Place:Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia, United States

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. With a population of 234,403 as of the 2000 census, Norfolk is one of Virginia's largest incorporated cities.

Norfolk is located in Hampton Roads, a large natural harbor located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Norfolk is one of nine cities and seven counties that constitute the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA. The city is bordered to the west by the Elizabeth River and to the north by the Chesapeake Bay. It also shares land borders with the independent cities of Chesapeake to its south and Virginia Beach to its east. Norfolk is considered to be the historic, urban, financial, and cultural center of Hampton Roads.

The city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. Norfolk is home to both the Norfolk Naval Base, the world's largest naval base, and corporate headquarters of the Norfolk Southern Railway, one of North America's principal Class I railroads. As it is surrounded by multiple bodies of water, Norfolk has many miles of riverfront and bayfront property, and is linked with its neighbors by an extensive network of Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnel complexes.

Norfolk is home to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League and affiliate to the Chicago Blackhawks; and the Norfolk Tides of the International League and affiliate to the Baltimore Orioles. It is also the home of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and principal home of the Virginia Opera, and the Virginia Zoological Park.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Pre-colonial

• 9500 B.C. - First evidence of humans inhabiting Virginia.

In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh lead an expedition in search of a suitable place to establish a permanent English settlement in North America. By mid-July of that year, two of his ships had landed on an island which they named Roanoke, now a part of Dare County, North Carolina, North Carolina. One of Raleigh's commanders, Arthur Barlowe, kept a journal during this expedition which provides a detailed account of the region and its people during this time. In it, he describes the site of what is now Norfolk as having been a city called Skicoak, which was inhabited by a tribe of Native Americans called the Chesepian (also sometimes spelled "Chesipean"). Archaeological evidence suggests that these original Chesepians belonged to the the larger Carolina Algonquian tribe. According to Barlowe, the local Chesepians claimed that Skicoak was the Chesepian's greatest city. He noted, however, that none of the locals had actually seen the city, but were themselves relaying second or third hand accounts of its description. The exact location of Skicoak has remained undetermined and may have been near the junction of the eastern and southern branches of the Elizabeth River in present day downtown, or as other evidence strongly suggests, it was located in the Pine Beach area of Sewell's Point.

At any rate, by the time the Jamestown settlers arrived at Cape Henry (in present day Virginia Beach) almost 23 years later in April of 1607, they found no traces of Skicoak. According to William Strachey's The Historie of Travaile into Virginia Britanica (1612), the Chesepians had been wiped out by Chief Wahunsunacock (better known as Chief Powhatan), the head of the Virginia Peninsula-based Powhatan Confederacy, some time in the intervening years. The Chesepians were eliminated because the chief's priests had warned him that, "from the Chesapeake Bay a nation should arise, which should dissolve and give end to his empire." After eliminating the original Chesepians, loyal Powhatans (also known as "Virginia Algonquins") occupied their lands and villages and assumed their tribal name as well.

Colonial period (1607-1775)

In 1619, the Governor for the Virginia Colony, Sir George Yeardley established 4 incorporations, termed citties (sic) for the developed portion of the colony. These citties were to form the basis for the government of the colony in the newly minted House of Burgesses, with the entire Hampton Roads region falling under the Elizabeth Cittie incorporation. In 1622, Adam Thoroughgood (1604-1640) of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, became one of the earliest Englishmen to settle in the area that was to become South Hampton Roads, when at the age of 18 he became an indentured servant to pay for passage to the Virginia Colony. After his period of contracted servitude was finished, he earned his freedom and soon became a leading citizen of the fledgling colony.

Meanwhile, after years of continuing struggles at Jamestown, the now bankrupt Virginia Company had its royal charter revoked by King James I in 1624 and Virginia became a crown colony. Also at this time, the King granted 500 acres of land to Thomas Willoughby, in what is now the Ocean View section of the city. The entire population of the Virginia colony was estimated to be 5,000 people at this time.

