Virginia

The state of Virginia is named in honor of Queen Elizabeth I, the “Virgin Queen” of England. It is also known, along with Ohio, as the Mother of Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Taylor, Tyler, and Wilson) and the Mother of States, having given “birth” to eight U.S. states from her original territory (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin). With a land mass of 39,594 square miles, Virginia's topography ranges from coastal beaches to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The early inhabitants of Virginia include three aboriginal groups distinguished from one another by language: the Algonquian, Sioun, and Iroguoian. Although no women were among the first settlers of Jamestown in 1607, the birth of Virginia Dare on August 18, 1587 in ...