Our Old Stomping Grounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9PkojPZQL0

- Submitted by Bill Sasser (HHS - '61) of VA
Added here 06/11/08 - Thanks, Bill!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFS7o_e8mfg&NR=1 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNS25VVPFoI&NR=1 

Historic Hampton and Newport News

- Submitted by Bill Sasser (HHS - '61) of VA
Added here 10/09/08 at the suggestion
of F.A. Saunders (HHS - '64) of VA
Thanks, F.A. - and Bill!

Early 1940's Aerial Photo of Newport News courtesy
of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/09/10
Thanks so much, Dave!

 Courtesy of Ruth Ann Reece Horace ('67) of FL - 08/06/14
Thanks, Ruthie!

     

UPDATED SECTION
03/27/17 A - B
01/17/18 C - G
11/20/17 H - M
07/31/19 N - R
08/24/17 S - Z

CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONALIZED

“OUR OLD STOMPING GROUNDS”
 

Many of us are fortunate enough to live on or near the Peninsula; we can visit our old nostalgic sites any
time we wish. However, other TYPHOONS’ lives have taken them far away. They may have returned rarely
or not at all. They can only imagine what all of their old favorite places look like now.

Oh, sure, we have captured images of many of the more popular sites and placed them on the NNHS ’65
Web Pages, but what about your old home, favorite gas station, neighborhood drug store … and a hundred
other places that defined your young lives?  Just doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Now, there is a way you can have a current image of any place you want in Hampton Roads. Yes, that’s
right!  The Magi-Cam is going “Public”. 

Here is how it works. You send to me by e-mail (nnhs64@cox.net) or snail-mail (see address below) one
or more of the following:

·        An old image including the address of the site

·        The address of the site

·        As accurate a description of the site as you can recall ( I need street names, intersections, etc.)

Please limit your requests to a maximum of five sites until you receive your images. Then you may submit
another request.

In return, I will capture a digital image of the site you described and send it to you as an attachment to an
e-mail.  If you do not have access to e-mail, then I will create a 4” x 6” glossy print and snail-mail it to you.
If you are pleased with the image, I only ask that you make a voluntary donation to the NNHS Class of 1964
treasury.  I am not going to place a dollar value on these images; you may donate what you wish. That being
said … $10.00 per request (maximum of five images) is a nice round number (and keeps our Treasurer from
yelling at me about processing lots of really small checks). 

You may make your donation check payable to “NNHS Class of 1964”, indicate "Custom Images" in the memo
area of your check and mail it to: 

NNHS CLASS OF 1964
P.O. BOX 6387
NORFOLK VA 23508-0387


- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/01/05

   WOWZERONI-RINI!!!
What an incredibly generous offer!  Thanks so much, Dave!

1954 City Directory - Downtown Newport News - ADDED 10/28/03
1954 City Directory - North End - ADDED 10/28/03
1965 City Directory - Huntington Avenue - ADDED 11/08/03
1965 City Directory - Washington Avenue - ADDED 11/08/03

Some bad news:  It would seem that our old stomping grounds have been stomped beyond recognition over the years.

Yesterday I drove over to the Peninsula in hopes of capturing some digitals.   I drove out Pembroke Avenue, half expecting to see the remains of the Green Acres, Hampton Shoney's, and Sidney Lust's,
in that order. Alas, there is not a trace of any of them.  From memory,
I knew where the drive-ins were, but there is absolutely nothing there which the viewer would recognize.  And I could not even recall where Shoney's was located; there were no structures which could have
been it.  Apart from my captioning a photo as 'the former site of _____', 
 it would all be meaningless...

I had to get on to my mother's, so I didn't go up Jefferson Ave to find Newport News Shoney's or the Anchor Drive-In.  I know from past transits up Jefferson that the Anchor site is also unrecognizable. 
They tore down the Shoney's we knew (curb service) and replaced it with a more traditional eat-in Shoney's on the same site...

If you can give me some suggestions for other 'stomping grounds',
I will have a look to see if there is anything worth imaging.

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/28/03
Thanks, Dave!

