Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia

“Park View Promenade,” sponsored by The Elizabeth River Garden Club
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday , April, 18, 2009

Sponsored by The Elizabeth River Garden Club

Laid out in a gridiron street plan typical of the period, The Park View neighborhood in Portsmouth, VA was established between 1888 and 1892 as a direct consequence of the extension of the first trolley line to the area northeast of City of Portsmouth. The majority of houses in the neighborhood date to the two decades following Portsmouth’s annexation of the area in 1894, and represent a full range of the varied architecture of the period. Among the neighborhood’s  approximately 310 structures are outstanding examples of the Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, American Foursquare, and Bungalow styles.

  First called Park Avenue and later Park View, the new residential community enjoyed the finest public amenity in either Portsmouth or Norfolk—the 75-acre park of carefully landscaped groves, drives and promenades surrounding the 1830 Naval Hospital building.

The combination of newly constructed and renovated houses creates an interesting architectural blend and lends an air of renaissance to the neighborhood

Five homes will be open for the garden tour, as well as other related areas of nearby historical interest. They include:

200 HATTON STREET. An historic 1892 Gothic Revival house with a distinct Victorian flair.

   958 NAVAL AVENUE.  This imposing three-floor, Georgian-style residence, newly built in 2006, features double porches across the front and back, facing south and north.

  1034 NAVAL AVENUE.  Built in 1915 by local lumberyard owner Paul Blanford, this American Foursquare style house has been lovingly restored with a nod to original construction as well as the current owner’s preferences. 

  124 PARKVIEW AVENUE. Built in 1900 and renovated in the 1990s, this Victorian house was purchased by the current owners in 2006.   The building originally served as a Catholic convent.

  CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY.  This picturesque and serene landscape is Portsmouth’s oldest public cemetery. It was established in 1832 and is a Virginia Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cemetery is considered a treasure of Portsmouth’s rich history and an exemplary model of 19th century funerary art.

PARK VIEW BAPTIST CHURCH, 225 Hatton Street.  The first permanent sanctuary was occupied for worship in 1899.  In 1919, the church purchased lots at the corner of Hatton and A Street (now Crawford Parkway).  Construction of this distinguished structure began in 1924, and the first service was held in the present sanctuary in 1925. 

  FORT NELSON PARK.  Built in the 1830s. There are handsome brick walkways, other historic placards, and a scattering of such Navy artifacts as warship guns and huge colorful buoys. 

1846 COURTHOUSE, corner of Court and High Streets.  The Garden Club of Virginia, with funding from Historic Garden Week tours, restored the grounds of this historic courthouse in 1984.  Please visit the interesting museum exhibits inside.

Tickets Full tour: $25; $22 in advance. Single-site admission, $10. No single-site advance tickets available. Children 13 and older, full price; ages 6-12, half-price; ages 5 and younger, free. Tickets may be purchased on tour day at any listed tour site. Children younger than age 17 must be accompanied by an adult. Houses need not be visited in the order listed. This is a walking tour.

Tickets may be purchased through noon on Saturday at the following locations:
Portsmouth: Bowman’s Garden Center, Way Back Yonder Antiques, Starboards Coffee Kiosk, Paperwhyte, and the Portsmouth Visitor’s Center at North Landing.

Tickets may be purchased with cash or by check made payable to ERGC. Credit cards are accepted at the Portsmouth Visitor’s Center. Advance tickets are also available through ticket chairman Martha McLean, (757) 238-3113 or marthamclean@charter.net , or, for an additional charge, with a credit card by on www.vagardenweek.org  

Additional history of Park View, Portsmouth , VA

The development of Park View as the city’s earliest streetcar suburb is closely related to the city’s emergence by the early 20th century as one of Virginia’s major shipping, industrial, and population centers. Portsmouth and its adjacent city Norfolk provided a base of operations for seven steamship companies and nine railroad lines that served the commonwealth’s growing abundance of peanuts, fertilizer, coal, lumber, tobacco, fresh farm produce, and cattle for export. The city’s major industrial efforts centered on the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. During the era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, which saw the advent of modern steel ships, naval construction accelerated. Civilian employment at the shipyard increased from 700 in 1888 to 11,234 in 1919. The population of the city climbed from 12,000 in 1886 to 33,190 in 1910, making Portsmouth the third largest city in Virginia. During World War I, the population rose to 57,000.

Prior to this change in the economic and social life of the city at the end of the 19th century, the area known today as Park View, was outside the city in rural Norfolk County and consisted of several large tracts of farm land. The western sector bounded by Scotts Creek, the Elizabeth River, and the present alignment of London Boulevard belonged to Thomas Owens. The eastern sector flanked by the Naval Hospital and known as Alabama, belonged to the Hatton family. With the installation of the first streetcar line to the Naval Hospital in 1888, the Hatton family sold a parcel of land to Portsmouth’s Commissioner of Revenue, V. Butts, and his partner, C.S.  Sherwood, a prominent Portsmouth jeweler. The successful subdivision of this first tract of land into town lots by Butts and Sherwood encouraged the Hatton and Owen families to act in their own right as land developers.

Between them, three additional tracts were subdivided and sold by lots between 1888 and 1892. What remained of the original farm tracts was purchased and subdivided by three land companies in 1892. By 1902, all of Park View had been laid out in its present grid pattern of blocks with streets averaging 60 feet in width and lots averaging 29 feet by 105 feet. First called Park Avenue and later Park View, the new residential community enjoyed the finest public amenity in either Portsmouth or Norfolk, the 75-acre park of carefully landscaped groves, drives and promenades surrounding the 1830 Naval Hospital building.

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