Colonial Place / Riverview

Welcome to the Neighborhood

CPRV WELCOME COMMITTEE

Welcome from the CPRV Welcome Committee! We think you've picked a great place to live in Norfolk and we'd like to introduce you to the neighborhood. Please contact us if your are new to the neighborhood or know of someone who has just moved in so we can arrange a short personal visit and deliver a welcome packet.

Chair: Michelle Aragones (email contact: love2wah@yahoo.com

CPRV businesses, groups, etc. are encouraged to promote their entity in the welcome packet. Please contact the Welcome Committee Chair for details.

CHECKLIST FOR NEW RESIDENTS

1. Read the current monthly CPRV Newsletter

Neighborhood volunteers deliver the monthly CPRV Newsletter to your doorstep the weekend before the monthly Civic League meeting. The current issue is always available on the CPRV web site as well as an archive of past editions.

2. Explore the CPRV Web Site

CPRV has been on the Web since December of 1999. Use the standard links on the home page to navigate or the alphabetical site list if you prefer.

3. Join the CPRV Civic League

Membership runs from January to December and is only $10 per person ($5 for seniors). This annual contribution is one way of thanking and showing support for the volunteers who daily promote and protect the interests of CPRV by delivering the monthly newsletter, serving as Block Captains in the Neighborhood Watch, or serving more visibly as Officers and Committee Chairs in the Civic League. It's so easy to join. Just fill out the membership form and mail it to the CPRV PO Box on the form.

4. Join the Neighborhood Email List

While not an official function of the CPRV Civic League, the Neighborhood Email List is a vital communication source within the neighborhood.

The CPRV mailing list exists for the use and enjoyment of the Colonial Place/Riverview community. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the sharing of information relevant to the neighborhood community it serves. Posts to the list are considered to be "on topic" when the content of the message has value or relevance to the CPRV community specifically.

Timely posts to the list have resulted in pets being reunited with their owners, recommendations for work people, and perhaps most importantly crime alerts. Join the CPRV Email List

5. Purchase a copy of Colonial Place and Riverview: One Hundred Years of History

Colonial Place and Riverview: One Hundred Years of History: This elegant hardcover volume is a treasure trove of pictures and stories recording the places, people, and events of a century of life in our two fascinating neighborhoods. Colonial Place residents Susan VanHecke and Artemis Stoll have co-authored this "gift" to the neighborhood. Pick up your copy of this limited edition pictorial for only $24.95 at one of the following locations:

• Mary Barnett Gifts, 4122 Granby Street
• Bloom, 4212 Granby Street
• McDonald Montessori, 4200 Granby Street
• Riverview Coffee Parlor, 4117 Granby Street
• Prince Book, 109 East Main Street
• Amazon.com

• Monthly Civic League meetings held the second Monday of the month at 7:00 pm at Knox Presbyterian Church, Colonial and 37th Street
• Annual Art Walk
• Oyster Float Project
• Wetlands Project
• Vegan Group
• Play Group
• Monthly Civic League Newsletter
• Neighborhood Email List
• Dog Park
• Web site
• Annual Ice Cream Social
• Annual Garage Sale
• Liaisons with Riverview Business District (Granby)
• Liaisons with Colley Business Association
• Neighborhood Watch (Crime prevention)
• Active Civic League

CPRV--AN HISTORICAL NEIGHBORHOOD

The history of Colonial Place and Riverview began at the turn of the 20th century during a period of growth for the City of Norfolk. The city annexed a farming community just outside of town and slated it for suburban development; Colonial Place and Riverview were part of this development.

Concurrent with the development of Colonial Place was the historic Jamestown Exposition, marking the three-hundreth anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. Held in 1907 on fairgrounds near Sewell's Point, this event inspired the developers of the neighborhood to discard their original name, Sterling Place, and rename the development Colonial Place. In keeping with the new motif, all of the east-west streets were named after the original thirteen colonies.

By 1908, the housing boom brought on by the vibrant economy at the turn of the century began to rapidly dissipate. It remained sluggish until World War I, when the influx of military personnel and their families into Norfolk's Naval Base (built on the site of the Jamestown Exposition) created a high demand for middle-class housing in Colonial Place. In fact, most of the homes standing in Colonial Place today were built during the late teens and early 1920s.

Riverview, on the other hand, began its development a few years before Colonial Place. This head start proved to be Riverview's buffer against the diminished housing demand in 1908. Riverview saw many stately homes built in the first decade of the century.

By 1930, both Colonial Place and Riverview were well established suburban neighborhoods--neighborhoods whose residents moved in, raised their families, grew old, and eventually passed their homes onto younger families who started the cycle anew. Many home owners today are knowledgeable of the previous owners of their homes and often possess at least a verbal, if not a written history.

In the late 1960s, Colonial Place and Riverview were united by a single civic league, which through the efforts of the Stabilization Committee, successfully guided these two neighborhoods through a period when urban deterioration threatened many beautiful neighborhoods. Today, these two neighborhoods continue to maintain their original charm and middle-class desirability. They are coveted by prospective home buyers for their beautiful old homes, parks, and water views, as well as for the patina of nearly one-hundred years of history. Riverview celebrated its one-hundreth anniversary in 2000; Colonial Place in 2003. In September of 1999 Riverview was designated a National Historic Site and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Colonial Place received its designation in June 2001.