THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605100213
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
AS CONSTRUCTION CREWS work on a new ferry landing and riverfront park along the Elizabeth River near High and Crawford streets, they are also digging through some of the most historic soil in what was once Colonial Portsmouth.
Early records describe cultivation by Nansemond Indians on and around the site as early as 1608. According to 17th century records, Capt. John Smith accompanied by 12 settlers ``sayled six or seaven myles'' up the Elizabeth River and reported seeing ``garden plots'' between shores that were ``overgrowne with the greatest pyne and firre trees wee ever saw in the country.''
Twelve years later, the site was chosen for maritime activities when ship builder John Wood petitioned the Virginia Company to be ``graunted unto him in Elizabeth River, for 8 Shares of Land formerly graunted unto him, because thereon is Timber fittinge for his turne and water sufficient to Launch such Ships as shal be there built for the use and service of the Company. . . . ''
Political boundaries for the region were established in 1634 when the colony was divided into eight shires with one called Elizabeth City County. That county was further divided in 1637 into Upper Norfolk County, later Nansemond County, and Lower Norfolk County, which included the Elizabeth River waterfront.
The next owner of this site was master mariner and merchantman Capt. William Carver, who established patents in 1659. Carver, a member of the House of Burgesses, was hanged in 1676 for his participation in Bacon's Rebellion.
There were no further significant developments here until 1716, when Norfolk County merchantman Lt. Col. William Crawford petitioned for part of the original Carver patent.
Crawford was probably born in Norfolk County, owned several merchant vessels and held political offices like justice of the Norfolk County court, high sheriff of the county and membership in the House of Burgesses. He amassed considerable land holdings totaling 1,129 acres including the future site of Portsmouth. In 1752, he set aside 65 acres running from the waterfront inland in a scheme to attract settlers to his ``new'' Portsmouth, which he hoped to develop after the great seaport in England. The land was further divided into parcels and lots after being surveyed by Gershom Nimmo.
To further define his town, Crawford provided land for a church, market, courthouse and jail at what is today the intersection of High and Court streets. He also set aside land at the end of Ferry Street, now North Street, for a ferry landing, although there is documented evidence that a ferry was operational near that site as early as 1637.
In fact, as early as December 1712, Norfolk County court records state that ``Captain William Crawford keep the ferry on his side of the river and that he cause all persons to be ferried over as shall have occasion to pass from his shore to Norfolk Town. . . . '' Thus, the waterfront became the site of one of the earliest ferry crossings in North America, which continuously ran well into the 20th century.
As the town grew with shipbuilding artisans and tradesmen, the waterfront was transformed into a bustling Colonial trading center with wharves large enough to serve the tobacco fleet. Warehouses and work sheds were constructed on the land side of the wharves and piers to serve a wide variety of ship construction and repair activities including saw pits, timber storage, blacksmiths, coopers, sailmakers, joiners and shipwrights. Among notable dwellers of this area was ship figurehead carver Henry Wells, who moved his shop from Philadelphia to lot No. 4 at the southeast corner of Crawford and Glasgow streets in 1756.
The obvious economic growth along the Portsmouth waterfront did not escape the attention of one of the colony's most enterprising ``Scottish merchants,'' Andrew Sprowle. As early as 1752, he bought waterfront lots 11, 12 and 24, at the intersection of Crawford and King streets. In addition to buying the Gosport tract adjacent to the town from Crawford where he established one of the colony's foremost shipyards, Sprowle built a prominent dwelling on his original lots. It was described in his will as a ``large well finished Dwelling House, . . . 3 stories high; the lower part, kitchen, cellar, and chimnies, built with stone, having a large gallery with broad stone stairs leading up to it, and having also a large garden. . . . ''
During the Revolution, with the burning of Gosport, and the evacuation of the British fleet, the area naturally fell upon very hard times. A number of tories simply left their homes and businesses behind and joined Royal Governor Dunmore and Sprowle for what became a tragic sanctuary on Gwynn's Island off what is today Mathews County.
Several British army and naval forces occupied the waterfront during different periods in the war, including the notorious traitor Gen. Benedict Arnold in January 1781. Surviving British maps locate a crescent-shaped line of redoubts and blockhouses extending along the line of the present Washington Street from old Gosport Creek at Griffin Street to the river at Waverly Boulevard, near Dinwiddie Street. Fortunately, copies of these maps may be found in Portsmouth and in Naval Shipyard historian Marshall Butt's ``Portsmouth Under Four Flags.''
Lord Cornwallis began embarking his forces from this same waterfront in July 1781. After considering Portsmouth as a site for his headquarters, he concluded the area was too unhealthy and difficult to defend and abandoned it for Yorktown in August of that year.
During the new waterfront construction in the coming months, no doubt artifacts from the city's Colonial past will surface to tell us more about those colorful days. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
The area at the foot of High Street is being turned into a ferry and
small-boat docking area as part of Vision 2005. Construction crews
are digging through some of the most historic soil of Colonial
Portsmouth.
File photo
This is how the Portsmouth waterfront looked in 1958.
by CNB