Seatack, Virginia

Seatack, Virginia was located in Princess Anne County and is now part of the Oceanfront resort strip and adjacent area of the independent city of Virginia Beach. The Seatack community of Virginia Beach includes an area inland from the resort strip along present-day Virginia Beach Boulevard. Seatack Elementary School is located nearby on Birdneck Road. The 1903 Seatack Station of the United States Lifesaving Service is now the Old Coast Guard Station Museum located at 24th street adjacent to the boardwalk.

Seatack was named because it was the point on the coast of rural Princess Anne County where the community was the target of cannonballs fired from British ships and was where troops came ashore during an attack in the War of 1812. The isolated stretch of beach place became known as "Sea Attack", and was gradually shortened to "Sea 'ttack", and then, finally, simply "Seatack".Seatack was the location of the first "resort" hotel in 1884 which opened after a 19-mile-long narrow gauge railroad was built from Norfolk in 1883. It was remodeled in 1888 and renamed the "Princess Anne Hotel", a massive 2 block wooden facility, which attracted vacationers from considerable distances.

In 1891, while hotel guests watched, surfmen from the Seatack station of United States Lifesaving Service were involved in the rescue efforts for the Norwegian bark Dictator which ran aground near present-day 37th street. Seven lives were lost, including the Captain's wife and small child, leading to the Norwegian Lady memorials and several local legends.

At some point in the early 1900s, the name Seatack became more specifically applied to an area west of the beach, the oldest neighborhood of free blacks in Princess Anne County. Legend has it that blacks were allowed to settle in this area because whites didn't see the future value of the swampy wooded land. Blacks not only settled this area but also thrived there. Blacks who lived in the area called Seatack made many historical accomplishments in the segregated county of Princess Anne, that included raising money to build schools for their children (namely, Princess Anne County Training School—1938), starting a fire station (Seatack Fire Station) because the black neighborhood wasn't serviced by the city fire and rescue, building churches (Mount Olive Baptist, St. Stephens COGIC) to worship in and a community/daycare center.

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