Now a look back in history! Our inaugural walk took place on Saturday, May 30, 2015, and featured NFL great Greg Scott, a former defensive lineman for both the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals, as our grand marshal. The event also featured free health screenings and a walk around Norfolk's Plum Point Park, named for the plum trees that once lined the waterfront, and a portion of the old Atlantic City community.
Earlier this year, on Saturday, June 25, 2016, we staged our first Walk Norfolk Historic Tour. It featured a more comprehensive trek through Atlantic City, with former resident Douglas Tyler, who shared insightful, first-hand experiences as a youth growing up in the community. He pointed out such highlights to the walkers where the Finkelstein’s, Odesky’s, Leicester’s and Nedal’s convenience stores once stood, where “Miss Ruby’s” popular flower garden had added color to the neighborhood, where the old Washington Steamer used to depart, and the site of the apartment building where he was born, so many years ago.
The June 25 tour walk also featured a tour of Norfolk’s historic Freemason District. Among the numerous historically significant homes in that community, walkers learned such tidbits as, during the War of 1812, the Allmand Archer House, served as a headquarters for American officers and the Whittle House was occupied by Captain Richard Lucien Page early during the Civil War. Page had been commissioned as a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, initially assigned to the USS Enterprise in 1831; but later switched to the Confederate States Navy and eventually served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. The Selden House also played a role in the Civil War, serving as the Norfolk headquarters of the occupying Union forces, between 1862 and 1865.
Please see the pictures from the June 25, 2016 Walk Norfolk Historic Tour on the page "What Participating Walkers Said!" But stay tuned! There are more exciting, historic walks coming up soon.
On October 16, 2016 Health, History and Habitat Tour of the Virginia Zoological Park, and the November 5, 2016 Huntersville Health and History Tour. Here’s a tease!
Did you know that the first collection of the Norfolk Zoo began over 100 years ago, in 1990 and that, by the end of 1901, had gathered over 200 birds and animals?
Did you know that by 1911, some of the most popular animals at the Zoo included the likes of “Johnny Tortoise,” the badgers “Big Bage” and “Little Bage,” 3 black bears by the names of “Jack Tilton,” “Teddy” and “Sleepy,” a wild donkey name “Bill Jack,” “Jumbo,” a 30 year-old Florida alligator, and a host of others?
Did you know that, in 1948, a Mother Goose Barnyard opened at the Zoo and the first elephants didn’t arrive until 1970?
Did you know that John T. West High School, now found in the pages of Huntersville’s history, was the first public high school for Norfolk’s first African-Americans?
Did you know that the home of P. B. Young, founder of the New Journal and Guide, the 3rd oldest African-American newspaper, still stands in Huntersville?
Did you know that in the late 1890s and the turn of the 20th Century, Huntersville hosted a botanical garden and a zoo, situated between Lexington and Washington Streets?
STAY TUNED FOR MORE FROM THE WALK NORFOLK HEALTH & HISTORY TOURS
