The Center for Geospatial Information Services (CGIS) manages the City's core geographic data. It is a division within the Department of Information Technology. Our primary role is to support location-based information to allow City agencies to deliver services to their customers.
IT Center for GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) stores the shape of individual map features such as streets, property outlines, voting districts, and Capital Improvement Projects. In addition to maintaining several primary GIS data layers such as properties, streets, and building footprints, we work with other City departments to gather information from various sources into online mapping applications.
The city of Virginia Beach is 310 square miles.
258.7 square miles are land and 51.3 square miles is water.
The average elevation of the city is 12 feet.
The highest natural elevation is 88.1 feet located at Fort Story.
The highest manmade elevation is 145.0 feet located at Landfill #2 (Centerville Turnpike).
32,700 acres of the city are currently under cultivation.
The city contains 141,369 different parcels.
133,831 of these parcels are taxable.
The city contains 25,166 condominium units.
The city's present population is approximately 437,994.
The most common soil in the city is Acredale.
The Acredale is a very deep, nearly level, and poorly drained silt/loam.
Virginia Beach Public
Library Digital Archive Maps
1930 Index Map (dark ink)
1930 Index Map (medium
ink)
1930 Index Map (light
ink)
1971 Aerial
Photographic Survey (dark
ink)
1971 Aerial
Photographic Survey
(light ink)
1954 Aerial Survey Index
Map
1900 Survey of Cape Henry
1794 Chart of the Atlantic
Coast
Dismal Swamp and Adjacent
Counties
1985 Horizontal -
Vertical Control
Map
1879
Map of Lynn Haven
River, Broad, and Linkhorn Bays
1858 Survey of
the Currituck Sound
(dark ink)
1858 Survey of
the Currituck
Sound (light ink)
1878 Map of the North
Landing
River
Old Map of Back Bay
1963 Map of Princess Anne
County
1959 Map of Princess Anne
County
1945 Road Map (page 1)
1945 Road Map (page 2)
1859 Survey of Back Bay
1979 Street and Vicinity
Map
1787 Map of
Virginia (drawn by
Thomas Jefferson)
1869 Survey of Cape Henry
(scan 1)
1869 Survey of Cape Henry
(scan 2)
(Geographic Information System) is a computer-assisted information system to collect, store, manipulate, and display spatial data within the context of an organization, with the purpose of functioning as a decision support system.
(Land Information System) Data linkage between graphic elements and database records.
Database linkage to georeferenced areas.
(Geographical Parcel Identification Number) A unique number is composed of the land property's state plan coordinates (X, Y). The GPIN is derived or based on x and y state plane coordinate values in the City of Virginia Beach.
A projection system from which a sphere (or spheroid) can map onto a plane. Map projections are generally classified into groups according to common properties (cylindrical vs. conical, conformal vs. area-preserving, etc.).
The ratio between the length or distance on a map and the corresponding measurement on the earth. The scale may be represented verbally, graphically, or as a fraction.
The Tax Map shows the parcel layer with GPIN numbers in 2000 feet by 2000 feet grid format. There are 2,297 Tax maps for Virginia Beach. Tax Maps are used by the Commissioner of Revenue and the Assessor's Office for recordkeeping purposes. However, a tax map is not the legal parcel definition; the plat recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court identifies the legal parcel.