A major player in the countrys development, Norfolk County possesses a unique history, one that reflects the many challenges and accomplishments that America has experienced since the countrys birth in the late eighteenth century. The countys citizens have weathered a variety of storms, both natural and manmade, ranging from hurricanes, floods, British occupation and attacks, Federal occupation, and aggressive civic annexation, and have created a beautiful and useful landscape, appealing to both the artists eye and industrialists practicality. This volume, with over 200 black-and-white images, takes readers into one of the Tidewater regions most historic locations and into an age made memorable by its unpaved roads, its early streetcars and horse-drawn wagons, its lively waterfront district on the Elizabeth River, and its emerging cityscape bordered by picturesque dairy farms. A rare visual journey, Norfolk County explores, through word and image, the areas diverse past, touching upon many elements of everyday life, including scenes of early one-room schoolhouses, historic churches, well-known industries, lush countrysides, and life along the river, as well as capturing vintage views of Great Bridge, Deep Creek, and the Great Dismal Swamp.

With this striking collection of historical images, experience a front-row view of the origination of the public school system within Hampton Roads and the epic struggle for racial equality. From the seventeenth century until the present, this area of the Old Dominion has been at the forefront of challenges, including Reconstruction, Jim Crow law, racial disharmony and public resistance to tax-based public schools. The fiftieth anniversary of the reopening of Norfolks desegregated schools marks an especially appropriate occasion on which to look back at the evolution of public education in the Hampton Roads region.