Markers of History

Cannonball Trail
Monticello Hotel, 1898

Location: Corner of City Hall Ave & Granby St, Norfolk, VA 23510

Visited: July 3, 2009, 2:10pm

Transcription of marker: The Monticello Hotel, which opened at the cor­ner of City Hall Avenue and Granby Street on September 27, 1898, was the largest and finest hotel in Norfolk for over 60 years. By 1885 Town Back Creek had been filled to Granby Street. Construction of the hotel spurred addi­tional devel­op­ment along the new City Hall Avenue. The hotel suf­fered a dev­as­tat­ing fire on January 1, 1918. In addi­tion to the flames, fire fight­ers had to deal with bit­ter cold and ice. When it reopened in 1919, two addi­tional floors had been added, includ­ing a large din­ing room and horseshoe-shaped ball­room known in later years as the Starlight Room. This became a favored loca­tion for balls, dances, and com­mu­nity events. The grandly appointed mahogany bar dou­bled as a bil­liards par­lor dur­ing Prohibition. During the 1933 hur­ri­cane, the hotel and a broad area of down­town suf­fered con­sid­er­able flood dam­age. The Monticello Hotel was the first build­ing in Norfolk to be imploded in January 1976 to make way for the Norfolk Federal Building now on this site.

My impres­sions: Well, we have quite the ele­men­tal story here: fire, ice, wind, flood­ing, and implo­sion! I love some ways of gloss­ing past some­thing. When they say the “bar dou­bled as a bil­liards par­lor dur­ing Prohibition,” that seems to me to be a sly way of say­ing tha the bar had a bil­liards par­lor cover, but you could still get your drinks. I could be wrong, but that’s how it reads to me. This is also one of those times I’m glad I’m young, because no event described on this marker took place after my birth (although I’m not sure when the con­struc­tion of the fed­eral build­ing was completed).

Markeroni sta­tus: Direct-logged.

Three mark­ers today, all from the very short block of City Hall Avenue between Monticello Avenue and Granby Street.

Cannonball Trail
Town Back Creek and Stone Bridge

Location: City Hall Ave & Monticello Ave, Norfolk, VA 23510

Visited: July 3, 2009, 2:05pm

Transcription of marker: Town Back Creek, extend­ing east­wardly from the Elizabeth River almost to St. Paul’s Church, was the north­ern end of the orig­i­nal town of Norfolk. By the early 1800’s new res­i­den­tial devel­op­ment had occurred north of the creek. Two early foot­bridges con­nected this newer area to the old town, one at Catherine (now Bank) Street in 1798 and one at Granby Street in 1801. In 1818 – 1819 the one at Granby Street was replaced by Stone Bridge. It was built by William H. Jennings  and was dis­tin­guished by an arched rise at its cen­ter. The bridge remained a local land­mark until 1884 when fill­ing of Town Back Creek to Granby Street was com­pleted. City Hall Avenue was devel­oped in 1885 as a grand boule­vard from the City Hall (now MacArthur Memorial) to Granby Street. Most of the remain­der of Town Back Creek was filled by 1905 and City Hall Avenue was extended west­ward. Major con­struc­tion at this cor­ner included the Monticello Hotel in 1898 and the Royster Building in 1912.

My impres­sions: Coming into a new place, it is quite hard to think of an urban down­town area as ever hav­ing been any­thing else. In most cases, very few traces of that ear­lier time remain, other than a river or rail­road that may run through or past the city. Today, I would not have known that bridges were once needed in what is now down­town Norfolk. Always inter­est­ing to see those mark­ers which are reminders of things we can’t see today.

Markeroni sta­tus: Direct-logged.