The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Norfolk, Virginia, United States.

Prior to 19th century

1682 - Norfolk Town founded. 1728 - Norfolk Academy chartered. 1736 - Town of Norfolk attains borough status. 1739 - Saint Paul's Episcopal Church built. 1760 (approximately) - Poplar Hall, a historic plantation house, is built. 1767 - Gosport Shipyard established near Norfolk. 1776 - January 1: Burning of Norfolk. 1790 - Population: 2,959. 1795 - Fort Norfolk built. 1799 - Fire.

19th century 1804 - Female Orphan Society founded. 1812 - War of 1812 begins; ends 1815. 1819 - First U.S. Customs House built on waterfront; relocated to permanent building on Main Street in 1852. 1828 - Christ Church built. 1840 - Population: 10,920. 1845 - Norfolk attains city status. 1848 - Norfolk Humane Association active. 1850 Norfolk Courthouse built. Freemason Street Baptist Church dedicated. 1852 - Permanent U.S. Custom House opens at Main & Granby Street 1853 - "Negro free school" and Elmwood Cemetery established. 1854 - Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery established. 1855 Yellow fever outbreak; over 3,000 people die. Hospital of St. Vincent de Paul is founded in response to the yellow fever epidemic. It is Norfolk's first civilian and public hospital. It would evolve into what is now Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center. 1858 Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad laid out. Basilica of Saint Mary built. 1861 (April) Civil War begins. (May) Battle of Sewell's Point 1862 - May 10: Union forces in power. 1865 Colored Monitor Union Club formed. Civil War ends. 1870 - Norfolk Library Association founded. 1873 - West Point Cemetery established. 1875 - Masonic Temple built. 1877 - Norfolk and Portsmouth Cotton Exchange incorporated. 1880 Population: 21,966. Norfolk College for Young Ladies, a finishing school, opens Downtown and operates until about 1899. 1885 - Hofheimer's, a Norfolk-based retailer of upscale footwear, is founded. The company thrives for many decades before closing in 1998. 1887 - Brambleton becomes part of Norfolk. 1888 St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church built. Norfolk Retreat for the Sick opens; it would later evolve into Norfolk General Hospital. 1890 Atlantic City becomes part of Norfolk. Population: 34,871. 1894 - Norfolk Daily Pilot newspaper begins publication; it evolved into the present-day Virginian-Pilot. 1896 Epworth United Methodist Church opens. Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad begins. 1898 - The first Monticello Hotel building opens. 1899 or soon thereafter - the college that would later evolve into University of Mary Washington took over the former finishing school building previously occupied by Norfolk College for Young Ladies.

20th century

1900s

1900 Population: 46,624. Norfolk Zoo opens. U.S. Post Office and Courts Building constructed. 1901 - Norfolk Journal and Guide newspaper in publication. 1902 - Park Place becomes part of Norfolk. 1903 - The original Sarah Leigh Hospital opens on Mowbray Arch along the Hague in Ghent. It would evolve into today's Sentara Leigh Hospital.The Virginian-Pilot - "Back in the Day", Apr 29, 2018 1904 Freemason Street Library opens. Chesterfield Heights district is platted; development is primarily from 1915 to 1950 1906 - Barkley becomes part of Norfolk. 1907 Jamestown Exposition held. Confederate monument erected. Monticello Arcade built. Doumar's opens in Norfolk Virginian Railway started.

1910s

1910 Christ and St. Luke's Church built. Population: 67,452. 1911 Huntersville and Lambert's Point become part of Norfolk. Maury and Booker T. Washington High Schools open. 1912 - Norfolk Terminal Station, a railway station, opens in Downtown Norfolk. 1913 - Wells Theatre opens as a vaudeville and movie house. 1917 U.S. Naval Station Norfolk opens on Sewell's Point peninsula A local NAACP branch is established. 1918 Southern Bagging Company building constructed. The Monticello Hotel destroyed by fire; it is rebuilt on the same site and reopens in 1919. 1919 City-manager form of government adopted. Attucks Theatre, popular with African-American audiences, opens and becomes known as the "Apollo Theatre of the South".

1920s

1920 – Population: 115,777. 1921 - Virginia Beach Boulevard opens, providing easier access to the oceanfront. 1922 U.S. Marine Hospital built. NorVa Theatre opens as a vaudeville house and movie theater. Norview High School opens. 1923 Algonquin Park, Cottage Park, Edgewater, Kenilworth, Lafayette Annex, Lakewood, Larchmont, Lenox, Morning Side, Norfolk Naval Base, Ocean View (part), and Willoughby become part of city. WTAR radio begins broadcasting. 1926 - The Loews Theater opens as a vaudeville and movie palace at 300 Granby Street and continues operating as a cinema for many decades. As of 2018, the venue is the TCC Roper Center for the Performing Arts."Roper Center for the Performing Arts" at Cinema Treasures, retrieved Aug. 21, 2018 1928 - The Nansemond Hotel opens in Ocean View and enjoys many decades as a popular tourist attraction; it was destroyed by fire in 1980.

1930s

1930 Population: 129,710 Norfolk Division of College of William & Mary is established. It would later evolve into Old Dominion College and later University. 1932 - U.S. Post Office and Courthouse built. 1933 - Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences opens. 1935 - Norfolk Unit of Virginia State University opens. In 1969, it became Norfolk State College and a university in 1979. 1936 - Foreman Field, a multi-purpose stadium, opens at Old Dominion University. 1938 - Norfolk Municipal Airport and Norfolk Azalea Garden open. 1939 - Granby High School opens.