In 1629, Thoroughgood was elected to the House of Burgesses for Elizabeth Cittie. Five years later, in 1634, the King had the colony reorganized under a system of 8 shires, with the much of the Hampton Roads region becoming part of Elizabeth City Shire. In 1636, Thoroughgood was granted a large land holding along the Lynnhaven River (which he named) for having persuaded 105 people to settle in the colony. He is also credited with contributing the name of Norfolk, also in honor of his birthplace, to the newly created New Norfolk County when the South Hampton Roads portion of Elizabeth City Shire was partitioned off in that same year. Also during this reorganization, King James granted a further 200 acres to Willoughby, and it is these 200 acres that would become the future basis for the city of Norfolk. Shortly thereafter, in 1637, New Norfolk County was itself split into 2 counties, Upper Norfolk County and Lower Norfolk County, largely on Thoroughgood’s recommendation. The modern city of Norfolk is located in the latter. (Thoroughgood became suddenly ill in 1640 and died soon thereafter at the age of 36. The homestead built by his grandson in 1680 along the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach is now maintained as a historic house and public museum.)

In 1670, a royal decree directed the "building of storehouses to receive imported merchandise. . .and tobacco for export" for each of the colony's 20 counties. This marked the beginning of Norfolk's importance as a port city. Norfolk’s natural deepwater channels soon showed their potential and in order to protect that potential, in 1673, the House of Burgesses called for the construction of a Half Moon Fort at the site of what is now Town Pointe Park in downtown. The House largely feared a threat of invasion or bombardment from the Dutch at this time, though it ultimately proved to be unfounded (New York City had only just become a part of the English colonies a few years previous, after having been previously controlled by the Dutch). Norfolk quickly grew in size and by 1682; a charter for the establishment of the "Towne of Lower Norfolk County" had been issued by Parliament. Norfolk was one of only 3 cities in the Virginia Colony to receive a royal charter, the other two being Jamestown and Williamsburg. The town initially encompassed a land area northeast of the point where the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River meets its southern branch, part of present day downtown. In 1691, a final county subdivision took place when Lower Norfolk County was split to form Norfolk County (present day Norfolk, Chesapeake, and parts of Portsmouth) and Princess Anne County (present day Virginia Beach). Norfolk was incorporated in 1705 and re-chartered as a borough in 1736.

In 1753, Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie presented the growing city of 4,000 with a 41-inch long, 104 ounce silver mace he had commissioned in London. Inscribed around the base of the mace's head are the words: The Gift of the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq. Lieut. Governor of Virginia to the Corporation of Norfolk, 1753. The mace was a symbol of royal authority and would often carried ahead of the mayor in processions or displayed at other civic events. Today, the mace can be found on display in the Chrysler Museum of Art.

By 1775, Norfolk had developed into what many contemporaries of the time argue is the most prosperous city in Virginia. It was a major shipbuilding center and an important trans-shipment point for the export of goods such as tobacco, corn, cotton, and timber from Virginia and North Carolina, to the British Isles and beyond. In turn, goods from the West Indies such as rum and sugar, and finished manufactured products from England were imported back through Norfolk to the rest of the lower colonies. It should also be noted that much of the West Indies and American Colonial products that flowed through the harbor were now being produced with the use of slave labor.

Revolutionary era (1775-1783)

Norfolk had been a strong base of Loyalist support throughout the start of the American Revolution. In the early summer of 1775, after having been forced to flee the colonial capitol of Williamsburg, Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, tried to reestablish control of the colony from Norfolk. Throughout the summer and autumn of that year he was able to secure a number of smaller victories over the rebelling colonists in and around the South Hampton Roads region, mostly by means of small raiding parties which were used to reinforce his men. In November, a larger battle took place at Kemp's Landing which provided Dunmore and the loyalists a clear victory, but it was nonetheless clear by then that the war was escalating. The victory at Kemp's Landing emboldened the governor, who afterwards issued Dunmore's Proclamation, which most notably promised freedom to any slave who joined His Majesty's forces. The proclamation may have been a provocation to many moderates (in the sense of their loyalty to the crown) however, and Dunmore's victory would prove to be short lived.

Three weeks later, Dunmore's overconfidence proved to be his undoing when his forces attempted a surprise attack, but were instead decidedly routed at the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9th, 1775 by the fledging 2nd Virginia Regiment. Under the command of Colonel Woodford, the rebels surprised the British troops with their larger than expected numbers (many of whom who had decided to support the rebellion after having read Dunmore's Proclamation) and proceeded to quickly deliver heavy losses to Dunmore's toops, including the loss or injury of 102 men, whilst only suffering one injured on their part. Dunmore retreated back to Norfolk, but the quickly advancing Regiment forced him and the remaining loyalists to flee to Dunmore's ship, Otter, which was anchored in the harbor. Dunmore Street, in the historic downtown residential neighborhood of Freemason, was named after him not as a tribute, but as having supposedly been the street down which Lord Dunmore and the remaining Loyalists were last seen fleeing on their way to board Otter. His forced exile effectively brought an end to over 168 years of British colonial rule in Virginia.

