In the 1690s, a woman living near the shores of what is now Virginia Beach was formally accused of witchcraft by her neighbors. She was not the only one. Court records from old Norfolk County document multiple witchcraft complaints filed by colonists who believed, without question, that something supernatural was at work in their community. Those records still exist.
That detail alone should make you want to read further.
The Norfolk County Archives is hosting an exhibit titled "Witches, Buried Treasure, and Ghosts" that runs from June 9 through December 11, 2026. The exhibit pulls from original documents, historical records, and local lore to trace some of the most persistent Norfolk County myths and legends Virginia has carried for three and four centuries. If you live in Hampton Roads and you have not been yet, put it on your calendar.
Witchcraft on the Colonial Shore
Old Norfolk County covered a massive swath of what is now southeastern Virginia, including land that became Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Suffolk. Colonial courts there handled witchcraft accusations with the same procedural weight they gave property disputes and contract cases. These were not whispered rumors. Neighbors filed written complaints. Witnesses testified. Judges ruled.
The most well-documented case involved Grace Sherwood, who faced a water trial in 1706 in what is now the Pungo neighborhood of Virginia Beach. She was bound and thrown into the Lynnhaven River. The belief at the time held that a witch would float. She floated. Sherwood was jailed, though she eventually went free and lived into her seventies. The city of Virginia Beach officially pardoned her in 2006, three hundred years after her trial. A bronze statue of Sherwood stands today near the original trial site.
That is not legend. That is documented history. But the legends grew around her, and they are what the Archives exhibit captures so well.
Buried Treasure and the Pirates Who (Supposedly) Left It
Hampton Roads sits at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and for roughly two centuries that location made it a crossroads for Atlantic trade and, inevitably, piracy. Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, operated along this coastline. So did other figures whose names appear in colonial Virginia shipping records.
The buried treasure stories tied to Norfolk County myths and legends in Virginia are not accidental. The geography invites them. Hundreds of miles of creeks, rivers, barrier islands, and marshland offered practical hiding places for anyone who needed to cache valuables quickly and quietly. Whether any specific treasure was ever buried here and never recovered is, of course, the question nobody can answer with certainty. That uncertainty is exactly why the stories survive.
Local researchers have spent decades combing land grant records and colonial estate inventories looking for clues. The Archives exhibit presents several of those theories alongside the original documents that inspired them. Seeing a handwritten 1700s court record next to a map of where gold supposedly went into the ground is a different experience than reading about it in a book.
Ghost Stories With Real Addresses
Every region has ghost stories. What sets the Norfolk County myths and legends Virginia collectors have documented apart is how many of them attach to specific, still-existing places.
The Lynnhaven House in Virginia Beach, built around 1725, carries accounts of unexplained sounds and figures that go back generations. The Old Coast Guard Station on the Virginia Beach oceanfront, built in 1903, has its own collection of keeper and shipwreck lore. Ferry Plantation House in the Thoroughgood neighborhood was built on land connected to the Grace Sherwood witchcraft case and has been the subject of formal paranormal investigations.
These are not carnival attractions. They are historic properties with legitimate preservation missions that also happen to sit at the intersection of documented history and regional legend. The Archives exhibit traces how those stories formed, spread, and changed over time, which turns out to be just as interesting as the stories themselves.
Why It Still Matters to People Living Here Now
Hampton Roads is one of the oldest continuously settled regions in the country. The stories that came out of those early centuries shaped how communities saw themselves, how property changed hands, and how neighbors related to one another. Witchcraft accusations in colonial Virginia were partly about fear and partly about land and power. Understanding that context changes how you read the history.
For anyone who lives here now, these legends are part of the place. You drive past Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach every day without necessarily knowing it is named for the location of Grace Sherwood's water trial. You pass Ferry Plantation without knowing the ground has a four-century story attached to it. The Archives exhibit fills in those gaps.
If you want to explore more about what makes Hampton Roads worth knowing and worth staying in, the Legacy Home Search blog covers local history, neighborhoods, and market insight for people who want to understand this region, not just live in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see the Norfolk County myths and legends Virginia exhibit?
The "Witches, Buried Treasure, and Ghosts" exhibit is hosted by the Norfolk County Archives and runs from June 9 through December 11, 2026. Contact the Archives directly for hours, admission details, and location information before you visit.
Who was Grace Sherwood and why is she part of Norfolk County legend?
Grace Sherwood was a Virginia Beach woman who stood trial for witchcraft in 1706 in a water test held on the Lynnhaven River near Pungo. She survived, was jailed briefly, and later lived as a free woman until her death. Virginia Beach officially pardoned her in 2006, and a bronze statue marks the approximate trial site today. Her case is one of the best-documented witchcraft proceedings in colonial American history.
Are there real historical documents behind the Norfolk County buried treasure stories?
Some of the treasure legends connect to actual colonial shipping records, pirate activity logs, and land grant documents from the 1600s and 1700s. The Archives exhibit presents those primary source materials alongside the legends they inspired. Whether any specific treasure was buried and never found remains unproven, but the documentary trail that fed the stories is real and on display.
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