1940s

1940 - Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority created. 1941 - Merrimack Park dedicated. 1943 Norfolk Municipal Auditorium opens. Norfolk Center Theater opens. 1947 - Ward's Corner Shopping Center opens at the intersection of Granby and Little Creek Roads."WC History: October 29, 1947 opening of Midtown Shopping Center". wardscornernow.com (Oct. 30, 2014) Over time, future retailers included Hofheimer's shoes ('52),"Rice's and Hofheimer's at Wards Corner", Virginian-Pilot (Feb 6, 2014) a Giant Open Air supermarket ('63),"A Giant Open Air market for Norfolk", Virginian-Pilot (Jun 3, 2018) and the first 24-hour pharmacy in Norfolk, a People's Drug Store. It also had two locations of department store chains, Rices Nachmans ('52) and Smith & Welton. 1948 - Wilders Drive-In cinema in business.

1950s

1950 - WTAR-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1952 NATO Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic headquartered in Norfolk. Norfolk–Portsmouth Bridge–Tunnel opens. WRAP-AM radio begins broadcasting. 1953 - WTOV-TV (television) begins broadcasting; it later evolved into WGNT. 1954 - Azalea Festival begins. 1955 - Tanners Creek becomes part of city. 1957 - Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel opens, connecting Norfolk with the Virginia Peninsula. 1958 - Sister city program established with Moji, Japan. 1959 Azalea Gardens, East Ocean View, JANAF, Little Creek, and Military Highway become part of City, annexed variously from former Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties. February: School desegregation begins. JANAF shopping center opens at the northeast corner of Military Highway and Virginia Beach Blvd."A look back at the early days of Norfolk's JANAF shopping center". Virginian-Pilot (Jul 20, 2016)

1960s

1961 Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters opens. The Golden Triangle Motor Hotel, the first major hotel to open in Norfolk since 1906, opens at 700 Monticello Ave., at a cost of $6.9 million."Norfolk's very own Golden Triangle", Virginian-Pilot (June 6, 2011) Located near Scope Arena, the hotel changes ownership over the years. During the 1980s, it was known as "Holiday Inn Scope". As of 2018, it is Wyndham Garden Norfolk Downtown. 1962 Midtown Tunnel begins operating. Norfolk Terminal Train Station closes; it is demolished in 1963. 1965–Present day Norfolk City Hall facilities open. 1966 - Virginia Wesleyan College opens; it becomes a university in 2017. 1967 Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway opens, roughly following the same route as Virginia Beach Blvd. It greatly facilitates access from Norfolk to the oceanfront. Virginia National Bank building completed at One Commercial Place, Downtown. It would later become Bank of America and in 2017, Icon Norfolk apartments. Lake Taylor High School opens. 1969 Norfolk State College becomes independent from Petersburg's Virginia State College. In 1979, it becomes a university. Econo-Travel motel, the first in the United States, opens for business on N. Military Highway. As of 2018, it is still operating.

1970s

1970 - Military Circle Mall opens at the southeast corner of the intersection of Military Highway and Virginia Beach Blvd. 1971 - Norfolk Scope conventional hall opens. 1972 - Chrysler Hall opened. 1974 - Virginia Opera formed. 1976 The Monticello Hotel demolished. Omni Hotel opens in Downtown Norfolk; as of 2018, the 10-story hotel is occupied by Sheraton Waterside."Sheraton Norfolk Waterside will have fresh look when the dust settles", The Virginian-Pilot, Mar 28, 2017 Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel doubles its capacity through significant expansion, creating separate tubes for east- and west-bound traffic from Norfolk to the Virginia Peninsula. The first Harborfest is held in celebration of America's Bicentennial. The festival is a success and becomes an annual event."Here's a look back at Norfolk's Harborfest in its early years", Virginian-Pilot (Jun 7, 2016) 1977 - Leigh Memorial Hospital moves to its current location on Kempsville Rd. 1978 - (Labor Day) Ocean View Amusement Park permanently closes. The rollercoaster, built in 1927, is demolished in '79 for the TV movie Death of Ocean View Park, telecast later that year. 1979 - Hampton Roads Naval Museum is established.

1980s

1980 Virginia Stage Company opens in the recently renovated Wells Theater. NorVa Theater is remodeled as the Downtown Athletic Club. 1981 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first United States baby conceived by in vitro fertilization, is born at Norfolk General Hospital. 1983 Waterside festival marketplace opens Downtown. Norfolk's World Trade Center building is completed and opens; it is an 11-story building at 101 West Main St."Norfolk's World Trade Center sold to local real estate firm", Virginian-Pilot (Sep 19, 2008) 1987 - Dominion Tower built. 1989 Norfolk Southern Tower built. Dominion Enterprises opens

1990s

1990 - Population: 261,229. 1991 - Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel opens in Downtown Norfolk. 1993 Harbor Park stadium opens. Bobby Scott becomes U.S. representative for Virginia's 3rd congressional district. 1994 Paul Fraim becomes mayor. Nauticus, The National Maritime Center museum, opens in Downtown Norfolk. 1996 City website online (approximate date). PRA Group opens 1998 - Armed Forces Memorial dedicated. 1999 - MacArthur Center Shopping Mall opens in Downtown Norfolk.

21st century

2000s

2000 Cinemark 18 multiplex opens at Military Circle Mall. The NorVa, after 18 years of use as the Downtown Athletic Club, finishes renovation and reopens as a successful music and concert venue. 2001 - USS Wisconsin opens as a museum ship on the waterfront in Downtown Norfolk. Managed by Hampton Roads Naval Museum, it is berthed next to Nauticus, The National Maritime Center. 2002 - 150 West Main Street, a 20-story office building, opens Downtown. 2003 - NATO Allied Command Transformation headquartered in Norfolk. 2006 - Sentara Heart Hospital opens.Sentara Health System timeline. Adjoining Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, it is Southeastern Virginia's only dedicated heart hospital.

2010s

2010 - Population: 242,803 in city; 1,676,822 in Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.