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.
92 Virginia Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- What state, previously governed by figures like Bob McDonnell and Ralph Northam, is the only on in the U.S. where governors are prohibited from running for consecutive terms?
Answer: Virginia
- In 1779, the Virginia State Capitol was moved to Richmond. Where had it been before then?
Answer: WIlliamsburg
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- In 1792, when Kentucky became the 15th state admitted to the Union, it split off from what existing state?
Answer: Virginia
- Before it was Richmond or Virginia, Tsenacommacah was the name given to the land inhabited by what native tribe?
Answer: Powhatan
- 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
- 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
- The Virginia State Capitol was designed by French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau in collaboration with which founding father?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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”
- 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
- 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
- What is the name of the town that is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington? It shares its name with that of President George Washington's famed Virginia estate.
Answer: Mount Vernon
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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: il
- Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the development of what presidential memorial, co-designed by John Russell Pope, which features a bronze statue of the founder of the University of Virginia?
Answer: Jefferson Memorial
- 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
- Representing seven states, including Illinois, North Carolina, and West Virginia, what bird is the most popular choice for official state bird in the U.S.?
Answer: Northern Cardinal
- 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
- 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
- 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
- On March 16, 2018, the UMBC Retrievers men's basketball team became the first 16 seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed (Virginia Cavaliers). What do the letters UMBC stand for?
Answer: University of Maryland Baltimore Country
- 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
- 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
- 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
- In 1781, Richmond, Virginia was burned by what British brigadier general? This military leader was formerly an American major general.
Answer: Benedict Arnold
- Which surgeon from the revolutionary wars served as the first mayor of Richmond Virginia?
Answer: William Foushee
- 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
- DCA and IAD are two American airports that are technically both located in what U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
- 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
- When Kentucky was admitted to the U.S. as the 15th state in June 1792, it was technically breaking off from what other state?
Answer: Virginia
- What Richmond school's official athletic supporters club is known as the "Rowdy Rams"?
Answer: VCU
- Born into slavery in 1800, what preacher led a rebellion of approximately 75 enslaved people against their Virginian masters in 1831, an action fictionalized by William Styron in a 1967 novel?
Answer: Nat Turner
- What creepy-crawly creature is the official nickname for athletes at the University of Richmond in Virginia?
Answer: Spider
- 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
- What station, which shares its name with the state capital of Virginia, is the northern terminus of both the red and yellow lines of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)?
Answer: Richmond
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Which Lockheed subsidiary founded in 1984 and based in Fairfax, Virginia, provides communication solutions for national security and intelligence operations?
Answer: Zeta Associates
- 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
- What Tudor mansion, built by Alexander and Virginia Weddell, is preserved by the Virginia Historical Society as a museum just west of Agecroft Hall?
Answer: Virginia Hall
- 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
- Which Virginian city shares its name with the second-most populous city in Egypt?
Answer: Alexandria
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- USGS is a bureau within the US Department of the Interior with the motto "science for a changing world." What do the initials of this organization stand for? The group is headquartered in Reston, Virginia and is a fact-finding organization with no regulatory responsibility.
Answer: United States Geological Survey
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Jamaica's renowned coffee-growing area lies in what colorful mountain range? The area shares a name with a place in central Virginia.
Answer: The Blue Mountains
- What was the name of the first ironclad ship built by the Confederacy during the Civil War? It was built on the hull of the USS Merrimack, a steam frigate that had been scuttled by the Union to prevent its capture by the South.
Answer: Virginia
- Which U.S. president was born in Virginia but was raised on the Kentucky frontier before joining the army in 1806?
Answer: Zachary Taylor
- 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
- When Amazon selected northern Virginia as 1 of 2 locations for East Coast headquarters, the tech titan used what two-word phrase to describe the area? Journalists and citizens considered it a "neighborhood rebranding" from the area formerly known as Crystal City.
Answer: National Landing
- 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
- What state owns the southernmost portion of the east coast's Delmarva peninsula?
Answer: Virginia
- 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
- 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
- It sounds like a rather gloomy place. What 500,000-acre swamp straddles the border between Virginia and North Carolina?
Answer: Great Dismal Swamp
- Professor Joe Carroll was not only responsible for the Virginia Campus Murders, but also created a cult of serial killers on what thriller TV series that aired for 3 seasons on Fox starting in 2013?
Answer: The Following
- What classic kiddie-lit book by Virginia Lee Burton features title characters who are a construction worker and a piece of construction equipment he calls Mary Anne?
Answer: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
- What Harvard Law Class of 1983 graduate and Virginia senator did Hillary Clinton select as her running mate in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election?
Answer: Tim Kaine
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Respective alums from West Virginia State University and Fisk University, legendary “Hidden Figure” mathematician Katherine Johnson and former congressman and activist John Lewis both received what highest U.S. civilian award by President Barack Obama that was first established in 1963?
Answer: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- In April 2019, Kirstjen Nielsen resigned as the 6th Secretary of Homeland Security. Nielsen has two degrees from east coast schools that are 113 miles apart. With one guess, name either of these schools.
Answer: Georgetown and University of Virginia
- 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
- The Defense Health Agency (DHA), currently led by Telita Crosland, has its headquarters in which Virginia city?
Answer: Falls Church
- 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
- Prior to being a U.S. President, what man had been a senator, minister to France, England and Spain, Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and Governor of Virginia?
Answer: James Monroe
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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