Berkley, Virginia

Berkley was an incorporated town in Norfolk County, Virginia. It was located directly across the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River from the City of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads area.

Berkley featured port facilities and a shipyard. It was the rail terminus of the original Norfolk Southern Railway, a regional railroad extending 600 miles to Charlotte, North Carolina (and a predecessor of the modern Norfolk Southern rail system headquartered in Norfolk).

Both the Town of Berkley and Norfolk County are extinct. Fearing annexation ambitions by its larger neighbor, the City of Norfolk, in the late 19th century, the town leaders petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to become an independent city (which would have created immunity from annexation), but the effort failed. In 1909, the Town of Berkley was annexed by the City of Norfolk, and is now considered a neighborhood of that city. (Remaining portions of Norfolk County were consolidated with the City of South Norfolk in 1963 to form the City of Chesapeake).

The Berkley Bridge on I-264 links Berkley with the downtown area of Norfolk. It is one of only a small number of drawbridges on the Interstate Highway System. Berkley also is the site of the juncture of the Downtown Tunnel (across the river to Portsmouth) and Interstate 464 (leading to Chesapeake).

Notable persons

Mary Pinkney Hardy "Pinky" MacArthur (May 22, 1852-December 3, 1935), wife of United States Army Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. and mother of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, was born, raised and married at the Hardy family plantation, Riveredge, in Berkley. There is a memorial to her at the north end of South Main Street, near the former site of the mansion.

External links

* [http://www.norfolk.gov/neighborhoods/histories_1906.asp Norfolk Department of Neighborhood Preservation: 1906 annexation]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=MacArthur&GSst=48&GRid=15663778& Find a Grave Memorial: Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur]