Life looked a lot different for Virginia in the 1950s. This is the decade we most often refer to as "vintage," with its sock hops, rock n' roll, and the invention of the television. But as is true with all eras in American history, this decade was not without its hardships. These pictures provide a glimpse of what life was like in the Old Dominion more than 60 years ago. From families on vacation to men at work, these pictures show a little bit of everything.
When it comes to innovation, invention, and... well, just trying new things, Virginia has been a leader from the beginning. Starting with the first permanent English settlement in 1607, Virginia has been the home to countless groundbreaking adventures, discoveries, and inventions. The following is a list of things invented in Virginia as well as some impressive accomplishments that first happened right here in the Old Dominion. Here are a few Virginia inventions that you may or may not be familiar with...
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1. The first successful Electric Streetcar was invented in 1888.
Our list of impressive things from Virginia begins with the first electric streetcar. After 74 attempts around the world to create a proper electric trolley railway system, we finally nailed it in Richmond. In 1888, The Union Passenger Railway was the first electric railway system be more efficient than animal-powered trolleys. It was considered a milestone in engineering by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and set the stage, or laid the tracks rather, for future railway trolleys.
2. The first fraternity in the United States was founded at William & Mary in 1776.
Thanks to George William Crump, not long after fraternities came into being, streaking became a tradition at many colleges– or just a really bad choice on a Friday night. The first recorded streaker in U.S. history, Crump, a student at Washington and Lee, bared it all and ran through the streets of Lexington in 1804. Sure, he got suspended for a semester, but went on to become a senator. Go figure.
4. Sorry, Pilgrims. We also had the first Thanksgiving in 1619.
Nearly two years before the Pilgrims sat down to feast at Plymouth Rock, 38 English colonists arrived at Berkeley Hundred, site of the Berkeley Plantation. On December 4, 1619, they held a feast as a way of giving thanks to God for their safe arrival in the New World.
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5. Gabby Douglas became the first African American to win gymnastics gold in 2012.
We may not have Broadway, but we started it all with the first theater in North America in 1716. The theater was built on the Palace Green in the colonial capital of Williamsburg.
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7. Chapstick was invented in the early 1880s in Lynchburg.
That’s right, every time that little miracle stick saves you from dry, cracked, chapped lips, just remember Dr. Charles Browne Fleet from Lynchburg, who invented ChapStick in the early 1880s.
8. The first commercial crop of peanuts was grown in the mid-1800s.
Peanuts were introduced to North America by Africans in the late 1700s, but weren’t an important agricultural crop until the first half of the 19th century when the first commercial crop was grown in Sussex County. As more and more ways were found to use these protein-packed "ground nuts," peanuts soon rivaled cotton as a cash crop in the South.
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9. The first free public school started in Hampton in 1634.
In 1634, the Syms-Eaton Free School was established by Benjamin Syms to provide schooling for the children of Hampton, Elizabeth City and Poquoson. Syms donated 200 acres and 8 cows to help the school get its start.
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10. The first Mechanical Reaper for grain was invented in 1831.
Cyrus McCormick of Rockbridge County combined the work of multiple farming tools to create the mechanical reaper in 1831. Before he perfected his design, harvesting grain had been backbreaking, time-consuming work. His invention allowed farmers to increase crop yields up to 200% and is the basis of today’s commercial machines.
The first successful IVF pregnancy in the U.S. happened at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. A healthy baby girl was born by Caesarian on December 28, 1981.
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12. The invention of a Smallpox Vaccine Needle changed healthcare in 1961.
A vaccination needle might seem trivial, but what good is a vaccine if you don’t have a good way of administering it? Virginia Tech graduate Benjamin Rubin invented the bifurcated needle that allowed for just the right dose of the vaccine. The needle was the World Health Organization’s primary tool during their Smallpox Eradication Campaign from 1966 -1977.
13. The first formal law school program was started at William & Mary in 1779.
In 1762, George Wythe, a prominent Williamsburg lawyer, took a young William & Mary grad named Thomas Jefferson under his wing and trained him in the field of law. With no schools offering a formal law degree at the time, Jefferson and Wythe recognized a new need for the nation. And so in 1779 while serving as governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson encouraged the creation of a new degree in law at his alma mater with Wythe as the first professor. John Marshall, who became the Chief Justice of the United States in 1801, also studied under Wythe in 1780. The statue of Wythe and Marshall shown above now sits outside of the William & Mary School of Law.
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14. The first President of the United States was born in Virginia in 1732.
George Washington may have been the first, but he was far from the last president to be born in Virginia. In fact, 4 of the first 5 presidents and 8 presidents in total were from Virginia, earning us the nickname "Mother of Presidents."
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15. The Wright Brothers tested the first military aircraft at Ft. Meyer in 1908.
While it would be years before a formal military air program was established, the Wright Brothers began pushing for it soon after their first successful air crafts were invented. The first test flights at a military installment were held at Ft. Meyers in 1908. Sadly, this was also the site of the first airplane-related fatality in September 1908 when Army Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge died from injuries sustained during a crash.
