More than 8.5 million people live across Virginia, the 35th-largest state by area. From the Blue Ridge Mountains, through the Shenandoah National Park, and from the Potomac River to Virginia Beach, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Virginia, and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.
This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
The Rotunda stands at the end of The Lawn on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, on May 16, 2020. The lawn would normally be the scene of the school's graduation, with 30,000 people in attendance, but, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the school conducted a virtual graduation. #
An early-morning commuter train passes over the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on its way to Washington, D.C., on October 1, 2009. #
The schooner Pride of Baltimore II sails in Chesapeake Bay, off Virginia's coast, on June 12, 2012. #
Fora Hillman of Bloomfield, Virginia, drives her Welsh pony along Willisville Road in western Loudoun County, on November 12, 2018. #
Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia, stands tucked between the elevated rails and Interstate 95. #
A view of the center of Crozet, Virginia, on a rainy day, April 16, 2011. #
The view from Humpback Rocks, in Augusta County, accessed via a short spur from either the Appalachian Trail or the Blue Ridge Parkway. #
Civil War reenactors play the parts of Union infantry on the Cedar Creek Battlefield, in Middletown, Virginia, on October 16, 2005. #
People tour the decaying remains of salvaged busts of former U.S. Presidents Lyndon Johnson (left) and George Washington on August 25, 2019, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Howard Hankins rescued the giant busts of former U.S. presidents from the closed Presidents Park in Colonial Williamsburg when he was commissioned to destroy them. #
An aerial view of the Virginia Creeper Trail near Damascus, Virginia, in the summer #
A large crowd watches as Virginia Tech Hokies wide receiver Hezekiah Grimsley catches a touchdown pass against the Old Dominion Monarchs in the first half of a game at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia, on September 7, 2019. #
Sunrise over Chincoteague Island #
An aerial view of the fall foliage near Lexington, Virginia #
Crowds of people attend a graduation ceremony at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on May 18, 2014. #
A black bear lifts its nose in the air in the Shenandoah National Forest. #
A view of the grounds of Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia #
Ponies come ashore on Chincoteague Island during the annual Chincoteague Island Pony Swim, in 2005. #
Old Town Alexandria, viewed from the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River #
Lightning strikes appear on the horizon as thunderstorms approach the field at Manassas National Battlefield Park. #
The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with a Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard, launches at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, in Wallops Island, Virginia, on February 15, 2020. The cargo ship carried experiments and gear to the the International Space Station. #
King Neptune, a large bronze statue, stands along Neptune's Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia, photographed in April 2016. #
The USS Wisconsin, a battleship originally launched in 1943, now serves as a museum in in Norfolk, Virginia. #
A whale breaches off the Virginia Beach coast, with the Cape Henry Lighthouse visible in the background. #
Sheep graze in a fog bank in front of George Washington's Mansion in Mount Vernon, Virginia, on September 2, 2017. #
Wild highland ponies graze on a cold winter day on Mount Rogers near Grayson Highlands, Virginia. #
The steeple of the Greene Memorial United Methodist Church stands amid other buildings in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. #
Remnants of the abandoned Irish Creek Railway are seen on the Yankee Horse Overlook trail, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Montebello. #
Early-morning sun cuts through fog before the start of the 2015 National Wreaths Across America event at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on December 12, 2015. #
A view of the falls in the Potomac River, seen from Great Falls Park in Great Falls, Virginia. #
A carriage drops off tourists at the reconstructed Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg on June 30, 2016. #
A barn and silo stand on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley, with Massanutten Mountain behind, near Luray, Virginia. #
A view down Monument Avenue, looking toward downtown Richmond #
Hikers enjoy the view from McAfee Knob on Catawba Mountain, in Catawba, Virginia, on September 1, 2014. #
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