I am afraid that the eye of Dave's wonderful camera is set for more disappointment.  Bill's Bar-B-Que is no more! The building is gone!! There is nothing. Well, not exactly,
there are memories.

 "It is sad, that with the rapid passing of time, that we are going
to find that all we have of those places, that we hold dear
to our hearts, are memories. But as long as there
are memories, those places will live on!

 "I would suggest that you add to the list
of Our Old Stomping Grounds, the "Y". I feel confident that
just about all of us, spanning the years of many classes, have memories of the "Y". But then, I've been wrong before!"

- Wayne Stokes of VA - 05/04/03
Thanks, Wayne!

~*~*~*~
But you're not wrong now, Wayne!  Thanks!

So much has changed! 
I wish I could say that it was ALL for the better.
You can clearly see that it isn't,
by simply driving to what used to be downtown.
To me, it is extremely sad to witness the absolute ruin of what once was a most vibrant downtown. I believe that it is a shame!!
Hardly a year passes without Newport News City Council making
some to be unfulfilled promise "to do something about it". 
REVIVE DOWNTOWN!
It never happens.
It has happened and is happening
all over the country, but NOT here."

- Wayne Stokes of VA - 06/07/03
Thanks, Wayne!
In visiting "Old Stomping Grounds" today, for the first time
I noticed that you had listed the state of downtown as "Mutilated". 
Great description! I guess I had never noticed because most places are simply "GONE"! It just caught my eye for some reason. It is a pity. The city has no problem with building "up" midtown, which is actually saying: we have given up on any effort to revitalize downtown!  What a waste!!  Waterfront areas that other cities would go to war over to acquire, we simply ignore. Baltimore, as well as Norfolk, could serve as an excellent example of "if you build it, they will come".
The interstate drops right into downtown. Getting there would be no problem. When I win the super zuper lottery, I'm going to buy downtown and make it the place to be!  I know it would work. There you have it!

- Wayne Stokes of VA - 04/09/04
Thanks, Wayne!
In some of the latest images which Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA
has graciously given us, I've noticed with shock and dismay
that many of the newer downtown structures appear to have
been designed and built behind the Iron Curtain - stark, ugly,
and altogether unpleasant.
They seem to have been born in someone's nightmare.
What a shame we cannot awaken.

- Carol Buckley Harty of NC - 04/09/04

 newport-news.org/attractions/index.htm
 


NOTE: As "Our Old Stomping Grounds" seemed a bit irreverent to house places of worship,
these have all been moved to their own page:

Our Places of Worship
 

"Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more."

- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
("The Princess")

(1809 - 1892)

~*~*~*~

"Always do more than is required of you."

-- George S. Patton, U.S. General
(1885 - 1945)

(This quotation courtesy of Kevin Eikenberry
of Powerquotes_Plus.net - 04/12/04)
Magical Mystery Tour

- John Lennon and Paul McCartney
 

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up AND THAT'S AN INVITATION, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up TO MAKE A RESERVATION, roll up for the mystery tour.
The magical mystery tour is waiting to take you away,
waiting to take you away.

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING YOU NEED, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up SATISFACTION GUARANTEED, roll up for the mystery tour.
The magical mystery tour is hoping to take you away,
hoping to take you away.

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up AND THAT'S AN INVITATION, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up TO MAKE A RESERVATION, roll up for the mystery tour.
The magical mystery tour is coming to take you away,
3coming to take you away.
The magical mystery tour is dying to take you away,
dying to take you away, take you away.
 

This page was redesigned at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/22/04
Thanks, Dave!

The page was redesigned again on 02/06/05 when it had grown to gargantuan proportions.

"Magical Mystery Tour" midi courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/2729/index2.html
at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/15/05
Thanks, Dave!

"Magical Mystery Tour" lyrics courtesy of http://www.iqm.ro/beatles/lyrics/pmagicalm.html
also at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/15/05
Thanks again, Dave!

Ship Silhouettes clip art courtesy of http://www.fg-a.com/animations.htm - 04/10/03

Construction Sign clip art courtesy of http://gifsnow.com/ - 04/30/03

Return to NNHS Class of 1965