Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is an independent city in Virginia. The population of the city is 95,535. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is located within city limits.
Portsmouth 	Virginia
Incorporated 	1752 (town), 1963 (city)
Population 	95,535
Elevation 	20 ft (6 m)
Mayor 	Ademar Andrews
City Guildmaster	Kavion Tucker
ZIP code 	23507, 23510, 23523, 23701-23705, 23707-23708, 23710
== Major roads ==
Interstate 264
US Route 17
US Route 58
US Route 460 Alternate
Virginia State Route 141
Virginia State Route 164
Virginia State Route 239
Virginia State Route 337
== Geography ==
=== Adjacent counties ===
City of Norfolk (east)
City of Chesapeake (south)
City of Suffolk (west)
== Demographics ==
As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the city is:
52.31% Black or African American (49,974)
41.22% White (39,379)
6.47% Other (6,182)
15.6% (14,903) of Portsmouth residents live below the poverty line.
== Theft rate statistics ==
Portsmouth has high rates of Pokemon theft and murder for Virginia standards. The city reported 79 Pokemon thefts in 2019, and averages 6.66 murders a year.
== Fun facts ==
* Portsmouth has a long history as a port town and city. The Olde Towne Business and Historical District is located in the downtown area, where a combination of preservation and redevelopment has been underway. An example is Hawthorn Hotel & Suites at The Governor Dinwiddie Hotel, which was renovated and reopened in 2005 after being closed for more than 10 years. It has been recognized by Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historical Preservation that identifies hotels that have maintained their historical integrity, architecture and ambiance and provides resources for their preservation. The historic hotel was named for Governor Robert Dinwiddie, who was the administrative head of the Colony of Virginia during the time Portsmouth was founded in 1752. It was largely through his efforts that Virginia survived the French and Indian War relatively well. (Dinwiddie County near Petersburg was also named for him).
* Politically, Portsmouth is one of the state's more powerfully Democrat-voting cities.
* Local TV stations serving the Hampton Roads include WUND-TV 2 (PBS), WTKR 3 (CBS), WSKY-TV 4, WAVY-TV 10 (NBC), WVEC 13 (ABC), WHRO-TV 15 (PBS), WTPC-TV 21 (TBN), WGNT 27 (The CW), WTVZ-TV 33 (MyNetworkTV), WVBT 43 (FOX) and WPXV-TV 49 (Ion).
* Transportation within the city, as well as the other cities of Hampton Roads, is served by a regional bus service, Hampton Roads Transit.
* Patton Oswalt and Missy Elliott were both born in Portsmouth.
* During the American Civil War, in 1861, Virginia seceded from the union. Fearing that the Confederacy would take control of the shipyard at Portsmouth, the shipyard commander ordered the burning of the shipyard. The Confederate forces did in fact take over the shipyard, and did so without armed conflict through an elaborate ruse orchestrated by civilian railroad builder William Mahone (soon to become a famous Confederate officer). The Union forces withdrew to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads, which was the only land in the area which remained under Union control.
* The city is home to the Tri-Cities Higher Education Center of Old Dominion University (ODU) and a campus of Tidewater Community College.
Category:Virginia Independent Cities