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Virginia, located in the Southeastern United States, is known for its rich history, coastal beauty, and contributions to American culture. The state's capital is Richmond and the largest city is Virginia Beach. Virginia was one of the original thirteen colonies and was the 10th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state has played an important role in American history, from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War and beyond.
Virginia is home to many notable landmarks and historical sites, such as the Jamestown Settlement, the Monticello, and the Mount Vernon. The state is also known for its contributions to American culture, particularly in the field of literature, with famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and William Styron hailing from the state. The state is also known for its contributions to American cuisine, particularly in the field of southern cooking, and is home to many famous southern dishes.
Trivia questions about Virginia can include questions about its history, geography, culture, and famous residents. This article will test your knowledge of the state's past and present, from its role in the American Revolution to its contributions to American culture. Get ready to learn more about Virginia and see how well you fare against these challenging trivia questions. Whether you're a resident of the state or just a curious trivia buff, this article is sure to be an engaging and informative read.
1. What state, previously governed by figures like Bob McDonnell and Ralph Northam, is the only one in the U.S. where governors are prohibited from running for consecutive terms?
Answer: Virginia
2. In 1779, the Virginia State Capitol was moved to Richmond. Where had it been before then?
Answer: Williamsburg
3. Being the residence of Virginia’s governor since 1813, the Executive Mansion in Richmond has an address on which square beginning with ‘C’?
Answer: Capitol Square
4. What longest river in Virginia flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay? Name's the same as the first name of the British singer who sang “You’re Beautiful” in 2004. It’s true.
Answer: James River
5. They have names like Pelican, Rock Crystal, and Peter the Great: Richmond's Virginia Museum of Fine Art has the largest collection of what famous jeweled objects outside of Russia?
Answer: Faberge eggs
6. Which district in Richmond’s West End, home to Virginia Commonwealth University, got its name because of how its streets are arranged?
Answer: The Fan
7. What important museum was founded by Mark Fetter, Jay Ipson and Al Rosenbaum in 1997, now located in the former American Tobacco Company Warehouse?
Answer: Holocaust Museum
8. Richmond is home to the Country Club of Virginia, which is tucked away in which end of the city (which is sort of its own neighborhood, though The Fan and the Museum District are also sometimes considered part of it)?
Answer: West
9. A neoclassical statue, opened on the public square of Richmond, VA in 1849, portrays what Revolutionary War general and U.S. president as he begins to ride a horse into battle?
Answer: Virginia Washington Monument
10. The public comment "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach" is thought to be a major reason that Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost his 2021 bid to be re-elected as governor of what state?
Answer: Virginia
11. In 1792, when Kentucky became the 15th state admitted to the Union, it split off from what existing state?
Answer: Virginia
12. Before it was Richmond or Virginia, Tsenacommacah was the name given to the land inhabited by what native tribe?
Answer: Powhatan
13. Which 2021 Hulu drama starring Michael Keaton as a Virginia doctor navigating the opioid crisis was filmed in several Richmond locations, including the fine art museum and Bookbinder’s?
Answer: Dopesick
14. A seal marked "5-E" denotes that a bill has come from the Richmond, Virginia branch of what U.S. government institution, which has twelve locations around the country?
Answer: Federal Reserve
15. During the American Civil War, the battles of Bull Run (both the First and Second), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Appomattox Court House were all fought in what state?
Answer: Virginia
16. The Virginia State Capitol was designed by French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau in collaboration with which founding father?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
17. Maroon and steel are the official colors of what Richmond-based historically Black university whose athletic teams are named the Panthers?
Answer: Virginia Union University
18. The Virginia State Capitol is modeled on an ancient Roman temple in Nimes, France, though Thomas Jefferson had the ornate "Corinthian" style of what architectural elements replaced with the simpler "Ionic" style?
Answer: Columns
19. What is the three-letter name of the six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge that connects the Rosslyn neighborhood in Virginia to the Georgetown neighborhood in D.C.?
Answer: Key Bridge
20. Name the Washington, D.C. memorial that’s dedicated to the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. (Hint: The author and Founding Father also has a university named after him in Fairfax, Virginia.)
