THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505180358
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
A ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday on the Lynnhaven River bank at Church Point will transport participants back to the 1630s when the first church in what is now Virginia Beach was built on the shores of the river.
The church and its graveyard are now under the river, the land eroded away over time. The site, however, will be permanently remembered with a marker which will be unveiled at the ceremony by the Suffolk Chapter, Colonial Dames of the 17th Century.
A hundred years ago, gravestones were said to still be visible under the water, among them, those of Adam Thoroughgood, who originally owned the land around Church Point, and his wife Sarah. Thoroughgood was one of the first permanent residents of the area.
At the ceremony Stephen S. Mansfield, history professor at Virginia Wesleyan College and author of ``Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach, a Pictorial History,'' will make observations about 300 years of history along the Lynnhaven. Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf will proclaim Church Point Day.
Other participants include Connie Knight, a descendant of Adam Thoroughgood, and Margaret Truitt Joyal, whose family owned the Church Point manor house, now a bed and breakfast.
The ceremony is open to the public. Parking is in the 4000 block of Church Point Road. From there, a trolley will provide transportation to the ceremony site on the river. The Church Point neighborhood is off First Court Road in Bayside. by CNB