Shortly thereafter, on New Year's Day, 1776, Lord Dunmore's fleet of 3 ships shelled the city of Norfolk for over 8 hours. The damage from the shells and ensuing fires set by the British destroyed 800 buildings, almost two-thirds of the city. The rebels essentially completed the destruction of the city, burning another 400 buildings as part of a scorched earth policy. Only the walls of St. Paul's Episcopal Church survived the bombardment and subsequent fires. However, even it did not escape unharmed, as an unexploded cannonball lodged itself into the southeast wall of the church. Due to safety concerns over the unexploded ordinance the actual cannonball has since been removed, but a replica has been put in its place. The rest of the church was rebuilt in 1827.

19th century

The 19th century proved to be a time of numerous travails for the both the city of Norfolk, and the region as whole. War, epidemics, fires, and economic depression seemed to swoop down and suck the life out of the forward momentum the city had built prior to the Revolutionary War, and likely cost the city its chance at developing into one of the country's premiere urban areas. It was also a bittersweet time for the region's African Americans, who would achieve their emancipation following the Civil War, only to be faced with discrimination through the use of Jim Crow Laws. Still, the city persevered and managed to quietly grow into the region's economic and cultural hub. By the late 19th century, the Norfolk and Western Railway established the community as a major coal export port and built a large trans-loading facility at Lambert's Point. Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties would become leaders in truck farming with more than half of all greens and potatoes consumed on the east coast having been grown in the area. As well, Lynnhaven oysters became a major export during this time.

• By 1800, Norfolk has recovered from the Revolutionary War burning and boosts a population of 6,926 according to that year's census, the 10th largest in the United States.
• In 1804, a serious fire destroys over 300 buildings along the city's waterfront.
• In 1810, Fort Norfolk is constructed over top earthen embankments that were created during the Revolutionary War. The fort is supposed to protect the harbor from future attacks.
• In the 1820's a severe economic depression affects the agricultural communities of South Hampton Roads and many move away from the area.
• In 1821, the Norfolk branch of the American Colonization Society was organized for the purpose of sending blacks back to Africa. Many of the emigrants from Virginia and North Carolina embarked from Norfolk. Norfolk native, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, becomes the first president of Liberia. Roberts Village in Norfolk is named for him.
• In 1832, the first steam ferry between Norfolk and Portsmouth, the Gosport, begins service.
• The 1840 census shows the borough of Norfolk to have a population of 10,920, the 36th largest urban center in the United States.
• In 1841, a new Norfolk Academy school building is completed. Designed by Thomas U. Walter, it is a replica of the temple of Theseus in Athens. Today, it houses the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
• In 1845, Norfolk is incorporated as a city.
• The 1850 census shows the city of Norfolk to have a total population of 14,000 persons, including 4,000 slaves and 1,000 free blacks.
• In 1851, Virginia authorized the charter of an 80-mile railroad connecting Norfolk and Petersburg. Completed in 1858, it was the predecessor of today's Norfolk Southern.
• On June 7th, 1855 the USS Benjamin Franklin detoured into Portsmouth for urgent repairs to fix leaks, a broken boiler, and an unsteady mast. The ship was in route from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands to New York. The city's health officer inspected the ship, as was standard practice at the time, and despite assurances from the captain that ship was free of disease, he suspected something was awry and ordered that the ship be held at anchor in the harbor for 11 days. Afterwards, he returned to the ship and allowed it dock under the condition that the ship's hold not be broken. Within several days of docking however, the first cases of Yellow Fever had appeared in some people whose homes were near the wharf. By July, the epidemic was in full outbreak and would eventually result in the deaths of over 3,000 people in the region, 2,000 of them in Norfolk. At it's peak, the epidemic was claiming more than 100 lives a day in Norfolk alone. Many more people fled the area, some never to return. The city's population would not reach its 1850 census population until after the civil war.
• In 1856, St. Vincent's Hospital was founded in the city by Sisters of Charity, in part as a response to the previous year's epidemic.
• In 1861, Norfolk voters instruct their delegate to vote for ratification of the Ordinance of Secession.
• In 1861, Virginia secedes from the Union. Richmond becomes capitol of the Confederacy, and the American Civil War begins in earnest.
• In 1862 The Merrimac was rebuilt at Norfolk Navy Yard as an ironclad and renamed as the CSS Virginia. Hoping to break the Union blockade of Virginia, The Battle of Hampton Roads began on March 8, 1862 off the northwest shore of the city's Sewell's Point Pennisula with the Virginia sinking the USS Cumberland and setting the USS Congress ablaze. Due to the waning daylight, the battle ended for the evening and Virginia returned to port to address damages. Overnight, the USS Monitor made it to union held Fort Monroe and so set the stage for the world's first ever battle between ironclads , the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor, which took place later that day. The battle ultimately ended in a stalemate however, as neither ship was able to do significant damage to the other due to the heavy armor plating. Over the next several months, Virginia tried in vain to engage the Monitor, but the Monitor was under orders not to fight and within several months, Virginia had to be scuttled when Norfolk surrendered to Union forces.
• By summer of 1862, Mayor William Lamb, after meeting with several leading citizens, surrenders the city to General John E. Wool and Union Forces. For the duration of the civil war, the city was under Marshall law and many private and public buildings were confiscated for federal use. Mayor Lamb did manage to successfully hide the city's colonial era silver mace underneath a fireplace hearth to avoid having it confiscated or melted down by union troops.
• In 1866, the city's first black-owned newspaper was created, The True Southerner, published by former slave Joseph T. Wilson.
• By 1870 the end of Reconstruction was at hand in Norfolk. Union occupation troops withdrew and Virginia was readmitted to the Union. During this time, African-Americans throughout Hampton Roads are elected to state and local offices.
• In 1871, the country's 3rd fully paid fire department is established in the city, with the creation of the Norfolk Fire Department.
• In 1883, the first car of coal arrives from the Pocahontas fields over Norfolk & Western Railway
• In 1894, classes begin in the city's first public high school. Also the Electric trolley is introduced to Norfolk. Within ten years, they link Norfolk with Sewell's Point, Ocean View, South Norfolk, Berkley, Portsmouth, and Pinner's Point.