Answer: George Mason Memorial
21. Partly filmed in Richmond, Virginia, what popular HBO series chronicles Brian Cox’s Logan Roy and what will happen to his company as he ages towards retirement?
Answer: Succession
22. Franklin St in Richmond, VA is home to a horticultural club organizing events around what “G” small piece of ground used to grow flowers, vegetables, or herbs?
Answer: Garden Club Of Virginia
23. Richmond was one of multiple filming locations in Virginia for what 2007 Steve Carrell comedy film that served as a sequel to “Bruce Almighty?”
Answer: Evan Almighty
24. According to its official state tourism website, False Cape State Park and Pocahontas State Park are among two of the “16 Amazing Camping Locations” that outdoor lovers should visit in what “Old Dominion” East Coast U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
25. A historical marker outside the Virginia State Library, which once housed the state Supreme Court, commemorates a couple with what last name, who sued to overturn the state's interracial marriage law in 1967?
Answer: Loving
26. In 1995, Margaret Thatcher addressed the Virginia General Assembly during her time chancellor-ing what nearby second-oldest school of higher education in the US?
Answer: College of William & Mary
27. The Confederate Memorial Chapel is considered the largest "artwork" in the collection of what Richmond, Virginia museum? The chapel is on the grounds of the museum.
Answer: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
28. What annual event was held each year at Richmond International Speedway until moving to the Meadow Event Park in nearby Doswell in 2008?
Answer: State Fair of Virginia
29. What’s the name of Richmond’s “movie palace” that was built in 1928 and is one of the only single-screen movie theaters remaining in the United States?
Answer: Byrd
30. Inspired by a foil-wrapped potato, architect Haig Jamgochian put the crinkles in Richmond, Virginia's metallic Markel Building using what Peter Gabriel-approved tool?
Answer: Sledgehammer
31. In 2012 the sports teams of Virginia Commonwealth University joined what conference, where crosstown rivals University of Richmond have played since 2002?
Answer: Atlantic 10
32. Often attributed to a 1980 Virginia newspaper article as the source, the common acronym NIMBY holds what meaning related to local politics and anti-development tendencies?
Answer: Not in my backyard
33. The New York Times's 1619 Project seeks to reframe American history's beginnings to the year in which a ship carried 20 enslaved Africans to Point Comfort in what Southern colony?
Answer: Virginia
34. Currently the official state tree of Missouri and Virginia, “Cornus florida” is the scientific name of the flowering species of what canine-sounding tree?
Answer: Dogwood
35. The nine stars on the flag of the city of Richmond, Virginia rep states that used to be part of the Virginia Commonwealth. Of those nine, name either one that starts with the letter "I."
Answer: Illinois / Indiana
36. Jamestown was established May 14, 1607 as the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Today it's part of the Historic Triangle with Yorktown and Williamsburg between the James and York Rivers in which U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
37. In the 1953-54 season, Durham's Duke University Blue Devils started playing their games in what collegiate athletic conference that also includes the Virginia Tech Hokies and the UNC Tar Heels?
Answer: ACC
38. During the American Revolution, the British conducted a series of raids on Richmond, Virginia that were led by what American turncoat who subsequently had a bounty put on his head by George Washington?
Answer: Benedict Arnold
39. The White House of the Confederacy was a building, now museum, built in 1818 in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It was the office of what former US Senator from Mississippi from 1861-1865, when he served as Confederate President?
Answer: Jefferson Davis
40. As dramatized in the 2016 film "Loving," the 1967 Supreme Court case that prohibits laws banning interracial marriage was instigated by the Lovings, a couple who sought to have their marriage recognized by what state?
Answer: Virginia
41. What famous Richmond advertising company was founded as Martin & Woltz in 1965 and is known for creating notable campaigns, including the state’s “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan and popular commercials featuring the GEICO Cavemen and Gecko?
Answer: The Martin Agency
42. In 1846, the District of Columbia underwent a "retrocession" in which it returned approximately 31 square miles of land to what U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
43. Although more well-known for the wineries in the central region of the state, what state is also home to all of the following breweries? Starr Hill Brewery, Three Notch'd Brewing Company, New District Brewing Company, Blue Mountain Brewery, Devils Backbone.
