Editing Norfolk, Virginia (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Norfolk, Virginia|Timeline of Norfolk, Virginia}}
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2024}}

===Before 1607===
In the late sixteenth century, the area that is now Norfolk was inhabited by the Chesepian people, who referred to the land as "K'che-sepi-ack." According to historical accounts from William Strachy, the Chesepian settlements were destroyed by the Powhatan shortly before the establishment of Jamestown in 1607.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

===Colonial era===
Norfolk's lands were some of the first to draw settlers from the [[Virginia Colony]], although Norfolk would not be incorporated as a town until the 1700s. When the establishment of the [[House of Burgesses]] introduced representative government to the colony in 1619, governor [[George Yeardley|Sir George Yeardley]] divided the developed portion the colony into four incorporated jurisdictions, termed ''citties.'' The land on which Norfolk now sits fell under [[Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)|Elizabeth Cittie]] incorporation.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In 1634 [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] reorganized the colony into a system of [[shires of Virginia|shires]], and [[Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)|Elizabeth Cittie]] became [[Elizabeth City Shire]]. Elizabeth City Shire (now the city of Hampton) included all land that today comprises the cities of Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk.  After persuading 105 people to settle in the colony, [[Adam Thoroughgood]] (who had immigrated to Virginia in 1622 from [[King's Lynn]], [[Norfolk]], [[England]]) was granted a large land holding, through the head rights system, along the [[Lynnhaven River]] in 1636.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

When the [[South Hampton Roads]] portion of the shire was separated, Thoroughgood suggested the name of his birthplace for the newly formed [[New Norfolk County, Virginia|New Norfolk County]]. One year later, it was divided into two counties, [[Upper Norfolk County|Upper Norfolk]] and [[Lower Norfolk County, Virginia|Lower Norfolk]] (the latter now incorporated into the City of Norfolk), chiefly on Thoroughgood's recommendation.<ref name="Norfolk History Chapter 4">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/04.html |title=The Origins of Norfolk's Name |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Norfolk Historical Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910230143/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/04.html |archive-date=September 10, 2007}}</ref> This area of Virginia became known as the place of entrepreneurs, including men of the [[London Company|Virginia Company of London]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Virginia Company of London and England's Second Colonial Venture |work=Empire, Religion and Revolution in Early Virginia, 1607-1786 |date=2013 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137327925.0008 |access-date=2025-03-06 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9781137327925.0008 |isbn=978-1-137-32792-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Virginia Company of London |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/virginia-company-of-london/}}</ref>

Norfolk developed in the late-seventeenth century as a "Half Moone" fort was constructed and {{cvt|50|acre|m2}} were acquired from local natives of the [[Powhatan Confederacy]] in exchange for 10,000 pounds of tobacco. The House of Burgesses established the "Towne of Lower Norfolk County" in 1680.<ref name="Norfolk History Chapter 6">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/06.html |title=The "Half Moone" Fort |access-date=February 19, 2008 |publisher=Norfolk Historical Society |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509183336/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/06.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Norfolk History Chapter 7">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/07.html |title=The Birth of "Norfolk Towne" |access-date=February 19, 2008 |publisher=Norfolk Historical Society |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208131526/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/07.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1691, a final county subdivision took place when Lower Norfolk County split to form [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk County]] (included in present-day cities of Norfolk, [[Chesapeake, Virginia|Chesapeake]], and parts of [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]]) and [[Princess Anne County]] (present-day [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]]).{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Norfolk was incorporated in 1705. In 1730, a tobacco inspection site was located here. According to the [[Tobacco Inspection Act]], the inspection was ''"At Norfolk Town, upon the fort land, in the County of Norfolk; and [[Kempsville, Virginia|Kemp's Landing]], in Princess Anne, under one inspection."'' In 1736 [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] granted it a royal charter as a borough.<ref name="Norfolk History Chapter 9">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/09.html |title=Norfolk Becomes a Borough |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Norfolk Historical Society |archive-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313153644/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/09.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was an important port for exporting goods to the British Isles and beyond.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Cannonball lodged in church wall.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A cannonball lodged in the wall of [[Saint Paul's Episcopal Church (Norfolk, Virginia)|St. Paul's Episcopal Church]], fired by [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore|Lord Dunmore]]'s fleet during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]]]

Mercantile ties with the [[British Empire]] bolstered Norfolk's base of [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] support during the early part of the [[American Revolution]] but were insufficient to allow the Royal Governor of Virginia [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore]] to make Norfolk his new capital after fleeing Williamsburg in 1775. On New Year's Day, 1776, Lord Dunmore's fleet of three ships shelled the city of Norfolk for more than eight hours. The gunfire, combined with fires started by the British and spread by the Patriots, destroyed more than 800 buildings, constituting nearly two-thirds of the city. Patriot forces destroyed the remaining buildings for strategic reasons the following month. Ultimately, [[William Woodford|Colonel Woodford]] drove Dunmore into exile, ending more than 168 years of British rule in Virginia.<ref name="History from Colonial Williamsburg">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.org/Almanack/resources/dateline/polcron.cfm#seeds |title=Cultural & Political Chronology (1750–1783) |access-date=September 30, 2007 |publisher=Colonial Williamsburg}}</ref><ref>Guy, Louis L. jr.[http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/insights/2001_spring/nightmare.html "Norfolk's Worst Nightmare"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629224630/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/insights/2001_spring/nightmare.html|date=June 29, 2018 }}, Norfolk Historical Society ''Courier'' (Spring 2001), accessed January 3, 2008</ref> Only the walls of [[Saint Paul's Episcopal Church (Norfolk, Virginia)|Saint Paul's Episcopal Church]] survived the bombardment and subsequent fires. A cannonball from the bombardment (fired by the ''[[HMS Liverpool (1758)|Liverpool]]'') remains within the wall of Saint Paul's.<ref name="HMS Otter">{{cite web |url=http://www.virginiastatenavy.com/HMS_OTTER.html |title=HMS Otter |access-date=September 30, 2007 |publisher=Virginia State Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513154403/http://www.virginiastatenavy.com/HMS_OTTER.html |archive-date=May 13, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Nineteenth century===
[[File:Norfolk, from Gosport, Virginia (NYPL b12349153-423885).jpg|thumb|''Norfolk, from Gosport, Virginia'', New York Public Library]]

Following recovery from the Revolutionary War's burning, Norfolk and its citizens struggled to rebuild. In 1804, another serious fire along the city's waterfront destroyed some 300 buildings and the city suffered a serious economic setback. In the [[War of 1812]] between America and Great Britain, Norfolk saw action between American militia led by Richard Lawson and the British navy. On July 13, 1813. A British landing party of 8 marines and 16 sailors landed at the beaches of Norfolk to construct a well and gather water. Richard Lawson concealed his company of militia behind a benign looking sandhill. Richard Lawson and his militia sprang their ambush by opening fire from their concealment behind the Sandhills. The British landing party who suffered 3 marines killed surrendered. Richard Lawson who suffered none killed had his militia destroy the British boat, take all provisions, and take the brass cannon. The American militia under Lawson returned to town with their prisoners.<ref name="Durant">{{cite book |last=Hannings |first=Bud |date=2012 |title=The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers |location=Jefferson, NC  |publisher=McFarland; Illustrated edition |pages=138 |isbn=978-0786463855 }}</ref> During the 1820s, agrarian communities across the [[Southern United States|American South]] suffered a prolonged recession, which caused many families to migrate to other areas. Many moved west into the [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]], or further into [[Kentucky]] and [[Tennessee]]. This migration also followed the exhaustion of soil due to [[tobacco]] cultivation in the Tidewater, where it had been the primary commodity crop for generations.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Virginia made some attempts to phase out [[slavery]] and [[manumission]]s increased in the two decades following the war. [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph]] gained passage of an 1832 resolution for gradual abolition in the state. However, by that time the increased demand from the settlement of the lower South states had created a large internal market for slavery. The invention of the [[cotton gin]] in the late-eighteenth century had made profitable the cultivation of short-staple cotton in the uplands, which was widely practiced.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Joseph Jenkins Roberts.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Joseph Jenkins Roberts]], born and raised in Norfolk, became the first [[president of Liberia]]]]

The [[American Colonization Society]] proposed to "[[Back-to-Africa movement|repatriate]]" free blacks and freed slaves to Africa by establishing the new colony of Liberia and paying for transportation. But most African Americans wanted to stay in their birthplace of the United States and achieve freedom and rights there. For a period, many emigrants to Liberia from Virginia and [[North Carolina]] embarked from the port of Norfolk. [[Joseph Jenkins Roberts]], a [[free person of color]] native to Norfolk, emigrated via the American Colonization Society and later was elected as the first president of [[Liberia]], establishing a powerful family.<ref name="Roberts">{{cite web |title=Joseph Roberts, Liberia's first President! |url=http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/754/Joseph_Roberts_Liberias_first_President |access-date=February 19, 2008 |publisher=The African-American Registry |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123023225/http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/754/Joseph_Roberts_Liberias_first_President <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=November 23, 2007}}</ref>

