Thalia, Virginia

Camp Ashby in the Thalia community of Princess Anne County, Virginia was the largest Prisoner of War camp in South Hampton Roads during World War II. It housed 6,000 German troops, many of Adolf Hitler's Afrika Corps who had been captured in North Africa during the closing years of World War II.Camp Ashby was erected quickly in 1942 on land leased from the state. At the time, the property's dominant feature was the Tidewater Victory Memorial Hospital, a tuberculosis sanitarium at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Thalia Road. That building became the camp's headquarters. The camp's low-slung barracks were scattered across 22 acres (89,000 m2) of woods and field north of the present main branch of the Virginia Beach Central Library and Loehman's Plaza shopping center. In modern times, the original hospital building is part of the Willis Wayside Furniture complex. Although several barracks buildings were converted and are extant as private residences, little else remains of the original camp.

Princess Anne High School (PAHS) is one of 11 high schools in the Virginia Beach City Public School System. Opened in 1954, it is the oldest remaining high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. The school is named after the now extinct Princess Anne County, Virginia (itself named after the British Royal, Queen Anne, titled at the time and prior to ascension, Princess of Denmark) which was annexed with the founding of Virginia Beach. Princess Anne High School is slated to be demolished following the construction of a replacement building. The construction is anticipated to begin in 2024 with the new building being open in 2028. The demolishing of the building will end its 74 year history.

Miller-Motte College, formerly Miller-Motte Technical College, is a system of private for-profit technical colleges throughout the southeastern United States. Its parent company is Ancora Education.

Virginia Beach Town Center is a group of offices, hotels, stores, and restaurants located in the central business district of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Armada Hoffler Tower is a high rise multi-office building in Town Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia. [1] Opened in 2003, it is known as the first building built in the new Virginia Beach Town Center. The 23 story tower is 396 feet (121 meters) tall. It is also the home of the local news station WTKR's secondary studio.

Mount Trashmore Park, also known simply as Mount Trashmore, is a city park located in Virginia Beach, Virginia which opened in 1974, Mount Trashmore is an example of landfill reuse, as its creation consisted of the conversion of an abandoned landfill into a park. The park spans 165 acres (67 ha) with hills larger than 60 feet (18 m) high and 800 feet (240 m) long. Facilities include three large, two medium, and six small picnic shelters, playground areas, four volleyball areas, parking, vending machines and restrooms. Mount Trashmore Park also has multiple walking trails — a Perimeter Trail that measures 1.95 miles (3.14 km), a Lake Trail that measures 1.45 miles (2.33 km), and a Mountain Trail that measures 1.30 miles (2.09 km). The Lake Trail and the Hill Trail may be combined for a trail measuring 2.75 miles (4.43 km). The park also features two lakes where fishing is permitted. Since its opening in the 1970s, it ranks as the most popular park in Virginia Beach, with attendance of over one million visitors a year.The park is open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. until sunset.

Pembroke Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was opened in March 1966 as the first shopping mall in the Hampton Roads metro area. It comprised more than 48 stores, including anchor stores Target and Kohl's.

The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center is a 38 story high rise hotel and living residence in Virginia Beach Town Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia. The 4 star, 236-room hotel occupies the first 15 floors of the building, while the upper stories are residential. The 119 condominiums in the top floors range from 900 to 4,000 square feet (370 m2). Construction began in 2006. Upon completion in 2008, it became the tallest building in Virginia, surpassing the James Monroe Building in Richmond. In 2018, the hotel portion of the building was renovated.

Pembroke Manor is a historic home located at Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was built in 1764, and is a two-story, five-bay, Georgian style brick dwelling. It is topped by a shallow hipped roof.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

The Sandler Center for the Performing Arts is a $47.5 million performing arts theater with 1,308 seats located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States in Town Center. Commonly known as the Sandler Center, the building opened on November 3, 2007. It has been operated by Spectra Venue Management since its opening. Named after Hampton Roads businessmen, philanthropists, and brothers Steve and Art Sandler. In addition to hosting concerts, comedians, forums, military events and other events, local resident companies call the Sandler Center home: Ballet Virginia, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Musical Theatre, Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Beach Forum, Virginia Beach Chorale, Tidewater Winds, and Symphonicity. In addition to the 1,308 seat performance hall, the Sandler Center has various rooms throughout the building. The Miller Studio Theatre is a 2,200-square-foot room that can fit 200 (standing room only) to 125 people (seated). This theatre is equipped with ballet bars, sprung floor, and its own lighting. The Bill and Anne Wood Founders Room is a 900-square-foot room that has a private terrace overlooking Virginia Beach Town Center. This room can fit 60 (standing room only) to 50 people (seated). The Sandler Center also has two carpeted classrooms on the second floor equipped with movable tables, chairs, and podiums. Each floor has its own lobby looking out on to the Sandler Center plaza. The grand lobby is 5,200-square-feet. The Sandler Center is also home to the Sandler Center Foundation. The Foundation is involved in education, community outreach programs and performance underwriting. The Sandler Center Foundation partners with Virginia Arts Festival to underwrite performers such as Renee Fleming, Bernstein on Broadway, and Tony Bennett. Proceeds from Ynot Wednesdays, an outdoor summer concert series, benefits the Sandler Center Foundation. From 2008-2018, $289,000 was donated to the Sandler Center Foundation.

