1902 - in Norfolk, Park Place (7th ward)
was annexed, followed by Berkley (8th ward) in 1906 and Huntersville (9th ward) and
Lambert's Point (10th Ward) in 1911.
1903 - News of the Wright Brothers'
historic first flight at Kitty Hawk NC is "scooped" by a Norfolk newspaper
reporter
1907 -- The Jamestown Exposition,
celebrating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, was held in the Sewell's
Point area of Norfolk.
1907 - The Abraham Doumar family moves to
Norfolk and sets up an ice cream concession at Ocean View Park. In 1904, at the St. Louis
Exposition, the Doumars were credited with inventing the ice cream cone. In 1905 they made
the first ice cream cone machine, which is still in use at Doumar's Restaurant today.
1907 -- The Great White Fleet - 15 U.S.
ships on a peace mission around the world - sailed from Norfolk.
1909 - Virginian Railway opened for
business.
1910 -- Eugene Ely makes aviation history
when he successfully launches his Curtiss biplane from the deck of the cruiser Birmingham
and lands on the beach at Willoughby Spit.
1910 - P.B. Young founds the Norfolk
Journal and Guide newspaper.
1917 - 600 German sailors, crew of the
interned raiders Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prinz Eitel Friedrich, are held at the Norfolk Navy
Yard in Portsmouth and build a German Village to pass away the time. The village is a
popular tourist attraction - entrance fees and revenue from the sale of baked goods and
souvenirs are sent to the German Red Cross. After the United States enters the war, the
sailors become prisoners of war and are sent to POW camps in Georgia.
1917 -- The U.S Naval Operating Base and
Training Station was established on the old Jamestown Exposition grounds. 1400 sailors
from St. Helena Training Station in Berkley marched to the new base.
1917 -- Announcement made that Norfolk
leads the nation in Navy recruiting for World War in proportion to population.
1917 -- Poet James Weldon Johnson meets
with P.B. Young and other prominent blacks in Norfolk to organize NAACP chapter.
1918 -- The City Manager form of government
was established in Norfolk, and the old 5 ward system was replaced by a 5 member at-large
City Council. In
1989, the ward system returned to Norfolk,
with members elected from 5 wards and 2 superwards.
1919 - Crispus Attucks Theatre opened;
designed, financed and developed by African-Americans. The theater is named to honor
African-American Crispus Attucks, who was the first American killed by British soldiers
when they fired into a crowd of demonstrators in Boston in 1770. The event, which closely
preceded the American revolution, became known as the Boston massacre.
1921 - Virginia Beach Boulevard, a concrete
road running from Virginia Beach to Norfolk, was completed
1922 - The US Army dirigible Roma crashed
at the Quartermaster Depot (now Norfolk International Terminal), killing 34 of the 45 men
aboard.
1923 -- An annexation which included Ocean
View, Larchmont and Lafayette added 27 square miles to Norfolk City.
1924 - a bus route between Norfolk and
Virginia Beach was established
1926 - The Schneider Cup Race between
American and Italian aviators is held in Norfolk and receives international publicity. The
race is won by an Italian aviator, flying at an average speed of more than 246 mph.
1935 - Norfolk unit of Virginia Union
University established (now Norfolk State University).
1938 -- Norfolk Municipal Airport opened on
the former Truxton Manor Golf Course tract. A new terminal building was dedicated in 1951.
In 1976, Norfolk International Airport opened, with overseas flights.
1938 - Norfolk Virginian-Pilot editor Louis
Jaffe's anti-KKK editorials in the earn the Pulitzer Prize.
Real Estate in Norfolk and
Virginia Beach
1939 - Aline E. Black sued against
Norfolk's unequal pay for black and white teachers, starting a series of legal maneuvers
that eventually toppled similar unequal pay scales throughout Virginia. Black's lawsuit
was replaced by one from Melvin Ol Alston of Norfolk. National civil rights attorney
Thurgood Marshall represented the black Norfolk teachers as the lawsuit prevailed at the
U.S. Supreme Court in 1940.
1939 -Norfolk City Manager Borland
recommends the creation of a Housing Authority. City Council votes unanimously against the
proposal.
1940 - On recommendation of Manager
Borland, Council reconsiders; votes to create Housing Authority so Norfolk can participate
in federally funded low-cost housing projects. Louis H. Windholz is named chairman.
Authority applies to US Housing Authority for $4 million for 1000 housing units. Ground
broken for Merrimack Park, the Authority's first defense housing project.
1941 -- World War II, with heightened
defense activities and hundreds of families moving into the area, doubled Norfolk's
population. At the end of the war, Norfolk Naval Base and Air Station remained the largest
military installation in the world.
1941 - USHA earmarks $2 million for slum
clearance in Norfolk. The previous year, Nathan Straus, USHA administrator, called a
Norfolk hotel-apartment "the worst slum he had seen anywhere in the US".