20th century

• In 1900, the Virginia Zoological Park opens, as multiple animal exhibits are established on the grounds of the city's Lafayette Park. The zoo becomes a separate entity as the Lafayette Zoological Park in 1974. The park later becomes known as the Virginia Zoo in 1985.
• 1907 brings the Virginian Railway and the Jamestown Exposition to Sewell's Point. The large Naval Review at the Exposition demonstrated the peninsula's favorable location, laying the groundwork for the world's largest naval base.
• In 1909, the incorporated town of Berkley was annexed.
• In 1917, Naval Station Norfolk was built as Naval Air Station Hampton Roads, during the height of World War I.
• In 1923, the city limits were expanded to include Sewell's Point, Willoughby Spit, the town of Campostella, and Ocean View, adding the Navy Base and miles of beach property fronting on Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. Wards Corner, then just outside Norfolk, became the first non-downtown shopping district in the country.
• In 1930, Old Dominion University was established as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary. ODU awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1956 and became an independent institution in 1962.
• In 1935, Norfolk State University was founded as the Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University and became an independent institution in 1969.
• In 1938, the Norfolk Municipal Airport was established.
• On May 23, 1952, the Downtown Tunnel opened connecting Norfolk with the city of Portsmouth. A second parallel tube was built in 1987. The Downtown Tunnel currently flows in four lanes (two in each direction), carrying a portion of Interstate 264. In 1991, the new Downtown Tunnel/Berkley Bridge complex was completed, with a new system of multiple lanes of highway and interchanges connecting Downtown Norfolk and Interstate 464 with the Downtown Tunnel tubes.
• In 1955, Tanners Creek was annexed. Ownership of Broad Creek Village transferred to Housing Authority. Norfolk became the largest city in state, with a population of 297,253.
• On November 1, 1957, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel opened to traffic, connecting the Virginia Peninsula with the city, signed as State Route 168. The new two-lane toll bridge-tunnel connection became a portion of Interstate 64 by the end of 1957, connecting Norfolk westward with a limited access freeway. A second parallel tube was built in 1976, expanding the access to four lanes. The tolls were removed in December 1976.
• In 1959, Norfolk's public schools were desegregated when 17 black children entered six previously all-white schools in Norfolk. Virginian-Pilot editor Lenoir Chambers' editorialized against massive resistance, earning the Pulitzer Prize.
• In 1959, JANAF Shopping Center opened at Military Highway and Virginia Beach Boulevard. It was one of the nation's first large shopping centers.
• On December 1, 1967, the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway (Interstate 264 and State Route 44), a 12.1 mile long toll road leading from Baltic Avenue in Virginia Beach to Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk, opened to traffic at a cost of $34 million. Many at the time believe the project was doomed to fail due to the cost of 10 to 25 cents to access the Expressway. Opponents argued that commuters would simply continue to use Virginia Beach Boulevard as the primary route to Virginia Beach. The Expressway is a resounding success however, perhaps too successful for Norfolk in that soon thereafter, many people begin to move to the neighboring city of Virginia Beach and commute back to work in Norfolk, a common practice which continues to this day. The tolls were removed on June 1, 1995, and State Route 44 portion of the freeway became I-264 in July 1999.
• In 1968, Norfolk Municipal Airport becomes Hampton Roads' primary commercial passenger airline destination as Norfolk Regional Airport, located near Chesapeake Bay, along the city limits straddling neighboring Virginia Beach.
