Smithfield, Virginia

Smithfield, Virginia
Town
Main Street, Smithfield
Seal
Nickname(s): The Ham Capital of the World
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Coordinates: 36°58′44″N 76°37′7″W / 36.97889°N 76.61861°W / 36.97889; -76.61861Coordinates: 36°58′44″N 76°37′7″W / 36.97889°N 76.61861°W / 36.97889; -76.61861
Country	United States
State	Virginia
County	Isle of Wight
Incorporated (town)	1752
Government
• Mayor	David M. Hare (term expires 6/30/2012)
Area
• Total	10.1 sq mi (27.1 km2)
• Land	9.5 sq mi (24.7 km2)
• Water	0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	8,089
• Density	851.5/sq mi (330.16/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	23430-23431
Area code(s)	757
FIPS code	51-73200
GNIS feature ID	1474779
Website	www.smithfieldva.gov

Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census.

The town is most famous for the curing and production of the Smithfield ham. The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute defining "Smithfield ham" by law in 1926, with one of the requirements that it be processed within the town limits. Currently, Smithfield Foods, a Fortune 500 Company that owns Smithfield Packing Company and others, is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. The company, based in Smithfield, raises 12 million and processes 20 million hogs annually.

Smithfield, first colonized in 1634, is located on the Pagan River, not far from Jamestown. The Native Americans knew this area as Warascoyak, also spelled Warrosquoyacke, meaning “point of land.”

Warrosquyoake Shire (with numerous variant spellings, including Warrascoyack, Warrascocke and "Warwick Squeak") was officially formed in 1634 in the Virginia colony, but had already been known as "Warascoyack County" before this. It was renamed Isle of Wight County in 1637.

In 1730, the Tobacco Inspection Act of 1730 established "Warricksqueak Bay, in Isle of Wight County" as the site of an official tobacco inspection house.

The town was established in 1752 by Arthur Smith IV as a seaport. The original survey and plat of the Town of Smithfield was made by Jordan Thomas, County Surveyor, for Captain Arthur Smith in 1750.

As a river town, its life and growth were dependent on the river. “Wharf Hill” was the waterfront location of the beginning of the industries of Smithfield, which would evolve into “The Peanut Capital of the World” and “The Ham Capital of the World." George Purdie, Gent., a County Justice and Postmaster of Smithfield during his lifetime, purchased Lots 4 & 5 of the original plat of the Town of Smithfield in 1763. Purdie's neighbor, Captain Mallory Todd, built the business of curing and shipping the hams that has made Smithfield world-famous. {George Purdie Merchant of Smithfield by Doris Gwaltney, a descendent by marriage}. The peanut industry continued until the fire of 1921, which destroyed the peanut warehouses and therefore the growing peanut businesses; the peanut trade then moved to the nearby railroad hub of Suffolk, Virginia.