In 1845, Norfolk was incorporated as a city.<ref name="Norfolk History 1845-1887">{{Cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1845_87.asp |title=Norfolk from 1845–1887 :Neighborhood Histories : Neighborhood Services – City of Norfolk, VA<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-04-17 |archive-date=2007-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820005755/http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1845_87.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> On June 7, 1855, the 183-foot vessel ''Benjamin Franklin'' put into Hampton Roads for repairs. The ship had just sailed from the [[West Indies]], where there had been an outbreak of [[yellow fever]]. The port health officer ordered the ship quarantined. After eleven days, a second inspection found no issues, so it was allowed to dock. A few days later, the first cases of yellow fever were discovered in Norfolk, and a machinist died from the disease on July 8. By August, several people were dying per day, and a third of the city's population had fled in the hopes of escaping the epidemic. No one understood how the disease was transmitted. With both Norfolk and Portsmouth being infected, New York banned all traffic from those sites. Neighboring cities also banned residents from Norfolk. The epidemic spread through the city via mosquitoes and poor sanitation, affecting every family and causing widespread panic. The number of infected reached 5,000 in September, and by the second week, 1,500 had died in Norfolk and Portsmouth.<ref>{{cite web |others=transcriber and compiler: Donna, Bluemink |title=YELLOW FEVER IN NORFOLK AND PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, 1855, as reported in the ''DAILY DISPATCH'' of Richmond, Virginia 2005 |access-date=29 September 2019 |url=http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/yellow-fever/yftoc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914125731/http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/yellow-fever/yftoc.html |archive-date=2024-09-14}}
</ref> As the weather cooled, the outbreak began to wane, leaving a final tally of about 3,200 dead.<!--out of what population?--><ref>{{citation |first=Lon |last=Wagner |title=The Fever, a Story in 14 Parts |work=The Virginian-Pilot |date=July 10–23, 2005 |url=http://www.portsmouthva.gov/history/fever/thefever.pdf |access-date=May 18, 2013 |postscript=. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215040256/http://www.portsmouthva.gov/history/fever/thefever.pdf |archive-date=December 15, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It took the city some time to recover.
[[File:Battle of Hampton Roads 3g01752u.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Hampton Roads]] between the [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] and the [[CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'']]]]
On April 4, 1861, Norfolk city delegate to the [[Virginia Secession Convention of 1861|Virginia Secession Convention]], George Blow, voted against secession. Following the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]], another vote occurred on April 17, where Blow voted for secession, the vote passed and Virginia seceded from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. In the spring of 1862, the [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] took place off the northwest shore of the city's [[Sewell's Point|Sewell's Point Peninsula]], marking the first fight between two [[ironclad warship|ironclads]], the [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] and the [[CSS Virginia|CSS ''Virginia'']]. The battle ended in a stalemate but changed the course of naval warfare; from then on, [[warship]]s were fortified with metal.<ref name="Monitor-Merrimac">{{cite web |url=http://americancivilwar.com/monitor.html |title=Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Americancivilwar.com}}</ref>

In May 1862, Norfolk Mayor [[William Lamb (Confederate States Army officer)|William Lamb]] surrendered the city to Union [[General (United States)|General]] [[John E. Wool]] and his forces. They held the city under [[martial law]] for the duration of the Civil War. Thousands of slaves from the region escaped to Union lines to gain freedom; they quickly set up schools in Norfolk to start learning how to read and write, years before the end of the war.<ref name="Norfolk History Chapter 46">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/46.html |title=Lincoln Plans the Recapture of Norfolk |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Norfolk Historical Society |archive-date=October 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022033431/http://norfolkhistorical.org/highlights/46.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===20th century to present===
[[File:Va. - Norfolk - Granby Street from corner of City Hall Avenue; busy street scene with autos and electric trolleys LCCN2006688632.jpg|thumb|Granby Street from corner of City Hall Avenue, 1915]]
1907 brought both the [[Virginian Railway]] and the [[Jamestown Exposition]] to [[Sewell's Point]]. The large [[Naval Review]] at the Exposition demonstrated the peninsula's favorable location and laid the groundwork for the world's largest naval base. Southern Democrats in Congress gained its location here. Commemorating the tricentennial anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the exposition featured many prominent officials, including President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Member of Congress|members of Congress]], and [[Diplomacy|diplomats]] from twenty-one countries. By 1917, as the US prepared to enter [[World War I]], the Naval Air Station Hampton Roads had been constructed on the former exposition grounds.<ref name="Jamestown Exposition">{{cite web |url=http://www.twainquotes.com/TwainRogersVA.html |title=Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia |access-date=October 2, 2007 |website=twainquotes.com}}</ref>

