Smithfield

Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census. The town is most famous for the curing and production of the Smithfield ham. The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute defining "Smithfield ham" by law in 1926, with one of the requirements that it be processed within the town limits. Currently, Smithfield Foods, a Fortune 500 Company that owns Smithfield Packing Company and others, is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. The... company, based in Smithfield, raises 12 million and processes 20 million hogs annually. Smithfield, first colonized in 1634, is located on the Pagan River, not far from Jamestown. The Native Americans knew this area as Warascoyak, also spelled Warrosquoyacke, meaning “point of land.” The town, established in 1752 by Arthur Smith IV as a seaport. The original survey and plat of the Town of Smithfield was made by Jordan Thomas, County Surveyor, for Captain Arthur Smith in 1750. As a river town, and its life and growth were dependent on the river.
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