1941 - First tenants move into Merrimack
Park. Three black citizens - P.B. Young (publisher), J. Eugene Diggs (attorney) and the
Rev. Richard H. Bowling - are appointed as an advisory committee on housing construction
in black slum areas. Construction begins on Oak Leaf Park. Merrimack Park is dedicated.
1942 - The Nansemond Hotel at Ocean View
served as headquarters of the Amphibious Training Command, Atlantic Fleet until the end of
World War II. Troops stationed here participated in embarkation and landing exercises day
and night on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Successful assaults on 40 enemy beaches
were planned and practiced at the Nansemond, including Operation Torch, the successful
invasion of North Africa.
1945 - The first black police officers in
Virginia are sworn in on the Norfolk force.
1946 -- The Shriners sponsored the first
Oyster Bowl Parade and football game, to aid crippled children. The Granby High School
Comets defeated Clifton New Jersey High School 6-0. The last Oyster Bowl game was played
in 1995.
1946 - Norfolk Housing Authority changes
name to Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority.
1948 - Norfolk's last streetcar runs on the
Ocean View line, as streetcars are replaced by buses.
1949 - Norfolk, with 3000 units and
Galveston TX, with 500 units become the first cities in the nation to be assigned an
allocation of housing units under the new public housing program now being activated.
1950 - The battleship Missouri runs hard
aground off Thimble Shoal Light near Willoughby Spit.
1950 - Work begins on Norfolk's first
public (non-defense) housing project, across from Oak Leaf Park.
1951 - Norfolk's slum clearance program
begins with the demolition of a house on Smith Street.
Real Estate in Norfolk and
Virginia Beach
1951 - Four new housing projects in Norfolk
named for black leaders - Diggs, Young, Bowling and the late Dr. Robert R. Moton.
1951 - The last reunion of Confederate
veterans is held in Norfolk.
1952 -- SACLANT, Supreme Allied Command
Atlantic, western arm of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and only international
command in the western hemisphere, was established in Norfolk.
1952 -- The Downtown Norfolk-Portsmouth
Bridge-Tunnel opened. A modern engineering marvel, it was followed by the Mid-Town Tunnel
in 1962 and a second Downtown Tunnel in 1986. Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel opened in 1957,
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in 1964 and a second Hampton Roads Tunnel in 1976. In 1992,
the $400,000,000 Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel opened, connecting Suffolk and Newport
News and completing the loop of interstate highways in Hampton Roads.
1952 - 1918 Berkley Bridge demolished
1954 -- The first Azalea Festival, now an
annual event, was held to honor NATO countries.
1955 -- Tanners Creek annexed. Ownership of
Broad Creek Village transferred to Housing Authority. Norfolk becomes largest city in
state, with a population of 297,253.
1955 -- Ferry service from Norfolk to
Portsmouth, established in 1636 by Adam Thoroughgood, was discontinued. Pedestrian ferry
service was resumed in 1983.
1955 -- Black parents petition Norfolk
School Board to reorganize schools along non-racial lines
1957 - Cornerstone laid for Norfolk General
Hospital's new wing. Dedicated in 1958.
1957 - Calvert Park opens in Norfolk - the
last housing project of the slum clearance program begun in 1949.
1957 -- The International Naval Review,
celebrating the sesquicentennial of our nation's birth, was held in Norfolk.
1958 -- Norfolk's Sister City program began
with the adoption of Moji, Japan (changed to Kitakyushu in 1963). Additional Sister Cities
followed: Wilhelmshaven, Germany (1976); Norwich, Norfolk County, England (1986); Toulon,
France (1989); and Kaliningrad, Russia (1992).
1958 - Gov. J. Lindsey Almond closed six
Norfolk schools to stop their integration, putting 9,950 white children out of school.
1959 - Norfolk's public schools were
desegregated when 17 black children entered 6 previously all-white schools in Norfolk.
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot editor Lenoir Chambers' editorials against massive resistance earn
the Pulitzer Prize.
1960 -- Norfolk was one of eleven U.S.
cities to receive the All American City Award, granted jointly by LOOK Magazine and the
National Municipal League.
1961 -- The completion of the Public Safety
Building marked the beginning of a $15,000,000 Civic Center. A court building and 11-story
City Hall were completed in 1965.
1961 - Demolition begins on Norfolk's East
Main Street taverns.
1962 -- Kirn Memorial Library opened in a
glass and marble structure in downtown Norfolk, replacing the old Carnegie building on
Freemason Street.
By 1992, there were also 11 branches and a
bookmobile.
Real Estate in Norfolk and
Virginia Beach
1962 - Norfolk College of William and Mary
has its name changed to Old Dominion College.
