The City of Poquoson, with a population of approximately 12,522 is located adjacent to Langley Air Force Base and NASA and with easy access to all major Tidewater cities. It has become one of the most desirable residential localities in the Tidewater area. Many of the newer residents of the city specifically selected Poquoson as their home because of the reputation for excellence enjoyed by its school system. Poquoson combines the benefits of small town friendliness and pride with the cultural, professional and educational advantages of a major metropolitan area. 

History of Poquoson

Poquoson, an Indian word for either flat land or “great marsh,” is believed to be one of the oldest English-speaking communities in America that still bears its original name. The city, with 60 miles of shorelines, encompasses 16 square miles of land of which 4,398 acres are salt marsh wetlands. Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, together with privately owned salt marsh lands, makes up the largest saline marsh in the lower Chesapeake Bay. 

Settlement of the Poquoson area was opened in 1628 by order of the Council of State at Jamestown. Many of the early settlers were plantation owners who, with their tenants and apprentices, originally lived south of Back River. The Great Marsh and Messick Point were important shipping points as early as 1635 for tobacco and other plantation products.

 After the Revolutionary War, larger colonial plantations were divided and sold as smaller farms because they were no longer able to survive financially. Poquoson remained a “backwater” farming and fishing community. While there was extensive Civil War action on the Peninsula, there was no known war activity in Poquoson. 

Poquoson’s rural lifestyle started to change during World War I with the construction of Langley Field. Rapid changes and population growth occurred in the years following World War II. Farming and fishing quickly gave way to suburbanization. 

Poquoson, which had been a part of York County for many years, became a town in 1952 and an independent city in 1975 upon referendum of the citizens. Certain municipal offices and functions continue to be shared with York County. 

Poquoson is organized under the Council-Manager form of government. The Poquoson City Council is composed of seven members who are elected by the voters and serve four-year terms. The City is divided into three precincts. Each precinct is entitled to two representatives. One representative is elected at-large and he/she is the City Mayor. Persons elected to City Council take office on the first working day of January following the election. 

History of the Schools

Early in the history of Poquoson the community paid to support a day school for its children, and though now it has been replaced with public schools, the people continue to take great pride in having schools specifically to serve their area. The building known as “The Hall” was where school was also taught for short sessions in the cold weather months. In the school there was only one teacher and one room. The first high school in the area was built for $6,000 in 1910-1911. It was a two story, wooden building with a cupola. It was located where the present middle school now stands on Poquoson Avenue. It housed the entire student body for all grades. The original school bell, which was used from 1911 through 1932, is currently on display in the School Board office in City Hall. A diploma for the first graduating class in 1915 and a class ring for that period are also on display. 

Where once there was a one room, one teacher school, by 1932 we established a modern school system serving the people, the only high school in York County. When classes began in September of 1932, students were bussed from all of York County, except the Bruton District. There was a graded school for the smaller children and a new fireproof brick building for the high school pupils, which served all of York County. The first freshman class entered the new brick edifice which had been erected close by the original building and which now forms the core of the Poquoson Middle School which was recently modernized and was completed in September 2022 ahead of the projected completion date of January 2023. The old building was used for elementary school students. 

In 1952 a referendum was held to move the high school to a centrally located position for the county. Poquoson citizens disagreed. Since the law requires an area to be a township with its own operational system to retain its school, Poquoson voted to become a town. That expansion has resulted in the development of an attractive residential town which began shortly after the General Assembly of Virginia approved an act providing for incorporation of the Town of Poquoson in York County, and the creation of a special school district. 

The period of 1952 – 1954 is reported as years of planning. Also, during this period a new $300,000 elementary school was constructed. Because of school population growth, two rooms were added to the school in 1955 at a cost of $20,000. It was shortly discovered that this would not be sufficient to take care of the increased student enrollment and, in 1956, six more rooms were added at a cost of $73,000. 

In 1955, when the elementary school was opened, the original wooden building was torn down. In 1959 the elementary school plans called for construction of three additional classrooms. The building site was purchased for $17,000. The first major expenditure at the high school (now the Poquoson Middle School) was the installation of a new boiler in 1957 and the purchase of a tract of land in the rear of the school in 1958. 

The seventh birthday of the town, founded upon the principal of “better schools,” approached as the community became involved in a debate and associated referendum on further school construction, to include a new gymnasium and kitchen and conversion of the present gym into classrooms at what is now Poquoson Middle School. The voters approved the referendum by three to one. Additional sections were added to the original site in 1962 and 1970, and a new cafeteria, connecting the gymnasium to the main school building was built in 1994. Built in 1932, Poquoson Middle School has undergone 11 construction projects, including an addition in 1994. Poquoson City Public Schools engaged an architectural and design firm to modernize the building and this major renovation was completed in September of 2022. 

In 1976 a new high school was built on Odd Road. This building was enlarged in 1979. In 1997 a complete renovation was done to the original building and a new science wing and cafeteria/kitchen were added to the back of the building. 

The Poquoson Primary School was built in 1990 to house grades pre-school through second. This building is located next to our high school. 

In 2003, Hurricane Isabel caused significant flooding at the Poquoson Elementary School. The Poquoson City Council authorized the School Board to begin proceedings to build a new elementary school that would raise the building out of harm’s way. The new elementary school opened at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year as planned. The approximate cost to construct the new elementary school was $18,000,000.