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Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the city of Charlottesville thrives amidst numerous tangible reminders of an incredibly rich history.

Founded in 1762, the heart of early Charlottesville was the stage for some of the most important figures in early American history, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Growing side by side with Jefferson's University of Virginia, Charlottesville developed into a bustling community whose businesses, families, and celebrations were well documented in photographs beginning in the 1880s. The collection of images reproduced in Images of America: Charlottesville tells the story of the creation, growth, hardship, transformation, and success of a city beloved by residents and visitors alike.

During the 1880s, Chesapeake Bay boatbuilders began constructing small wooden open boats, referred to as deadrise boats, out of planks with V-shaped bows. As boatbuilders created larger deadrise boats, decks were installed to provide more work and payload space; these deck boats also had a house/pilothouse near the stern and a mast closer to the bow of the boat. Deck boats were powered by gasoline engines but also utilized sails and wind. From the 1910s to the 1940s, auxiliary “steadying” sails were raised to help steady the boat when encountering adverse seas. More deck boats were built in the 1920s than in any other decade. Over the history of the boats, several thousand worked the bay in the freight business, were used to buy and plant oysters, worked in the bay’s pound net fishery, and dredged for crabs and oysters. Approximately 40 boats are left on the bay. A few still work the water. Some have found new life as recreational yachts, and others are education boats owned by museums and nonprofits. In 2004, boat owners formed the Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association, which holds an annual rendezvous at different ports as a way to educate the public about this unique aspect of Chesapeake Bay maritime history.

A Jewish community has resided in Northern Virginia for over 175 years. Communal activities began in earnest in the 1850s with the establishment of a Hebrew Benevolent Society and the first synagogue--Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria. As the community took root, it absorbed waves of immigrants from Germany and later Eastern Europe, leading to growth across the area and a wider range of Jewish practice. The new arrivals settled in towns across the area, establishing livelihoods in Arlington, Herndon, Fredericksburg, Warrenton, Culpeper, Leesburg, and Winchester. Many worked in the retail trade, selling clothes, shoes, merchandise, and scrap. The growth of the federal government and construction of the Pentagon in the 1940s brought new jobs and families to the area, and the Jewish community grew along with it. In recent decades, Northern Virginia has changed from a largely rural area to a bustling integrated extension of Washington, DC. Today, the area is home to over 120,000 Jews, surpassing the number in the older DC and Maryland communities.

Norfolk Southern Railway's history in southeastern Virginia began in the mid-19th century when a young civil engineer named William Mahone designed an innovative 12-mile-long roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp that is still in use today. Trees were felled and laid side by side at right angles beneath the swamp's surface, forming a corduroy road, with the roadbed built on top of the logs. The logs sank into the boggy swamp, where they were preserved. Nearly 170 years later, Mahone's corduroy design continues to serve as a major route for Norfolk Southern traffic, supporting millions of tons of freight each year as the railroad provides extensive service throughout Hampton Roads. One of the nation's largest Class 1 railroads, Norfolk Southern was created through the merger of Roanoke-based Norfolk & Western Railway and Washington, DC-based Southern Railway in June 1982.

Although Native Americans have lived along the banks of the Occoquan for thousands of years, John Smith was the first European to visit the area, arriving at the river's mouth in 1608. Here he encountered the Dogue Indians, from whose language the river and town take their names. With the coming of settlers, Occoquan's location at the meeting of the Tidewater and Piedmont made it ideal for water-related industry and commerce. By the end of the 18th century, it boasted one of the first automated gristmills in the nation. During the Civil War, Occoquan housed both Union and Confederate troops and was the sight of several small engagements. In 1972, the river, which had provided so many commercial and recreational benefits, revealed a more dangerous side as flooding from Hurricane Agnes caused severe damage. The people of Occoquan rebuilt, and the town evolved into the wonderful mixture of old and new that gives it the unique character seen today.

Sterling, Virginia, was originally comprised of swaths of rural farmland that evolved into Loudoun County’s first planned community. Now home to multiple global corporate headquarters and a booming information technology industry, Sterling reflects a rich cultural past and a promising future. Sterling’s earliest documented history dates back to the 1600s to Vestal’s Gap Road, long used by American Indians and eventually by George Washington in his travels. Guilford Station helped establish Sterling as a railroad transportation hub and a commercial center for farmers from the mid-1850s through the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, the Washington Dulles International Airport was built nearby, and families began migrating to suburban Sterling as M.T. Broyhill and Sons Corporation unveiled plans for the “New City at Sterling.” Today, Sterling sits within the Northern Virginia corridor where more than 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic passes. One of the most diverse communities in Northern Virginia, Sterling represents a wonderful melting pot of nationalities and cultures.

In 1761, when the Virginia General Assembly established the town of Strasburg, German-speaking people had already migrated from Pennsylvania to settle the Shenandoah Valley. Peter Stover chose a spot at the foot of Massanutten Mountain to lay out the streets for the new town. Since the Civil War, the peak of the mountain had been called Signal Knob and was the site of an aircraft beacon erected by the Federal Aviation Agency. The mountain lighthouse stood guard over the town every night, its revolving flash lulling people to sleep until the invention of modern radar. There is nothing in Strasburg that time has not touched, and there is nothing in Strasburg that time has forgotten. The site of the town's original railroad depot is now the Strasburg Museum. The Strasburg Textile Mill, once a 24-hour factory providing many jobs, is now an antiques mall.

The US Coast Guard has a long history of saving lives and deterring and defeating threats in the Hampton Roads area that dates to the Revolutionary War era. The Coast Guard in Hampton Roads has interdicted hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal drugs; saved countless lives; operated lightships, lighthouses, and lifesaving stations; ensured safe navigation in one of the largest and busiest coastal waterway systems in North America; inspected thousands of shipping containers; conducted security and safety boardings of foreign flagged vessels; and tracked commercial vessels using the Harbor Surveillance System. The team at Coast Guard Sector Virginia is composed of nearly 500 active duty and civilian personnel, 130 reservists, and 1,300 auxiliarists. The area is also home to several multimission boats and ships. Hampton Roads regional Coast Guard personnel and assets continue their multimission capability to ensure strategic and economic prosperity for the one of the gateways to the United States.