About the Norfolk County Historical Society of Chesapeake
The Norfolk County Historical Society of Chesapeake, Virginia received its charter from the Commonwealth on October 10, 1963, the same year the City of Chesapeake was created by merging Norfolk County with the City of South Norfolk. The county had existed for three centuries, and when it vanished from the map the Society was founded to keep its records and stories from vanishing with it. Its stated commitment is to preserve and share the history of the City of Chesapeake and the surrounding area for residents and for future generations.
The Society's headquarters is the Wallace Memorial Room on the second floor of the Chesapeake Central Library at 298 Cedar Road. Sabine Wallace Drury paid for the room's construction through the Society as a memorial to her father, William Wallace (1878-1950). The Society and the library jointly build the collection, and the Society supplies the volunteers who staff the room. Its other activities include public history programs; publishing and selling books and pamphlets on local subjects such as the county courts, the Battle of Great Bridge and the region's waterways; sponsoring an oral history collection and genealogy classes; supporting the identification and registration of historically significant Chesapeake buildings; and backing an architectural review committee to protect them. A quarterly newsletter, The Historian, is archived on the website, and the Society's archivist and president, Robert Hitchings, writes a local history blog hosted on USGenWeb.
Collections and Research Services
The Wallace Memorial Room holds materials for historical and genealogical research with an emphasis on Chesapeake, the surrounding areas of southeastern Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. Artifacts of local interest are on display in the room. The Society also runs a First Families of Norfolk County, Virginia program for descendants who can document an ancestor in the old county, and sells its publications in the Wallace Room and through an Amazon storefront. Because the room is locked whenever a Society volunteer is not present, ask the librarian at the reference desk outside the door for access; volunteers can be reached in advance at (757) 382-8408 or nchs.wallaceroom@gmail.com. Our guides to free family history research and finding where someone is buried will help you prepare a list of names and dates before you come.
Planning Your Visit
The Wallace Room follows the Chesapeake Central Library's hours: Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. There is no admission charge. The Society holds quarterly general membership meetings and welcomes visitors to them; dates, along with occasional closures, are posted on the event calendar at norfolkcountyvahistory.org.
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