Berkley was an

incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United States An incorporated town o ...

Norfolk County, Virginia Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of th ...

. Chartered by an Act of Assembly in 1890, the Town of Berkley was located directly across the

Eastern Branch Elizabeth River The Eastern Branch Elizabeth River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tidal river in the Hampton Roads area of the U.S. state of Virginia. The river fl ...

from the City of Norfolk in the

South Hampton Roads South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,177,742 as of 2020. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA ( M ...

area.

History

In the 18th century, Berkley developed port facilities and a shipyard on the Elizabeth River across from Norfolk. In the 19th century, it was the rail terminus of the original

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, a regional

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

extending 600 miles to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

(and a predecessor of the modern

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

rail system headquartered in Norfolk). Both the Town of Berkley and Norfolk County are extinct as jurisdictions. Fearing annexation ambitions by its larger neighbor, the City of Norfolk, in the late 19th century, the town leaders petitioned the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

to become an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

(which would have created immunity from annexation), but the effort failed. On January 1, 1906, the Town of Berkley was annexed by the City of Norfolk, and is now considered a neighborhood of that city. (Remaining portions of Norfolk County were consolidated with the City of South Norfolk in 1963 to form the City of Chesapeake). On 13 April 1922, the "negro belt" of the city suffered a large fire that destroyed two hundred homes. Press reports said that the fire began in a lumber mill and spread rapidly. In the 21st century, the Berkley Bridge on

I-264 Interstate 264 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 64: *Interstate 264 (Kentucky), a bypass of Louisville, Kentucky *Interstate 264 (Virginia) Interstate 264 (I-264) ...

links Berkley with the downtown area of Norfolk. It is one of a few drawbridges on the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

. Berkley also is the site of the juncture of the

Downtown Tunnel The Downtown Tunnel on Interstate 264 (Virginia), Interstate 264 (I-264) and U.S. Route 460 Alternate (Chesapeake–Norfolk, Virginia), U.S. Route 460 Alternate (US 460 Alt.) crosses the Southern Branch Elizabeth River, Southern B ...

(across the river to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

) and

Interstate 464 Interstate 464 (I-464) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. The highway runs from U.S. Route 17 (US 17) and State Route 168 (SR 168) in Chesapeake north to I-264 in Norfolk. I-464 connects two major ...

(leading to Chesapeake).

Berkley North Historic District

The Berkley North Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2000. It encompasses 255 contributing buildings in one of southeast Virginia's oldest and most diverse communities, now part of the City of Norfolk. It includes a variety of early-20th century commercial and residential architecture, some of it designed by the area's most important firms. Notable buildings include the Lycurgus Berkley House (c. 1873), Norfleet House (1900), St. James Episcopal Church and adjacent chapel, Antioch Baptist church, Berkley Avenue Baptist Church (1885-1888), Merchants' and Planters' Bank, Seaboard Bank Building (1921), former Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Mary Hardy MacArthur Memorial. an
''Accompanying photo''
an
''Accompanying map''

People from Berkley

Peggy Hopkins Joyce Peggy Hopkins Joyce (born Emma Marguerite Upton; May 26, 1893 – June 12, 1957) was an American actress, artist's model, columnist, dancer and socialite. In addition to her performing career, Joyce was widely known for her flamboyant life, ...

(May 26, 1893–June 12, 1957),

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

actress and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

socialite, was born in Berkley. * Mary Pinkney Hardy "Pinky" MacArthur (May 22, 1852–December 3, 1935), wife of

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Arthur MacArthur, Jr. Arthur MacArthur Jr. (June 2, 1845 – September 5, 1912) was a lieutenant general of the United States Army. He became the military Governor-General of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900; his term ended a year later due to clashes wi ...

and mother of

General of the Army Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

, was born, raised and married at her Hardy family plantation, "Riveredge", in Berkley. A memorial to her stands at the north end of South Main Street, near the former site of the mansion. * William Henry Lewis (November 28, 1868 - January 1, 1949), the first African American appointed as an Assistant US Attorney (in Boston) and the first African-American US Assistant Attorneys General. Born to

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

parents, he grew up in Berkley and went North to complete college, where he played football, and received his law degree. * Kenneth Cooper Alexander (born October 17, 1966, in Norfolk, Virginia and grew up in the Berkley area), an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

of the Democratic Party. From 2002 - 2012, he served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

; he was elected in 2012 to the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

., and since 2016, is the Mayor of Norfolk. * Minnie Madrey (1912-2001) late civic leader and activist of Berkley. *Rev. Dr. Jake Manley, Sr. (1924-2013), pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church (South Norfolk) and community leader. The church he pastored was founded in Berkley, before relocating to

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

area of Chesapeake.

References

External links

Norfolk Department of Neighborhood Preservation: 1906 annexation
{{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk, Virginia Victorian architecture in Virginia Former municipalities in Virginia Neighborhoods in Norfolk, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia