York County, Virginia

Daily Press |

Dec 14, 2017 | 10:36 AM

With miles of riverfront real estate, York is one of Virginia's most picturesque counties but it's the third-smallest in square miles of Virginia's 95 counties.

And with two major bases -- the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station and the CIA's Camp Peary -- located there, 38 percent of York's geography is federally controlled.

Many of York's residents want to maintain the county's rural roots. But with about 531 people per square mile and growing, the relationship is waning.

Yorktown battlefields, a quaint village-like retail area on the waterfront called "Riverwalk Landing," and the Water Country USA water park comprise a tourism trifecta.

Yorktown is the easternmost corner of the Historic Triangle, which includes Williamsburg and Jamestown. All three historic areas are connected by the 23-mile Colonial Parkway. Millions of vehicles a year travel the three-lane parkway that was completed in 1957.

Officials are hoping the Yorktown Visitor Center's attendance figures, which were up 24 percent in 2007, will continue to be bolstered by international exposure generated during Jamestown's 400th anniversary in 2007. More than 253,000 paid visitors toured the Yorktown Victory Center -- the most in the attraction's 31-year existence.

Today's Headlines Newsletter