NORFOLK, Va. — From a 19th-century mountain village to an island in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia has added five historic sites to its Landmarks Register, including Norfolk's very own Granby Street Suburban Institutional Corridor.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) called the corridor, which spans nearly 60 acres just outside of downtown Norfolk, "home to some of the city’s most impressive institutional architecture designed by locally prominent architects and firms."
Following a national trend during the mid-20th century, the Institutional Corridor was developed to ensure residents could "live, learn, worship, and gather" all in one place. The space not only promoted education, religion, and culture but also served as a hub for the surrounding Greek, Jewish, and African-American communities.
The district, which houses one of the state's oldest Masonic Lodge, features various high-style architecture, including Colonial, Classical Revival, Moderne, and New Formalism.
Among the district's historic buildings are Granby High School, Talbot Park Baptist Church, and the Temple Israel Greek Orthodox Church and Hellenic Community Center.
Found just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Cape Charles Rosenwald School on the Eastern Shore also made the list. The school was built in 1929 using money from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which promoted Black educational opportunities while Virginia's public schools were segregated.
As part of a plan to consolidate schools in the area, the county closed the institution in 1966 and sold the building two years later when it was converted into a seafood processing plant. In 2018, the Cape Charles Rosenwald School Restoration, Inc. purchased the property.
Stretching 1,425 acres in Mathews County, the Gwynn's Island Historic District also made the cut.
The island has a rich history with farming and maritime trade dating back 380 years ago. The district's period of historical significance dates back to the American Revolution and concluded in 1972 when The Islander Hotel was established, marking the island's transformation into a recreational destination.
With recurring elements in the island's architecture, the DHR said there were likely individual craftsmen or builders in the area that helped develop the single-family homes that "strongly reflect the 'summer cottage' or resort community that developed starting in the 1920s."
The other additions to the Virginia Landmarks Register include the Elkton Historic District in Rockingham County, near the Shenandoah Valley, and Long Meadow in Augusta County, near the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The historic listings were approved during the Commonwealth's Board of Historic Resources' quarterly meeting.
