Portsmouth is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is the ninth-most populous city in Virginia and is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Due to its strategic location, the city has long been associated with the United States Armed Forces, particularly the Navy. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is a historic and active Navy facility located in Portsmouth.

In 1620, the future site of Portsmouth was recognized as a suitable shipbuilding location by John Wood, a shipbuilder, who petitioned King James I of England for a land grant. The surrounding area was soon settled as a plantation community.

Portsmouth was founded by Colonel William Crawford, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. It was established as a town in 1752 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly and was named for Portsmouth, England.

In 1767, Andrew Sprowle, a shipbuilder, founded the Gosport Shipyard adjacent to Portsmouth. The Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth was owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia after the American Revolutionary War and was sold to the new United States federal government.^{[citation needed]} In 1779, Portsmouth was sacked by British forces during the Revolutionary War.

Following the Revolutionary War, George Washington invited Marquis de Lafayette to visit the United States. Lafayette accepted, and was celebrated with parades and balls all around the country. In October 1824, Lafayette visited the town, stopping to have tea at Hill House. In 1836, the town of Portsmouth was incorporated.

In 1855, the Portsmouth and Norfolk area suffered an epidemic of yellow fever which killed 1 of every three citizens. On June 6, 1855, the Benjamin Franklin vessel arrived in Hampton Roads for repairs. The ship had just sailed from the West Indies, where there had been an outbreak of yellow fever. The port health officer ordered the ship quarantined. After twelve days, a second inspection found no issues, so it was allowed to dock at the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth. Workers from the shipyard began to fall ill, and it was later discovered that the ship's captain had concealed sailors who were suffering from the disease. Some of the workers from the shipyard lived in Norfolk, and returned home by taking the ferry across the Elizabeth River, taking the yellow fever with them. The poor and immigrants were the first to fall ill. At the time, no one understood how the disease was transmitted, though it was later determined to have spread via mosquitoes and poor sanitation. This lack of understanding led to widespread panic, and about one-third of Portsmouth's 10,000 residents fled the region in the hopes of escaping the epidemic. New York banned all persons and vessels from the region, since both Norfolk and Portsmouth were infected. Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Richmond, Petersburg, and Suffolk also banned persons from the region. Mathews County and the Eastern Shore remained open to those fleeing the illness. The Gosport Navy Yard remained open, but more than 1,000 shipyard workers left. By the end of August, only 3,000 residents remained in Portsmouth. The number of infected reached 5,000 in September, and by the second week of September, a combined 1,500 had died in Norfolk and Portsmouth. As fall arrived and the weather cooled, the outbreak began to wane, leaving a final tally of about 3,200 dead in the region.

The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1857. During the 19th century, the church was part of the Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers from Virginia and other slave states used the church as a hiding place and refuge on their way to the abolitionist Northern United States. Individuals would hide in the basement, attic, and behind the organ until moving on to the next location.

In 1858, Portsmouth became an independent city, but it remained the seat of Norfolk County.