Pembroke Manor, Virginia

Last updated
Pembroke Manor
Unincorporated area
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Pembroke Manor
Location within the state of Virginia
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Pembroke Manor
Pembroke Manor (the United States)
Coordinates: 36°51′8″N76°8′10″W / 36.85222°N 76.13611°W / 36.85222; -76.13611
CountryUnited States
State Virginia
Independent city Virginia Beach
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)

Pembroke Manor (also known as Pembroke) is an area in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States located around the intersections of Virginia Beach Boulevard (U.S. Route 58) and Independence Boulevard (State Route 225). The community's name comes from Pembroke Manor, a plantation built in 1764. [1] The house was donated by the Aragona family to the Princess Anne Historical Society, but currently is under private ownership and serves as Ivy League Academy, a private Christian school for children K4 through 5th grades. It has now been sold and become another business. The structure itself was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 as #70000887 and is one of the oldest and most significant structures in the City of Virginia Beach.

Contents

One of the first developments of the area was Princess Anne High School, which opened in 1954. The neighborhood was characterized by Pembroke Mall, originally its only regionally recognizable landmark, after its opening in 1966. Anchor Pembroke Mall department stores included Miller & Rhoads and Sears, with regional retailers like Willner's and Hofheimer's joining national chains like Radio Shack and F. W. Woolworth. [2] The mall was eventually overshadowed by the Lynnhaven Mall, in the Lynnhaven section of the city after its opening in 1981. [3] Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the intersection at Pembroke Manor was criticized by urban planner and architect Andres Duany for its pedestrian unfriendliness. [4] Now, however, Pembroke Manor is home to many new high-end shops and restaurants due to the public-private Virginia Beach Town Center project, which has the feel of new urbanism. The Town Center Project's goal is to revitalize the Pembroke Manor area and create a modern 'downtown' area in what has become one of the city's core business districts.

In moving the traditional focus of the city away from the Oceanfront, Virginia Beach's resort area, the city hopes to revitalize itself. Town Center currently has two high rise towers, the Armada Hoffler Tower (named for the developer) and The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center tower, with more in the works. A luxury apartment building, the Cosmopolitan, has been built as part of the project, as well as several restaurants and a performing arts center.

The land that Pembroke Manor was built upon was given to Captain Adam Thoroughgood in a land grant in 1635. The land was subsequently divided among heirs and sold over the generations. Elizabeth Thoroughgood, descendant of the original owner, married Jonathan Saunders who built Pembroke Manor in 1764. He died the following year, and his grave can still be seen today in the cemetery at Old Donation Church nearby off of Witchduck Road. Jonathan Saunders willed his new home to his son Captain John Saunders who was the ward of Rose Hall owner Mr. Jacob Ellegood. In Fall 1775 under the direction of Royal Governor Dunmore, Mr. Ellegood raised the Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment to aid in the number of Crown Forces in Tidewater Virginia. Other forces included the so-called Ethiopian Regiment and regular Crown Forces. The then Colonel Ellegood recruited his ward to join the QOLVR. Captain Saunders was a Loyalist who was so open about his support for the cause of the crown that in 1779 he was called before the Princess Anne Committee of Safety and declared a British Subject, and was evicted from Pembroke Manor [5] and the colonies. After their defeat at the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, the members of the Regiment remained on-board ships in the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads until the next summer of 1776 whereby they moved northward and were assimilated into the Queen's Rangers. Saunders would go on to minor successes throughout the rest of the War and after settle in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada never to see his Pembroke Manor again.

See also

Captain Jonathan Saunders grave is NOT at the Old Donation Church, only the gravestone is there. His grave and the graves of other family members remain in the family plot on the east side of the manor, presently being used as a family vegetable garden, even though it is fenced off. Additionally, the house was built facing the Lynnhaven River and had a tunnel running from the house to that river. The house is located on Constitution Road just off Independence Blvd. Many names of its builders can be seen etched in its masonry.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Beach, Virginia</span> Largest city in Virginia, United States

Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of Virginia, United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city in Virginia, fifth-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic and the 42nd-most populous city in the U.S. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is a principal city in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 264 (Virginia)</span> Interstate Highway in southeastern Virginia, US

Interstate 264 (I-264) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. It serves as the primary east–west highway through the South Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia. The route connects the central business districts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach and serves as the most direct link between those cities and the resort beaches along Virginia's Atlantic coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Anne County, Virginia</span>

County of Princess Anne is a former county in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, first incorporated in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach on January 1, 1963, ceasing to exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Anne High School</span> High school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

Princess Anne High School (PAHS) is one of 11 high schools in the Virginia Beach City Public School System. Opened in 1954, it is the oldest remaining high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. The school is named after the now extinct Princess Anne County, Virginia which was annexed with the founding of Virginia Beach. Princess Anne High School is slated to be demolished following the construction of a replacement building. The construction is anticipated to begin in 2024 with the new building being open in 2028. The demolishing of the building will end its 74 year history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Beach Boulevard</span>

Virginia Beach Boulevard is a major connector highway which carries U.S. Route 58 most of its length and extends from the downtown area of Norfolk to the Oceanfront area of Virginia Beach, passing through the newly developed New Urbanist Town Center development of the latter as it links the two independent cities in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia.

