Virginia will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026.
Planning the commemoration is underway and the public is encouraged to attend the Tuesday, August 16 (4:30-7:00 pm) Northern Neck 250 Committee open house to share ideas and information with the NNK 250 coalition steering committee. The open house takes place at 150 Court Circle (the former Coggin Building) in Warsaw. The committee will integrate what they hear at the event, plus that garnered from the online survey, into plans for the region. For more information, contact Lisa Hull at (804) 333-1919.
The Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission has set the tone for the commemoration:
In Virginia, the American Revolution was a war, and more than a war…it was a Revolution of Ideas…
Ideas that created a nation - legal, political, military, and social;
Ideas for expressions of liberty – not only from colonists but also from enslaved people seeking freedom and Native Americans asserting sovereignty;
Ideas to ensure property rights of American colonists seeking to end excessive British taxation;
Ideas to permanently establish religious freedom;
Ideas that produced a promise of equality in the Declaration of Independence, participation in government as delineated in the Constitution, and protections defined in the Bill of Rights
The Northern Neck 250 coalition includes representatives from tourism, education, economic development, museums and historic sites, local historical and cultural groups, and government agencies. “The goals of the group are to lay the groundwork for an inclusive, partnership-based commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in the Northern Neck region and strengthen regional partnerships and build toward cohesive branding of the Northern Neck that will live on past the 250th celebrations.”