Answer: Virginia
44. In 1968, Virginia Commonwealth was created via the merger of two existing schools in Richmond. With a single guess, name either of these preceding places of education.
Answer: Medical College of Virginia or Richmond Professional Institute
45. In 1865, the Confederate capital of Richmond was abandoned following the Union siege of what adjacent railroad junction 20 miles south of Richmond? The 9-month operation outside this town included two Battles of Deep Bottom, the Battle of the Crater, and the Beefsteak Raid.
Answer: Petersburg
46. In 1781, Richmond, Virginia was burned by what British brigadier general? This military leader was formerly an American major general.
Answer: Benedict Arnold
47. Which surgeon from the revolutionary wars served as the first mayor of Richmond Virginia?
Answer: William Foushee
48. DCA and IAD are two American airports that are technically both located in what U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
49. What animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane first aired in 2005 and is set outside of Washington in the fictional Langley Falls, Virginia? Although fictional, the town's name is a combination of two real places, Langley and Great Falls.
Answer: American Dad
50. Richmond's Tredegar Iron Works produced all the iron panels used to construct what "ironclad" vessel, which battled the USS Monitor during the Civil War?
Answer: CSS Virginia
51. What Richmond school's official athletic supporters club is known as the "Rowdy Rams"?
Answer: VCU
52. What creepy-crawly creature is the official nickname for athletes at the University of Richmond in Virginia?
Answer: Spider
53. Founded in 1982 by Al Neuharth, and operating out of Tysons, Virginia, what is the most widely distributed newspaper in the United States?
Answer: USA Today
54. What writer of mystery and macabre has a museum dedicated to him in Richmond, Virginia, a city where he spent the majority of his childhood, as well as several of his adult years? The museum is also dedicated to providing a view of what life was like in Richmond during the 19th century, the time in which the author lived there.
Answer: Edgar Allan Poe
55. The Breaks Interstate Park, which is considered the “Grand Canyon of the South,” is managed by an interstate compact between Kentucky and what neighboring state?
Answer: Virginia
56. New York City and Oklahoma City are the most populous cities in their respective states. Indianapolis is the most populous in Indiana. There is one other state whose most populous city contains the name of the state? What state is it?
Answer: Virginia
57. What was the name of the court house in Virginia where the Confederate Army surrendered to the Union, putting an end to The Civil War?
Answer: Appomattox
58. Which Lockheed subsidiary founded in 1984 and based in Fairfax, Virginia, provides communication solutions for national security and intelligence operations?
Answer: Zeta Associates
59. Although it was later surpassed, Richmond's Science Museum of Virginia was once home to the world's largest of what time-telling device?
Answer: Sundial
60. What American, not English, hound is the state dog of Virginia? George Washington was an important figure in the development of the breed.
Answer: American foxhound
61. Which Virginian city shares its name with the second-most populous city in Egypt?
Answer: Alexandria
62. After being in the first graduating class at the Virginia Military Institute, and serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, what doctor was the first mayor of Dallas after the state gave the town its charter?
Answer: Pryor
63. UNOS, a scientific and medical non-profit based in Richmond's Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, administers the United States' "network" for "sharing" what, represented by the "O" in the acronym?
Answer: Organs
64. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the James River are the two most expensive properties in the official "Richmond Edition" of what board whose mascot was formerly named "Rich Uncle Pennybags"?
Answer: Monopoly
65. Leaving everything to chance, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have instituted what sort of a system to let consumers and retailers have a chance at getting a bottle of the prized, rare Pappy Van Winkle bourbon?
Answer: Lottery
66. In what colony was Eastern State Hospital, the first American facility created specifically for the confinement and treatment of the mentally ill, opened in 1773?
Answer: Virginia
67. Which writer known for his legal thrillers like “Absolute Power” and his “King & Maxwell” series was born and raised in Richmond and graduated from the University of Virginia school of Law?
Answer: David Baldacci
68. For a $395 annual fee, you can pick up the travel rewards card Venture X, from what Samuel L. Jackson-approved Virginia bank?