Thalia is a residential neighborhood in the northeastern area of the independent city of Virginia Beach in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Thoroughgood</span>

Adam Thoroughgood [Thorowgood] (1604–1640) was a colonist and community leader in the Virginia Colony who helped settle the Virginia counties of Elizabeth City, Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne, the latter, known today as the independent city of Virginia Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynnhaven River</span> River in the United States of America

The Lynnhaven River is a tidal estuary located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay west of Cape Henry at Lynnhaven Inlet, beyond which is Lynnhaven Roads. It has a small, developed watershed covering 64 square miles (170 km2), terminating at Lynnhaven Bay. It was once famous along the East Coast of the United States for its oysters, which declined through pollution and runoff. It is now being restored by the Lynnhaven River Now restoration project based out of the Brock Environmental Center. A proposed comprehensive project for ecosystem restoration of the Lynnhaven River Basin is currently under consideration by the United States Congress.

Virginia Beach City Public Schools is the branch of the government of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia responsible for public K-12 education. Like all public school systems in the state, it is legally classified as a school division instead of a school district. Although Virginia school divisions perform the functions of school districts in other U.S. states, they have no taxing authority, instead relying on appropriations from their local governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia State Route 225</span> State highway in Virginia, United States

State Route 225 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Independence Boulevard, the state highway runs 5.40 miles (8.69 km) from South Boulevard north to U.S. Route 60 within the independent city of Virginia Beach. SR 225 connects Interstate 264 (I-264) with US 58 in the Pembroke Manor area of the city and with US 13 near Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The unnumbered portion of Independence Boulevard to the south connects those areas with the Princess Anne section of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Keeling House</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

The Adam Keeling House is a historic house in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States.

London Bridge is an unincorporated community within the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It is located in the area of Great Neck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, where Laskin Road begins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Virginia Beach, Virginia</span>

The history of Virginia Beach, Virginia, goes back to the Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years before the English colonists landed at Cape Henry in April 1607 and established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown a few weeks later. The Colonial Virginia period extended until 1776 and the American Revolution, and the area has been part of the Commonwealth of Virginia ever since.

Kempsville is a borough in the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, a historic section with origins in US colonial times located in the former Princess Anne County. In modern times, it is a community within the urbanized portion of the independent city of Virginia Beach, the largest city in Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Norfolk, Virginia</span> Central Business District

Downtown Norfolk serves as the traditional center of commerce, government, and culture in the Hampton Roads region. Norfolk, Virginia's downtown waterfront shipping and port activities historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and shipping-related uses. With the advent of containerized shipping in the mid-19th century, the shipping uses located on Norfolk's downtown waterfront became obsolete as larger and more modern port facilities opened elsewhere in the region. The vacant piers and cargo warehouses eventually became a blight on downtown and Norfolk's fortunes as a whole. But in the second half of the century, Norfolk had a vibrant retail community in its suburbs; companies like Smith & Welton, High's, Colonial Stores, Goldman's Shoes, Lerner Shops, Hofheimer's, Giant Open Air, Dollar Tree and K & K Toys were regional leaders in their respective fields. Norfolk was also the birthplace of Econo-Travel, now Econo Lodge, one of the nation's first discount motel chains.

Virginia Beach, Virginia is a city that has become a popular tourist destination in recent years on account of its historical, scientific, and performing arts.

The Hon. John Saunders (D.C.L.) was a British soldier, lawyer, and Chief Justice of the colonial Province of New Brunswick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Donation Episcopal Church</span> Church building in Virginia, United States of America

Old Donation Church is the third Lynnhaven Parish Church and is the oldest church in Virginia Beach. Records show that the parish's first church services were held in 1637 in the home of Adam Thoroughgood. The first church building was constructed on Mr. Thoroughgood's land in 1639 on the location later known as "Church Point." The vestry, or governing body of the church, was established in 1640.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferry Plantation House</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Ferry Plantation House, or Old Donation Farm, Ferry Farm, Walke Manor House, is a brick house in the neighborhood of Old Donation Farm in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The site dates back to 1642 when Savill Gaskin started the second ferry service in Hampton Roads to carry passengers on the Lynnhaven River to the nearby county courthouse and to visit plantations along the waterway. A cannon was used to signal the ferry, which had 11 total stops along the river. The first ferry service was started nearby by Adam Thoroughgood.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.

References

  1. ↑ "Pembroke History". www.virginiabeachhistory.org. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "Pembroke Mall - Shopping Center - Dining - 4554 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia". www.pembrokemall.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  3. ↑ http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=82561&ran=244950 [ dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Extreme Makeover". www.baconsrebellion.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Pembroke". www.virginiabeachhistory.org. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.