1962 - Brambleton Avenue extension,
including the new bridge crossing the Hague, opens to traffic between Colley Ave. and
Boush St.
1964 - General Douglas MacArthur Memorial
opens in Norfolk. Death of General MacArthur.
1966 - The Supreme Court outlawed
Virginia's poll tax in a case brought by Evelyn Butts, a Norfolk citizen activist and
seamstress.
1966 -- Norfolk International Terminals are
built. This huge complex of one of the most complete and modern operations in the U.S. for
steamship, rail and truck carriers serves international cargoes.
1966 -- Virginia Wesleyan College opened.
1967 -- The Virginia Beach-Norfolk
Expressway, a 12.1 mile long toll road leading from Baltic Avenue in Virginia Beach to
Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk, opened to traffic.
1968 - Joseph A. Jordan, Jr. in Norfolk and
Raymond Turner and Dr. James W. Holley III in Portsmouth, became the first
African-Americans to be elected to their city councils in this century.
1969 - Norfolk State College, founded in
1935 as a branch of Richmond's Virginia Union University, becomes an independent 4-year
college.
1969 -- Old Dominion College gained
University status.
1971 -- Donation of major art collection of
Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences.
1971-1972 -- Norfolk's $30,000,000
convention and cultural center opened; SCOPE, a unique domed convention hall; and Chrysler
Hall, a separate theater.
1973 -- Eastern Virginia Medical School,
the hub of a major regional medical and health service center, began. In 1980, the first
in-vitro fertilization clinic in the U.S opened at EVMS in a $25,000 lab. The clinic was
named the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in 1983 to honor its directors, Drs.
Georgeanna and Howard Jones. In 1992, the Institute's new $25,000,000 home was dedicated.
1975 -- Professional Opera arrived in
Norfolk as the Virginia Opera Association opened its premiere season at the Center
Theater. In 1993, the renovated theater was rechristened the Edythe C. and Stanley L.
Harrison Opera House in honor of the company's founders.
1976 -- Operation Sail began as a tall ship
celebration for the American Bicentennial. It developed into the annual Harborfest.
1976 - First graduating class of the
Eastern Virginia Medical School
1979 -- Norfolk State College became a
University.
1980 - Headquarters of the Jacques Cousteau
Society move to Norfolk
1980 - William P. Robinson Sr. Of Norfolk,
the first African-American to head a committee in the House of Delegates when he was
appointed chairman of the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee.
1981 -- Birth at Norfolk General Hospital
of first baby in the United States conceived by in-vitro fertilization (Elizabeth Jordan
Carr)
1982 - Norfolk and Western and Southern
Railways consolidate; the new company, Norfolk Southern, moves its headquarters to
Norfolk.
1983 - John C. Thomas, a Norfolk native,
first black to be a judge on the Virginia Supreme Court.
1983 -- Waterside opened in Norfolk as a
festival marketplace with 120 food and specialty shops. Adjacent is Town Point Park, the
scene of concerts and activities for all ages. In 1990, the $8,500,000 Waterside expansion
opened.
1983 -- The World Trade Center was built in
Norfolk. This $30,000,000, 9 story, curvilinear office complex is a vital center for
international trade.
1983 -- The U.S Postal Center, in a new
$13,000,000 building, replaced the Old Post Office and Parcel Post Annex in Norfolk.
1991 -- Site preparation began for the
$52,000,000 National Marine Center, Nauticus, which opened in 1994.
1992 -- Ground was broken for a 12,000
seat, $13,000,000 baseball park, which opened as Harbor Park in 1993 and is touted as the
country's finest minor-league stadium.
1993 -- Tidewater Community College opened
a downtown Norfolk center with 100 students in 7 classrooms. A $26.6 million, 185,000
square foot campus with a capacity for 5000 students, opens in the Fall of 1996.
Real Estate in Norfolk and
Virginia Beach
1995 -- Tolls on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk
Expressway are removed. Tolls had been removed from the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnels in
1976 and from the Norfolk-Portsmouth tunnels in 1986. The Jordan Bridge, closed for
repairs in 1994, reopened in December 1995 with a 50c toll.
1996 -- Symbolic groundbreaking for
MacArthur Center Mall was celebrated on 26 January. The mall is scheduled for completion
in 1999.
1998 - The Virginia Symphony, under the
direction of JoAnn Falletta, performs at Carnegie Hall.
1998 - Armed Forces Memorial is dedicated
at Town Point Park.
1998 - President Bill Clinton participates
in the commissioning of the USS Harry S. Truman at the Norfolk Naval Base. The
nuclear-powered supercarrier was built at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia's largest
industrial employer.
1998 - Norfolk Southern acquires 7200 miles
of Conrail
From 50 acres of land and a population of
1, Norfolk has grown to 61.86 square miles (39,590.4 acres) and a population of nearly
300,000.