16. The first "Mental Hospital" was established in Williamsburg in 1773.
The Public Hospital in Williamsburg is the oldest psychiatric hospital in the nation and the first hospital specifically purposed for treatment of the mentally ill. Founded in 1773, the Public Hospital was built at a time when mental illness was not diagnosed by a doctor, but rather by a jury-like group of 12 citizens who gave a verdict of "criminal, lunatic or idiot".
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Did we leave any inventions from Virginia off the list? Do you know of any other things invented in Virginia? Let us know about any Virginia firsts that we may have overlooked in the comments section! Then, pick up some Virginia-themed apparel to show off your state pride from Wear Your Roots.
If you love interesting tidbits about history, you'll enjoy these ten fun facts about Virginia.
Lavender first arrived in America shortly after the first European settlers arrived. Since Virginia is home to the first settlement in America Virginia could be the first place in America to grow lavender. If you want to enjoy these wonderfully smelling purple flowers, head to Seven Oaks Lavender Farm in Catlett, Virginia:
Founded as the Capital of the Virginia Colony in 1699, Williamsburg was named in honor of England’s reigning monarch, King William III. It was the second capital of the Virginia Colony – the first being Jamestown, which was founded in 1607 as the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World.
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Williamsburg was one of America's first planned cities, located just five miles from Jamestown between the James and York Rivers. The city quickly became the center of political, religious, economic, and social life in Virginia. The capital of Virginia was moved to Richmond in 1780, and Williamsburg became a quiet college town and rural county seat.
The Rector of Bruton Parish Church, the Reverend Doctor W A. R. Goodwin, brought the city’s importance to the attention of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in the 1920s. Rockefeller funded and led the reconstruction of the 18th-century city, and Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed its main thoroughfare “the most historic avenue in America.”
Touted as one of the most historic destinations in the United States, I recently took a short trip to Colonial Williamsburg with my four-year-old daughter and my parents and can't wait to share my real experiences with you.
My father took my brother and me to Colonial Williamsburg when I was a teenager (circa 2004-2005) and recollected how many people – visitors and workers alike – there were within the town at the time.
Approximately two decades later, we were surprised to discover that many of the historic buildings and shops were only open select days of the week, and there weren’t many visitors or demonstrations outside either. I wonder if it would have been busier had we visited on a weekend or cooler day, but overall, it felt less impressive than we had remembered.
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Throughout the course of three days, we enjoyed various history lessons at the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol Building, and other historic buildings throughout the town.
We meandered through shops, stopped to marvel at the 18th-century architecture, and tried to stay as cool as possible in the 90-degree weather. We learned about the governors of the former Virginia Colony, about the court system, and about how the residents of the town once lived.
By the third day of our trip, we were a bit underwhelmed with our experience. However, that outlook improved when, after perusing the Williamsburg Art Museum, we stumbled across archaeological work being done nearby.
A group of Williamsburg archaeologists and their team of high school volunteers were digging in the fields near the site of John Custis’ former home. The archaeological team shared how they planned to use artifacts found in the soil – pottery, nails, seeds, and even bone – to recreate John Custis’ famed garden.
Not sure who John Custis was? We weren't either. Custis was a lover of horticulture and politics and was Martha Washington’s father-in-law from her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis. After Martha's first husband, Daniel, died, she went on to marry the one and only George Washington, who was a prominent planter and soldier at the time.
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Walking down the street, we stumbled across another work site: the reconstruction of the Williamsburg Bray School, a one-room schoolhouse that taught enslaved and free Black children from 1760 to 1765.
The school was permanently closed in 1774. In the 1920s, was moved to become a residence for female students at the William & Mary – the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the country – where the building was expanded to accommodate the students’ needs.
In 2021, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation began research and stabilization work on the building, which was moved to its current location in 2023. Here, it is being reconstructed and returned to its original 1760 appearance. The Bray School will open to the public in September 2024, featuring programming that explores Williamsburg’s diverse population and the history of Black education in Virginia.
While learning about the history of our country at Williamsburg’s landmarks – like the Capitol building, where we took a guided tour and learned all about the colony’s governance – it was these archaeological sites that truly fascinated me the most.
From staff archaeologists digging up history to modern-day joiners and craftspeople committed to using the building methods of days gone by, the commitment to recreating the experiences of those who came before them and to learning from our past is impressive. This dedication to the preservation of history is crucial, and I hope everyone who visits Colonial Williamsburg understands this.
The easiest way to access Colonial Williamsburg for yourself is to drive and park at the Visitor Center, then take the bus that shuttles visitors around the perimeter of the historic area. Buses loop every 15 minutes, and we never waited too long for a bus.
We stayed on property at the Woodland Hotel & Suites, which, while charming, was also perhaps in need of a few updates. It was the perfect home base to explore Williamsburg, as we could easily walk from the hotel to the Visitor Center to catch the bus.
The hotel also had a variety of kid-centric activities, including a pirate-themed splash pad and pool, plus mini-golf, air hockey, bean bags, and more. There were also daily activities for the kids, including crafts, games, and movie nights.
While Williamsburg might not have been entirely what I expected it to be, it was a breathtaking history lesson that came to life – one that I believe every American should experience for themselves. For more information about this historic destination or to start planning your trip, visit the Colonial Williamsburg website.
