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| The Norfolk College for Young Ladies, built in 1880 was destroyed by fire a centurty later. Courtesy of Norfok Public Library |
“So this is not going to be
really a happy program,” the speaker, William B. Inge, told a gathering at the
Chrysler Museum on Wednesday night.
It was about one-time
schools, churches, hotels, houses, theaters and office buildings that are now
gone. Some were of local, architectural and even national significance, but
“through either fire, neglect or redevelopment have all vanished from our
landscape.”
Inge, a one-time appraiser of
historic properties and now building historian for the Sargeant Memorial Collection
of the Norfolk Public Library, presented a slide show last week, “Lost Norfolk:
Vanished Scenes from Norfolk’s Past.” for the Norfolk Historical Society’s
“Second Wednesday” series.
There’s been a lot of
vanishing.
Out of a vast collection of 60,000
photos in the Sargeant archives, he chose 50. “Unfortunately, every building
that you’re going to see has long since gone,” he said.
Among the casualties numerous
downtown hotels, railroad station, a burlesque house, an armory, a women’s
college and dozens of homes. Some burned to the ground. Some were knocked down
to make room for newer structures or parking lots. Some were destroyed simply
because they were old.
In the mid-1900s, when much
of the city’s downtown was cleared for urban renewal, “Norfolk fell in love
with the bulldozer,” Inge said.
The entire talk, “Lost
Norfolk,” was recorded and is available online.