In the first half of the twentieth century, the city of Norfolk expanded its borders through annexation. In 1906, the city annexed the [[incorporated town]] of [[Berkley, Virginia|Berkley]], making the city cross the [[Elizabeth River (Virginia)|Elizabeth River]].<ref name="Norfolk: 1906 Annexation">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1906.asp |title=Norfolk: 1906 Annexation |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=City of Norfolk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127123719/http://norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1906.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=November 27, 2007}}</ref> In 1923, the city expanded to include Sewell's Point, [[Willoughby Spit]], the town of Campostella, and the [[Ocean View, Virginia|Ocean View]] area. The city included the Navy Base and miles of beach property fronting on [[Hampton Roads]] and the [[Chesapeake Bay]].<ref name="Norfolk: 1923 Annexation">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1923.asp |title=Norfolk: 1923 Annexation |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=City of Norfolk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127131146/http://norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1923.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=November 27, 2007}}</ref> After a smaller annexation in 1959, and a 1988 land swap with [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]], the city assumed its current boundaries.<ref name="Norfolk: 1955 Annexation">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1955.asp |title=Norfolk: 1955 Annexation |access-date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=City of Norfolk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127140029/http://norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1955.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=November 27, 2007}}</ref>

The establishment of the [[Interstate Highway System]] following World War II brought new highways to the region. A series of bridges and tunnels, constructed during fifteen years, linked Norfolk with [[Virginia Peninsula|the Peninsula]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]], and [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]]. In 1952, the [[Downtown Tunnel]] opened to connect Norfolk with the city of Portsmouth. The highways also stimulated the development of new housing suburbs, leading to the population spreading out. Additional bridges and tunnels included the [[Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel]] in 1957,<ref name="Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel">{{cite web |url=http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I64_VA_HRBT.html |title=Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel |access-date=October 2, 2007 |publisher=Roads to the Future}}</ref> the [[Midtown Tunnel (Virginia)|Midtown Tunnel]] in 1962,<ref name="Midtown Tunnel">{{cite web |url=http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Mid_Tunn_Port_Norf_MLK.html |title=Midtown Tunnel Parallel Tube Project |access-date=October 2, 2007 |publisher=Roads to the Future}}</ref> and the [[Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway]] ([[Interstate 264 (Virginia)|Interstate 264]] and [[State Route 44 (Virginia 1980s)|State Route 44]]) in 1967.<ref name="Interstate 264">{{cite web |url=http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I264_VA_Desc.html |title=Interstate 264 in Virginia |access-date=October 2, 2007 |publisher=Roads to the Future}}</ref> In 1991, the new [[Downtown Tunnel]]/[[Berkley Bridge (Virginia)|Berkley Bridge]] complex opened a new system of multiple lanes of highway and interchanges connecting Downtown Norfolk and [[Interstate 464]] with the Downtown Tunnel tubes.<ref name="Downtown Tunnel">{{cite web |url=http://www.roadstothefuture.com/HR_Interstates_Freeways.html |title=Hampton Roads Area Interstates and Freeways |access-date=October 2, 2007 |publisher=Roads to the Future}}</ref>

In 1954 the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' that [[Racial segregation|segregated]] public schools were [[unconstitutional]], as the public system was supported by all taxpayers. It ordered [[racial integration|integration]], but Virginia pursued a policy of "[[massive resistance]]". (At this time, most black citizens were still [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchised]] under the state's turn-of-the-century constitution and discriminatory practices related to voter registration and elections.) The [[Virginia General Assembly]] prohibited state funding for integrated public schools.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