Pembroke Manor (also known as Pembroke) is an area in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States located around the intersections of Virginia Beach Boulevard (U.S. Route 58) and Independence Boulevard (State Route 225). The community's name comes from Pembroke Manor, a plantation built in 1764. The house was donated by the Aragona family to the Princess Anne Historical Society, but currently is under private ownership and serves as Ivy League Academy, a private Christian school for children K4 through 5th grades. The structure itself was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 as #70000887 and is one of the oldest and most significant structures in the City of Virginia Beach. One of the first developments of the area was Princess Anne High School, which opened in 1954. The neighborhood was characterized by Pembroke Mall, originally its only regionally recognizable landmark, after its opening in 1966. Anchor Pembroke Mall department stores included Miller & Rhoads and Sears, with regional retailers like Willner's and Hofheimer's joining national chains like Radio Shack and F. W. Woolworth. The mall was eventually overshadowed by the Lynnhaven Mall, in the Lynnhaven section of the city after its opening in 1981. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the intersection at Pembroke Manor was criticized by urban planner and architect Andres Duany for its pedestrian unfriendliness. Now, however, Pembroke Manor is home to many new high-end shops and restaurants due to the public-private Virginia Beach Town Center project, which has the feel of new urbanism. The Town Center Project's goal is to revitalize the Pembroke Manor area and create a modern 'downtown' area in what has become one of the city's core business districts. In moving the traditional focus of the city away from the Oceanfront, Virginia Beach's resort area, the city hopes to revitalize itself. Town Center currently has two high rise towers, the Armada Hoffler Tower (named for the developer) and The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center tower, with more in the works. A luxury apartment building, the Cosmopolitan, has been built as part of the project, as well as several restaurants and a performing arts center. The land that Pembroke Manor was built upon was given to Captain Adam Thoroughgood in a land grant in 1635. The land was subsequently divided among heirs and sold over the generations. Elizabeth Thoroughgood, descendant of the original owner, married Jonathan Saunders who built Pembroke Manor in 1764. He died the following year, and his grave can still be seen today in the cemetery at Old Donation Church nearby off of Witchduck Road. Jonathan Saunders willed his new home to his son Captain John Saunders who was the ward of Rose Hall owner Mr. Jacob Ellegood. In Fall 1775 under the direction of Royal Governor Dunmore, Mr. Ellegood raised the Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment to aid in the number of Crown Forces in Tidewater Virginia. Other forces included the so-called Ethiopian Regiment and regular Crown Forces. The then Colonel Ellegood recruited his ward to join the QOLVR. Captain Saunders was a Loyalist who was so open about his support for the cause of the crown that in 1779 he was called before the Princess Anne Committee of Safety and declared a British Subject, and was evicted from Pembroke Manor and the colonies. After their defeat at the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, the members of the Regiment remained on-board ships in the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads until the next summer of 1776 whereby they moved northward and were assimilated into the Queen's Rangers. Saunders would go on to minor successes throughout the rest of the War and after settle in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada never to see his Pembroke Manor again.

Ferry Plantation House, or Old Donation Farm, Ferry Farm, Walke Manor House, is a brick house in the neighborhood of Old Donation Farm in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The site dates back to 1642 when Savill Gaskin started the second ferry service in Hampton Roads to carry passengers on the Lynnhaven River to the nearby county courthouse and to visit plantations along the waterway. A cannon was used to signal the ferry, which had 11 total stops along the river. The first ferry service was started nearby by Adam Thoroughgood.The house, which is reputedly haunted by 11 spirits, has been used as a plantation, courthouse, school, and post office. It is currently a museum and educational center. A Summer History Camp, which educates youths about life in the 18th and 19th centuries, is also held on the site.