Colonial Beach, Virginia

Colonial Beach, Virginia
Town
Pier and Riverboat Off Track Betting, Restaurant, and Lounge.
Seal
Nicknames:  Golf Cart Town, Playground on the Potomac
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Coordinates: 38°15′N 76°58′W / 38.250°N 76.967°W / 38.250; -76.967
Country	United States
State	Virginia
County	Westmoreland
Founded	1892
Area [1]
• Total	2.78 sq mi (7.21 km2)
• Land	2.45 sq mi (6.34 km2)
• Water	0.33 sq mi (0.86 km2)
Elevation	10 ft (3 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	3,542
• Estimate  (2019)[2]	3,619
• Density	1,478.35/sq mi (570.72/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code	22443
Area code	804
FIPS code	51-18400[3]
GNIS feature ID	1493549[4]
Website	http://www.colonialbeachva.net/

Colonial Beach, Virginia (CBVA) is a river and beach town located in the northwestern part of Westmoreland County on Virginia's Northern Neck peninsula. It is bounded by the Potomac River, Monroe Bay and Monroe Creek. It is located 65 mi (105 km) from Washington, D.C.; 70 mi (110 km) from the state capital of Richmond; and 35 nautical miles from the Chesapeake Bay.

Colonial Beach was named Best Virginia Beach for 2018 by USA Today.^[5] In 2019, Colonial Beach was named The Nicest Place in Virginia and a finalist for Nicest Places in America by Reader's Digest.^[6]

Colonial Beach was a popular resort town in the early to mid-20th century, before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge made ocean beaches on the Eastern Shore of Maryland more accessible to visitors from Washington, D.C. The family of Alexander Graham Bell maintained a summer home in Colonial Beach, the Bell House, which still stands today. Sloan Wilson, author of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, retired and died in Colonial Beach. George Washington, the first President of the United States, was born near here at what is now the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. As of 2021^[update], the James Monroe Family Home Site, birthplace of President James Monroe, now has a replica of his birthplace.^[7]