• In 1970, Military Circle Mall opened as Norfolk's first enclosed regional shopping center. The mall is currently known as The Gallery at Military Circle.
• In April 1970, Norfolk reached its peak United States Census Bureau population estimate at 307,951.
• In November 1970, Norfolk served as home court (along with Hampton, Richmond and Roanoke) for the Virginia Squires regional professional basketball franchise of the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA). From 1970 to 1971, the Squires played their Norfolk home games at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse. In November 1971, the Virginia Squires played their Norfolk home games at the new Norfolk Scope arena, until the team and the ABA league folded in May 1976.
• In 1971, Norfolk built the region's first entertainment and sports complex, featuring Chrysler Hall and the 13,800-seat Norfolk Scope indoor arena, located in the northern section of downtown.
• On January 30, 1974, the city hosted its first professional basketball all-star game, courtesy of the American Basketball Association, at the Norfolk Scope. 10,624 spectators were in attendance, as Artis Gilmore won Most Valuable Player of this professional sports event.
• On March 29, 1982, Norfolk hosted the first NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship (also known as, the Women's Final Four). The Norfolk Scope served as the chief venue for the event. 9,531 spectators were in attendance at this inaugural event.
• On April 3, 1983, Norfolk hosted the second NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship at the Norfolk Scope. 7,837 spectators were in attendance.
• In 1983, Waterside Festival Marketplace opened in downtown Norfolk, developed by James W. Rouse, in which a festival marketplace concept helped transform a formerly seedy harbor area into a major catalyst for other redevelopment.
• In April 1993, the 12,067-seat Harbor Park baseball stadium opens, hosting the Norfolk Tides Triple-A minor league baseball team. Designed by [[Wikipedia:HOK_Sport_%2B_Venue_%2B_Event|HOK Sport]], it was instantly acclaimed as one of the best minor league ballparks in America, and received the honor of best minor league park in 1995 by Baseball America. Also, despite worries that a new downtown park would not draw fans from the region's other cities, Harbor Park continually posts one of the best attendance records in minor league baseball, and certainly far higher than at their previous stadium, Met Park.
• On June 1, 1994, Nauticus, The National Maritime Center opens, becoming Norfolk's premiere National Maritime Museum.
• In March 1999, Norfolk opened the region's first upscale shopping center, MacArthur Center Mall, featuring many stores which are/were unique to the region.
• In October 1999, Norfolk-based TRT merged with PENTRAN, becoming Hampton Roads Transit officially linking the city with the Virginia Peninsula with interurban public transportation.

Downtown Norfolk's Decline and Rebirth

As the traditional center of shipping and port activities in the Hampton Roads region, Norfolk's downtown waterfront historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and shipping-related uses. With the advent of containerized shipping in the mid-20st century, the shipping uses located on Norfolk's downtown waterfront became obsolete as larger and more modern port facilities opened elsewhere in the region. The vacant piers and cargo warehouses eventually became a blight on downtown and Norfolk's fortunes as a whole. But in the second half of the century, Norfolk had a vibrant retail community in its suburbs; companies like Smith & Welton, High's, Colonial Stores, Hofheimer's, Giant Open Air, Dollar Tree and K & K Toys were regional leaders in their respective fields. Norfolk was also the birthplace of Econo-Travel, now Econo Lodge, one of the nation's first discount motel chains.

