Prior to World War II and Cold War-era expansions of nearby military bases and defense industries, and white flight from the nearby cities of Hampton and Newport News following the racial integration of schools that rapidly turned the area into a bedroom community, Poquoson was a sleepy rural area with many small family farms, commercial wharves, seafood packing houses, and boat yards that built and repaired log canoes, oyster buy-boats, and Chesapeake Bay deadrise work boats used by the local waterman.
 The annual Poquoson Seafood Festival which celebrates Poquoson's heritage is the biggest event in Poquoson.
Events at the Friday - Sunday festival include work boat races, singers/bands, vendors, food, crafts, children's entertainment, carnival rides, and sometimes even fireworks.

The Poquoson Museum, founded in 2003, is located on a 16-acre parcel that contains a circa 1900 farm house, agricultural out buildings, frontage along the marshes of Topping Creek and a country store known as ‘Miss Becky’s Store’ that served local residents for many years.
In April 2013 the museum completed work on a marsh walk that incorporates 750 feet of raised platforms with signs highlighting different native wildlife and plant life.
Prior to World War II and Cold War-era expansions of nearby military bases and defense industries, and white flight from the nearby cities of Hampton and Newport News following the racial integration of schools that rapidly turned the area into a bedroom community, Poquoson was a sleepy rural area with many small family farms, commercial wharves, seafood packing houses, and boat yards that built and repaired log canoes, oyster buy-boats, and Chesapeake Bay deadrise work boats used by the local waterman.  The annual Poquoson Seafood Festival which celebrates Poquoson's heritage is the biggest event in Poquoson. Events at the Friday - Sunday festival include work boat races, singers/bands, vendors, food, crafts, children's entertainment, carnival rides, and sometimes even fireworks.
The Poquoson Museum, founded in 2003, is located on a 16-acre parcel that contains a circa 1900 farm house, agricultural out buildings, frontage along the marshes of Topping Creek and a country store known as ‘Miss Becky’s Store’ that served local residents for many years. In April 2013 the museum completed work on a marsh walk that incorporates 750 feet of raised platforms with signs highlighting different native wildlife and plant life.
Poquoson, Virginia