.
Quantico, Virginia
Quantico, Virginia: a tiny incorporated Prince William County town, the only US town completely surrounded by a military base, Marine Corps Base Quantico, accessible only through base security gates.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia: independent city and state capital on the James River, founded 1737, population about 237,000 (2025 est.), former Confederate capital, mayor-council government under Mayor Danny Avula.
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia: independent city in the Blue Ridge valley, formerly Big Lick, renamed 1882 as a Norfolk and Western railroad hub; 2020 population 100,011; Star City of the South, healthcare and biotech center.
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia: independent Shenandoah Valley city, seat of Augusta County, population about 26,800. Settled 1732, named for Rebecca Staunton; birthplace of Woodrow Wilson and home of the nation's first city manager (1908) and the Blackfriars Playhouse.
Suffolk, Virginia
Suffolk, Virginia: independent city in Hampton Roads, largest Virginia city by land area (430 sq mi) after the 1974 merger with Nansemond County; population 104,699 (2025 est.), historic peanut and Planters company center.
Tangier, Virginia
Tangier, Virginia: a town on Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay, the last inhabited offshore island in Virginia's Bay waters. Watermen community settled 1778, site of Fort Albion (1814); uplands projected to become wetlands by 2051.
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city in southeastern Virginia where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. With about 454,000 residents, it is the largest city in Virginia.
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia, an independent city founded in 1699 as Middle Plantation and Virginia's colonial capital 1699–1780, home of William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg living-history museum.
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia: independent city and Frederick County seat at the northern Shenandoah Valley entrance; founded 1744 by James Wood; most contested Civil War town (~70 changes of hands); 28,120 people (2020); Apple Blossom Festival since 1924.