Similarly, the advent of newer suburban shopping destinations spelled demise for the fortunes of downtown's Granby Street commercial corridor, located just a few blocks inland from the waterfront. Granby Street traditionally played the role as the premiere shopping and gathering spot in the Hampton Roads region and numerous department stores such as Smith & Welton (1898-1988), Rice's (1918-1985) and Ames and Brownley (1898-1973), fine hotels and theaters once lined its sidewalks. However, new suburban shopping developments promised more convenience and comfort. The opening of Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach, the region's first climate controlled shopping mall, and JANAF Shopping Center in Norfolk's Military Circle area, helped foment Granby Street's spiral into commercial obsolescence. With amenities such as ample free parking at the door of one's favorite store, and in the case of Pembroke Mall, climate control, the businesses of downtown's Granby Street found it harder and harder to compete.

Beginning in the 1970s, Norfolk's city leaders began what would be a long push to revive the fortunes of its urban core.

Granby Street

To compete with the suburban shopping destinations, Norfolk city leaders tried to create the same mall experience on Granby Street. The city rebranded its commercial core the "Granby Street Mall". Granby Street was closed to auto through-traffic, repaved, landscaped and new street furniture and fixtures were installed. The Granby Street Mall was a concept by city leaders with the best of intentions, but it actually ended up speeding the demise of Granby Street as a viable commercial destination. The closing of Granby Street to auto traffic actually made the district more inconvenient for potential customers and reduced the amount of pedestrian traffic that passed by the businesses. The reduced pedestrian and automobile traffic on the street created an atmosphere of abandonment and probably contributed to an increase in downtown crime, which further fueled customer fears of downtown, which in turn caused additional businesses to close, and on and on. This vicious cycle of abandonment and blight persisted for much of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Downtown Norfolk and Urban Renewal

While Granby Street experienced its decline, Norfolk city leaders were also focused on the waterfront and its collection of decaying piers and warehouses. Federal urban renewal programs such as the Housing Act of 1949 promised cities around the country millions of dollars in government grants for the purpose of removing blight conditions and preparing urban land for redevelopment. Norfolk, as with many other cities, took full advantage of these Federal urban renewal funds and began large-scale demolitions of broad swaths of downtown. This included slum housing that, in the mid-20th century, did not have indoor plumbing or access to running water. However, Norfolk's urban renewal also included the demolition of many prominent city buildings, including the former City Market, Norfolk Terminal Station (the Union railroad station), The Monticello Hotel, and large swaths of urban fabric that, were they still in existence today, might be the source of additional historic urban character, including the East Main Street district (where the current civic complex is located).

At the water's edge, nearly all of the obsolete shipping and warehousing facilities were demolished. In their place, planners created a new boulevard, Waterside Drive. In place of the piers and warehouses rose: the Waterside Festival Marketplace, an indoor mall created by the Rouse Company and similar to Baltimore's Inner Harbor Pavilions; the waterfront Town Point Park - an esplanade park with wide open riverfront views; and the Norfolk Omni Hotel. On the inland side of Waterside Drive, the demolition of the warehouses and wharves created new parcels on which most of the high rise buildings in Norfolk's skyline now stand.

Success of Downtown Norfolk Waterfront Redevelopment

In contrast to the failure of the Granby Street Mall initiative, the redevelopment of Norfolk's waterfront turned out to be an almost immediate success. Town Point Park created a pleasant and inviting new public space at which Norfolkers gather, whether for formally planned events like Harborfest, or for more passive enjoyment of the views, breeze and people watching. The Waterside Festival Marketplace created a new space for entertainment and shopping in downtown, and while its fortunes have peaked and dipped over the years, the marketplace has recently repositioned itself as a one-stop entertainment destination. Nauticus, The National Maritime Center, was constructed on a former pier adjacent to Town Point Park. Adjacent to Nauticus, The National Maritime Center, a new cruise ship terminal is being constructed and the USS Wisconsin is docked for permanent public exhibition. The clearance of the obsolete warehouses and wharves on the waterfront area also created the real estate development pads that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment in office towers. The revitalization of downtown Norfolk's waterfront skyline is so dramatic that the face of the city in 2006 is largely unrecognizable to one who may have left the city in the early 1980s.

