Smithfield’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Smithfield. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusSmithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, United States. The population was 8,533 at the 2020 census. The town is most famous for the curing and production of the Smithfield ham. The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute defining "Smithfield ham" by law in 1926, with one of the requirements that it be processed within the town limits. Smithfield Foods, a Fortune 500 company that owns Smithfield Packing Company and others, is the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. The company, based in Smithfield, raises 12 million hogs and processes 20 million pounds of them annually. The company's largest s…
Smithfield was established in 1752. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,089 to 8,533 (+5%). Half of its homes were built before 1992.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Smithfield yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Smithfield’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smithfield’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewExterior View of Smithfield Eleme…, 1948: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Smithfield
See all 12 →
Smithfield, decade by decade
1990s
CommonsSmithfield mansion on main2010
CommonsSmithfield jordan house2010
CommonsSmithfield gwaltney house2010
CommonsSmithfield colonial tavern2010
CommonsSmithfield colonial justice2010
CommonsSmithfield colonial jail2010
CommonsSmithfield smithfield station from pagan river2009
CommonsGoodrich House2009
CommonsGoodrich House, National Historic District2009
CommonsSmithfieldWaterTower2008
CommonsSmithfield142007Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Exterior View of Smithfield Elementary School (1948) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (12). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.