Answer: Capital One
69. Outside of Indiana and Maryland, the majority of Atlantic Union Bank’s branches are based in North Carolina and what other U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
70. In which Richmond museum can you view the grand and Guinness World Record-holding ball (or kugel) of South African black granite, which has an impressive diameter of 8 ft 8 in and is worth about $1.5 million?
Answer: Science Museum of Virginia
71. Mr A-Z is the (quite appropriate) name of a 2005 album by what Virginian singer-songwriter behind hits like "The Remedy?"
Answer: Jason Mraz
72. Starr Hill, Three Notch'd, James River, and Devil's Backbone are all breweries and beer brands with home bases in what eastern U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
73. Which Virginia-born racehorse not only won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in 1973, but set record times in all three which still stand today?
Answer: Secretariat
74. This crime novelist worked for six years in Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, during which time she started writing books about a fictional medical examiner named Kay Scarpetta, the first of which was based on a series of murders that occurred in Richmond, Virginia in 1987. Who is she?
Answer: Patricia Cornwell
75. The first Apple store was opened in 2001 after years of failed "store-within-a-store" concepts at other chains. This location was located in Tysons Corner in what U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
76. What American patriot made his famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia?
Answer: Patrick Henry
77. What woman, net worth $27 billion, donated $30 million to Richmond HBCU Virginia State University in 2020, the largest donation in school history?
Answer: Mackenzie Scott
78. Founded in 1819, what public U.S. university famously featured a library as its "head building" rather than a religious building? This was a departure from most schools founded before 1830 in the U.S. and the building today is referred to as the Rotunda.
Answer: University of Virginia
79. Dating back when Virginia was a British colony and serving from 1642-1677, who is the longest serving governor in Virginia’s history?
Answer: William Berkeley
80. In which U.S. state on the Eastern seaboard can you do some camping at Kiptopeke State Park, whether you prefer tents, yurts, or a bunkhouse cabin?
Answer: Virginia
81. The FFC, a non-profit located in Richmond's Shockoe Slip District whose mission is to educate about the religious freedom values articulated in Jefferson's "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom," stands for what three-word phrase?
Answer: First Freedom Center
82. Canned beer debuted in 1935 when Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company tried out the idea on 2,000 willing folks in the city of Richmond. After 91% of them gave it a thumbs up, it officially went into production in what state?
Answer: Virginia
83. What state owns the southernmost portion of the east coast's Delmarva peninsula?
Answer: Virginia
84. What famous "Sir" had varied accomplishments such as being the first to introduce Ireland to potatoes and the person who gave Virginia its name?
Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh
85. Manassas-born Danica Roem became the first trans person elected to a state legislature in 2018, when she was elected to what state's House of Delegates?
Answer: Virginia
86. What's the four letter call sign of the "Voice of Virginia," the radio station (found at 1140 AM and 96.1 FM) that was founded in 1925, making it the oldest radio station in the state?
Answer: WRVA
87. It sounds like a rather gloomy place. What 500,000-acre swamp straddles the border between Virginia and North Carolina?
Answer: Great Dismal Swamp
88. The International Sleep Products Association is a trade association based in what Virginia city near DC which is home to many trade associations and also a well-known "Old Town" neighborhood?
Answer: Alexandria
89. What is the alliterative H-name of the former Kennedy residence just outside Washington D.C. in McLean, Virginia? The home, purchased by John F. Kennedy in 1955 was then sold to his brother Robert Kennedy in 1956 and finally sold out of the family in 2009.
Answer: Hickory Hill
90. What Richmond, Virginia neighborhood was the focus of the TLC series "Flip It Back" in 2007? The neighborhood, which got its name from street grading which joined two hills, is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
Answer: Union Hill
91. Richmond, Virginia is home to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for what circuit? This circuit covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Answer: Fourth
92. Montpelier—the one in Virginia, not the one in Vermont—is the name of the plantation house of what president and founding father?
Answer: Madison
93. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is headquartered in which Virginia city?
Answer: Falls Church
94. Although born in Georgia, what woman became the first woman elected to the city council of Richmond, the city's first female mayor, a representative in the Virginia General Assembly and helped create VCU?
Answer: Eleanor Parker Sheppard
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