FUN WITH MAPS ISSUE 2026-058: A Rewind Special  

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (April 10, 2026) – This “rewind” special edition of Fun with Maps offers a little history on “Tobacco Road”. (Note: originally published April 10, 2021)

Greater Virginia

The trading enterprise called the Virginia Company was granted Royal Charter by King James I on April 10, 1606.  The Company’s objective was to colonize the east coast of North America from today’s Maine to South Carolina.

As far as generating a return for their wealthy London investors, the Company first focused on growing and shipping tobacco to England and to other British colonies.

The locals, the Native Americans, were rather displeased by the invaders’ presence and they fought back, killing many of them in 1622.  Subsequently the Virginia Company failed in 1624.

That was not the end of Virginia, of course.  The King established Virginia as a colony in 1624.  The rest is history.

Chesapeake Bay dominates this early map of Virginia by Montanus from 1671.   North is oriented to the right.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.