Whaleyville, Virginia
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Whaleyville is a neighborhood of
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It was formerly 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 ...
located in southern
Nansemond County, Virginia Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. Fr ...
. Whaleyville is located midway between the former
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
at downtown Suffolk and the
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
border along U.S. Route 13. Whaleyville is part of the region popularly known as
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
. The community is represented on Suffolk City Council by Council Member LeOtis Williams. The Great Dismal Swamp is located a few miles east of Whaleyville.


Etymology

Whaleyville was named for another town of the same name, Whaleyville, Maryland, located on the
Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...
north of Virginia's Eastern Shore. There, Seth Mitchell Whaley (1821–1901) was born and grew up. He was active in the lumber mill business in Maryland.


History

In 1877, Seth M. Whaley bought a farm in the southern portion of
Nansemond County, Virginia Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. Fr ...
and opened a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
nearby. He worked in cooperation with Jackson Brothers Lumber Company, which was established in the new village of Whaleyville, Virginia. Soon what became called the "Big Mill" was operating 24 hours a day. Between 1885 and 1902, the Suffolk and Carolina Railway, a
narrow gauge railroad A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
was built from Suffolk through Whaleyville south to Edenton, North Carolina. A branch line extended from Beckford Junction (on the Suffolk-Edenton section) to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Renamed the Virginia and Carolina Coast Railroad in 1906, it became part of the regional Norfolk and Southern Railway, a predecessor of the modern
Norfolk Southern Corporation 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 ...
. Ports on the railroad at Suffolk at Nansemond Wharf on the Nansemond River and Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River each offered Whaleyville a means to ship its lumber and produce of local farmers. The long-distance Norfolk and Carolina Railroad was also built nearby in 1884 to connect what became the north-south main line of the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...
with the towns and cities of Suffolk,
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
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
. At the new mill town of Whaleyville, new stores were built. In 1907, the Bank of Whaleyville opened. A high school was added in 1915. The Lumber Mill at Whaleyville closed in 1919, and moved to
Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...
. Many residents also made the move. Lumber continued to be harvested locally, but the area became more dependent upon agricultural activities. However, despite losings it biggest employers, the community preserved. According to a local source, "In 1928. Whaleyville had 500-600 residents, a cotton gin, peanut storage warehouses, two churches, and one of the best consolidated schools in Nansemond County." Whaleyville was long located in Nansemond County. Records indicate it was formally incorporated by the General Assembly as a town between 1950 and 1973. Nansemond County was one of a number of localities in southeastern Virginia which underwent change in their political structure between 1952 and 1967, resulting in the current large independent cities where counties and smaller cities and towns had largely been in the past. In 1972, Whaleyville merged with Nansemond County and that county's other incorporated town,
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
, to form the independent city of Nansemond. Only two years later, Nansemond merged with the former seat of Nansemond County,
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, to form the present-day city of Suffolk. Although Whaleyville is now politically located within a modern city, it is still surrounded substantially by a farms and woodland. Local Whaleyville residents strive to maintain a small town setting as one of the widely diverse types of communities in Suffolk, which at , is the largest geographically in Virginia.


Transportation

During the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, the Norfolk and Southern Railway (N&S) abandoned its line through Whaleyville, and sold its local tracks and facilities near the port in Suffolk to the
Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. History ...
. In 1967, the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...
(ACL) merged with the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...
, (SAL) forming the
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...
(SCL). Both had served Suffolk. Among many parallel tracks considered redundant by the new SCL, the ACL trackage near Whaleyville was also abandoned. The predecessor agency of the Virginia Department of Transportation was created in 1906. Road building began in 1909. In 1932, the secondary roads in Nansemond County were added to the state system under the Byrd Road Act. After bearing such State Highway numbers as 506, 53, and 37, the main highway through Whaleyville was designated U.S. Route 13. On July 1, 2006, the City of Suffolk assumed control of its roads including those in the Whaleyville area from the Virginia Department of Transportation. As part of the
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
2026 Comprehensive Plan, the city plans to bypass Whaleyville. US 13 (along with NC Highway 11) is a strategic highway corridor in North Carolina towards Greenville.


Historical sites

* Seth M. Whaley's home is still standing on Whaleyville Boulevard. The home is now occupied by private owners. * Whaleyville United Methodist Church was founded in 1884 for the mill workers and the people of the area. The church is still in use and two stained glass windows bear benefactor S.M. Whaley's name. * The bank building erected in 1907 by T.O. Knight is still standing. In its 100th year, members of the Whaleyville Historical Society are working with the City of Suffolk, which owns the building, to possible open a Whaleyville Museum there. The bank building is currently housing a restaurant.Old bank in Whaleyville could be rich in history , HamptonRoads.com , PilotOnline.com
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See also

*
Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of 2020, the population was 94,324. It is the List of cities in Virginia, 10th-most populous city in Virginia, the largest city in Virginia by bou ...
*


References

{{Suffolk, Virginia Boroughs of Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk, Virginia communities Former municipalities in Virginia Populated places disestablished in 1972