In 1958, [[United States district court]]s in Virginia ordered schools to open for the first time on a racially integrated basis. In response, [[Governor of Virginia|Governor]] [[J. Lindsay Almond]] ordered the schools closed. The [[Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals]] declared the [[State law (United States)|state law]] to be in conflict with the [[Constitution of Virginia|state constitution]] and ordered all public schools to be funded, whether integrated or not. About ten days later, Almond capitulated and asked the General Assembly to rescind several "massive resistance" laws.<ref name="Massive Resistance">{{cite web |url=http://www.vahistorical.org/civilrights/massiveresistance.htm |title=Massive Resistance – The Civil Rights Movement in Virginia |access-date=August 9, 2007 |publisher=Virginia Historical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915113935/http://www.vahistorical.org/civilrights/massiveresistance.htm |archive-date=September 15, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In February 1959, seventeen black children entered six previously segregated Norfolk public schools.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bly |first1=Antonio T. |title=The Thunder during the Storm-School Desegregation in Norfolk, Virginia, 1957–1959: A Local History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2668221 |journal=The Journal of Negro Education |access-date=September 4, 2023 |pages=106–114 |doi=10.2307/2668221 |date=1998|volume=67 |issue=2 |jstor=2668221 }}</ref> ''[[The Virginian-Pilot|Virginian-Pilot]]'' editor [[Lenoir Chambers]] editorialized against massive resistance and earned the [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing]].<ref name="Lenoir Chambers">{{cite web |url=http://www.landmarkcom.com/about/history.php |title=Landmark Communications Company History |access-date=October 11, 2007 |publisher=Landmark Communications |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009234858/http://www.landmarkcom.com/about/history.php |archive-date=October 9, 2007}}</ref>

With new [[suburb]]an developments beckoning, many white middle-class residents [[White flight|moved out of the city]] along new highway routes, and Norfolk's population declined, a pattern repeated in numerous cities during the postwar era independently of segregation issues. In the late-1960s and early-1970s, the advent of newer suburban shopping destinations along with freeways spelled demise for the fortunes of downtown's [[Granby Street]] commercial corridor, located just a few blocks inland from the waterfront. The opening of malls and large shopping centers drew off retail business from Granby Street.<ref name="JANAF History">{{cite web |url=http://www.janafshopping.com/aboutjanaf.php |title=History of JANAF Shopping Center |access-date=August 9, 2007 |publisher=JANAF Shopping Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930065349/http://www.janafshopping.com/aboutjanaf.php |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref>

[[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] (PETA) has been based in Norfolk since 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peta.org/factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=107 |title=PETA's History: Compassion in Action |publisher=Peta.org |access-date=May 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715193941/http://www.peta.org/factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=107 |archive-date=July 15, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://corporateofficeheadquarters.org/peta/ |publisher=Corporate Office Headquarters|title=Peta Corporate Office Headquarters |date=June 29, 2018 }}</ref>

Norfolk's city leaders began a long push to [[Urban renewal|revive its urban core]]. While Granby Street underwent decline, Norfolk city leaders focused on the waterfront and its collection of decaying piers and warehouses. Many obsolete shipping and warehousing facilities were demolished. In their place, planners created a new boulevard, Waterside Drive, along which many of the high-rise buildings in Norfolk's [[skyline]] have been erected. In 1983, the city and [[The Rouse Company]] developed the [[Waterside (Norfolk, Virginia)|Waterside]] festival marketplace to attract people back to the waterfront and catalyze further downtown redevelopment.<ref name="Waterside">{{cite web |url=http://www.watersidemarketplace.com/ |title=Waterside Marketplace |access-date=February 21, 2008 |publisher=Waterside |archive-date=March 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305190902/http://www.watersidemarketplace.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Waterside was redeveloped in 2017. Additionally, the waterfront area hosts the [[Nauticus|Nauticus maritime museum and science center]], [[Hampton Roads Naval Museum]], [[Nauticus#Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center|Half-Moone Cruise and Celebration Center]], and the [[USS Wisconsin (BB-64)|USS ''Wisconsin'']]. Other facilities opened in the ensuing years, including the [[Harbor Park]] baseball stadium, home of the [[Norfolk Tides]] Triple-A [[minor league baseball]] team. In 1995, the park was named the finest facility in minor league baseball by ''[[Baseball America]]''.<ref name="Harbor Park">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolktides.com/ballpark/ |title=Harbor Park |access-date=October 10, 2007 |publisher=Harbor Park}}</ref> Norfolk's efforts to revitalize its downtown have attracted acclaim from economic development and urban planning circles throughout the country. Downtown's rising fortunes helped to expand the city's revenues and allowed the city to direct attention to other neighborhoods.<ref name="About Norfolk">{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov/About/ |title=About Norfolk |access-date=February 21, 2008 |publisher=City of Norfolk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205225234/http://www.norfolk.gov/About/ |archive-date=February 5, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>