MacArthur Center

In the mid 1990s, with the fortunes of the waterfront looking brighter and more solid, Norfolk leaders once again turned their attention back to the historic Granby Street core of downtown, which continued to lag behind the waterfront in terms of revitalization. After the failure of the Granby Street Mall project, city leaders were intent on finding some way to bring commercial activity back to downtown in a major way. The idea of creating an upscale regional mall on the 17 acres cleared during urban renewal just two blocks east of Granby Street had remained in the minds of Norfolk's economic development officials for many years. Norfolk had long courted upscale Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom to locate in Norfolk and economic development officials made numerous appeals to the luxury department store. In late 1996, Norfolk officials made the announcement that they had finally received a commitment from Nordstrom to open a store in a new downtown shopping mall. Norfolk officials named the mall, MacArthur Center, in honor of the five-star World War II General whose tomb was located across the street from the proposed site. In return for opening a store at the new mall, Norfolk officials allocated nearly $100 million dollars in public funds to infrastructure improvements and construction of parking garages to support the shopping mall.

Construction of MacArthur Center began in late 1997 and the mall opened in March 1999 to much acclaim. MacArthur Center opened as a three-story enclosed shopping mall with Dillard's and Nordstrom as the first two anchor department stores. Regal Cinemas operates an 18-screen stadium seating movie theater on most of the third floor of the mall. There is space for a future anchor store at the northwest end of the mall.

MacArthur Center introduced upscale retailing to the Hampton Roads region and it featured the premier of a number of retailers that did not previously exist in Hampton Roads (White House/Black Market, Pottery Barn, Z Gallerie, Nordstrom, Johnny Rockets, Chico's, Coach, among others). MacArthur Center's entry to the Hampton Roads market heightened the competition in the retail industry and prompted waves of upgrade and investment at numerous other shopping malls around the region, especially at MacArthur Center's main competitor, Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, which announced a strategy to renovate the mall and upgrade the tenant mix to reposition it as a worthy competitor to its new Norfolk neighbor.

MacArthur Center's effect on downtown Norfolk

In a touch of irony, the primary element that nearly killed Granby Street as a commercial destination - the climate controlled shopping mall - is probably what saved Granby Street from wholesale abandonment and breathed into it new life. During the construction of MacArthur Center, Norfolk invested additional funds on infrastructure improvements throughout downtown. Sidewalks were rebuilt, additional lighting was added and streets were repaved throughout the area. A parking garage on Monticello Avenue north of MacArthur Center was partially demolished in order to reconnect the western and eastern segments of Freemason Street, which were previously blocked by the garage.

With the promise of thousands of new shoppers coming to nearby MacArthur Center, owners of properties throughout downtown reinvested in their buildings and made them ready for new retail and residential uses. Tidewater Community College opened its Norfolk campus and central administrative offices on Granby Street, locating its library in the painstakingly renovated former Smith & Welton department store building. The formerly vacant storefronts on Granby Street have been repopulated by so many trendy restaurants and bars that the street, once a destination primarily for homeless and vagrant individuals, has become a new hub for the sophisticated segment of the Hampton Roads region's nightlife. The residential population of downtown continues to grow as unused commercial buildings are converted into lofts and condominiums and new residential developments rise on formerly vacant land. Since MacArthur Center's opening, two new office towers have been completed: 150 West Main Street (located at Boush Street and Main Street, completed in 2002, 20 stories, 210 feet tall) and Trader Square (100 W. Plume Street, completed in 2007, 20 stories, 282 feet tall). One new residential high rise tower has been approved by the City: Granby Tower (planned for Granby Street and York Street, 31 stories). Norfolk city officials are soliciting proposals for the development of another office tower for a site located at St. Paul's Boulevard and Plume Street.

Benefits of successful downtown revitalization spin off throughout the city

Norfolk's efforts to revitalize its downtown have attracted acclaim in economic development and urban planning circles throughout the country. Publications such as the American Planning Association's monthly Planning Magazine, have hailed the tremendous rebound in the downtown residential population, and Money Magazine proclaimed Norfolk as the number one city in which to live in the South in 1999.

The rising fortunes of the downtown area have helped expand the city's coffers which has in turn been able to direct its attention to revitalizing other neighborhoods of the city. Located just northwest of downtown, the Ghent district of Norfolk is one of the Hampton Roads region's premier urban residential communities. Ghent has the highest residential densities of any other area in Hampton Roads, and is home to a diverse array of people - artists, strivers, lower income to wealthy, etc. Many other areas of Norfolk are also being revitalized, including Fairmount Park, Ocean View and East Beach, the latter both on the Chesapeake Bay.

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