 In the early centuries , this area was rural and developed for plantation agriculture . In the late 19th century , the small resort area of Virginia Beach developed in Princess Anne County after the 1883 arrival of rail service to the coast . The Virginia Beach Hotel was opened and operated by the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad and Improvement Company at the oceanfront , near the tiny community of <unk> . The hotel was foreclosed and the railroad reorganized in 1887 . The hotel was upgraded and reopened in 1888 as the Princess Anne Hotel . 
