World War II brought thousands of workers to Norfolk, where nearly 100 ships and landing craft were built. The population almost doubled between 1940 and 1944. Furniture manufacturing, fertilizer plants, and other industries also expanded during that time. Individual residences and apartment buildings rapidly developed during the war, and the city struggled to cope with overcrowding.
Norfolk began annexing neighboring counties after World War II. Public housing was constructed after the slums were cleared. The city also rebuilt hundreds of acres in the downtown. The SCOPE Convention and Cultural Center largely spurred this redevelopment. The Chrysler Museum and Chrysler Hall were named after automobile mogul Walter P. Chrysler, who donated his extensive art collection to the city.
#1 Trailer camp for construction workers. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#2 Untitled photo, possibly related to: Housing. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#3 Defense workers in front of rooming houses. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#4 House occupied by defense worker and family. They came from North Carolina farm. Rent ten dollars per month. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#5 Bar in Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#6 West main street, Norfolk, 1941
#7 House in a slum district of Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#8 Trailer camp for construction workers. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, 1941
#9 Four o’clock traffic. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#10 Four o’clock traffic, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#11 Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#12 Four o’clock traffic, Norfolk, 1941
#13 Defense housing, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#14 Defense housing in Merrimack Park, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#15 Four o’clock traffic, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#16 Trailer camp for defense workers. Ocean View, Virginia. Outskirts of Norfolk, 1941
#17 Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#18 Large-scale rental housing project privately financed through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in Norfolk, 1941
#19 Fire Station No. 4 Norfolk VA, 1944
#20 Harrison Fishing Pier, 1947
#21 Doumar’s Restaurant Norfolk with Cars, 1940
#22 Boy from Maryland in charity ward, Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Norfolk, 1941
#23 Backed up sewer in Negro slum district. Norfolk, 1941
#24 Iceman. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#25 Two-family unit in Merrimac Villiage. A defense housing project of the Norfolk housing authority, 1941
#26 FHA (Federal Housing Administration)-insured small home development in Norfolk, 1941
#27 Low-cost home near Norfolk air base being purchased through facilities of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), 1941
#28 Cars waiting for the nine o’clock ferry to Norfolk, at Cape Charles, Virginia, 1941
#29 Trucks waiting at Cape Charles, Virginia for ferry to Norfolk, Virginia, 1940
#30 Sears Esso Freemason Monticello, 1940
#31 Second Presbyterian Church Freemason Abbey Norfolk, 1943
#32 Ocean View Train Station, 1943
#33 Memrose Theatre Colley Avenue Norfolk, 1944
#34 Ocean View Ocean View After Flood Sand on RoadAfter Flood, 1944
#35 Fire Station No.2 Bute Street Norfolk VA, 1947
#36 Navy YMCA Beach Club Ocean View, 1944
#37 Clydesdales Horses Budweiser, 1944
#38 Roxy / The Hub Abbott Costello Granby Street, 1944
#39 Nansemond Hotel Ocean View, 1940s
#40 VJ Celebration Granby St. Norfolk, Aug. 15 1945
#41 August ‘Cap Coleman’ Tattoo Parlor (exterior), 1944
#42 Shipbuilding (Norfolk Navy Yard).
#43 Shipbuilding (Norfolk Navy Yard). Sandwiches, smokes and soft drinks are available to workers at a number of canteens on the grounds. There are also several cafeterias serving hot meals, 1941
#44 Backed up sewer in Negro slum district. Norfolk, Virginia.1941
#45 Trailer camp for construction workers. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#46 Charity ward. Saint Vincent’s Hospital. Norfolk, 1941
#47 Untitled photo, possibly related to: Backed up sewer in Negro slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#48 Houses in Negro slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#49 Kitchen in house which rents for sixteen dollars per month. Slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#50 Untitled photo, possibly related to: Houses occupied by defense workers. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#51 Schoolchildren getting ready to go home. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#52 First grade, public school. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#53 Cloakroom, public school. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#54 Negro slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#55 House in Negro slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#56 Tatooing shop on West Main Street. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#57 West Main Street, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#58 West main street. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#59 Housing. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#60 Defense workers in front of rooming houses, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#61 Charity ward, Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#62 Housing. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#63 Defense worker living in slum district. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#64 Kitchen in house which rents for sixteen dollars per month in a slum district, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#65 Sons of defense contruction workers living in trailer camp. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#66 Cloak room, public school. Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#67 Untitled photo, possibly related to: Backed up sewer in a slum district, Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#68 West main street, Norfolk, 1941
#69 Housing in Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#70 Housing in Norfolk, 1941
#71 Housing in Norfolk, Virginia, 1941
#72 Four o’clock traffic, Norfolk, 1941
#73 Four o’clock traffic. Norfolk, 1941
#74 Defense housing. Merrimack Park, Norfolk, Virginia.
This project to house married enlisted personnel of the Norfolk naval base has 500 units which include single-story detached dwellings, two family houses, two-story group houses and apartments. Built at a cost of $1,980,000 by the USHA (U.S. Housing Authority), the project was opened for occupancy on July 1, 1941. Rentals are divided into four groups which run from a low 13-15 dollars to a high of 30-33 dollars
