February 24, 2008
Researching house history, Walnut Hill area
Hey folks — anyone know how to determine where/if original designs that correspond to early 20th century vintage houses in Walnut Hill can be located (and/or if any particular houses in the area have been shown to correspond to Sears or similar kit houses — on that note, we may be able to learn more about that question at this week’s lecture)? For example, through a deed search I found that McKesson Land Corp. built a bunch of houses in Walnut Hill, and through the State Corporation Commission I found that McKesson dissolved in 1950 (explaining why they are un-Google-able) — that’s as far as I got. Do fire insurance maps (aka, Sanborn’s maps) exist for this area at any office/library? Has anyone else chased down further details on the area? How about photos that date back to the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s? (If others want to start similar threads on other neighborhoods, we’ll be happy to oblige.)
Contact Dulany Ward who works for the City of Petersburg. He is full of more knowledge on Petersburg history than just about anyone. Unfortunately many of the older homeowners of Walnut Hill who have any knowledge are passing away. There is so much information that some of the older residents know about Petesburg and it would be great if it were written down before it is lost forever. A great grant for the Cameron Foundation!
Lunsford Johnson
Great suggestions Lunsford, thanks.
Ask, and you shall receive — a few images just in the inbox.
Boulevard, Walnut Hil:
Westover Ave., Walnut Hill, 1917
Petersburgers love their history. “The Triangle” District on was the Top Video last week on PetersburgTV.com. It was a history of old black business district, sadly, that’s now just boarded up buildings, a couple of funeral homes, a diner and a cab stand.
Keith and I live in the 1500 block of Berkeley, I know from the neighbors that there is a Sears house in either the 1600 or 1700 block. It’s a cute little bungalow, gray I believe.
I bought a really cool postcard book of P’Burg at an antique shop in Old Towne and there were a few pictures of Walnut Hill. It was interesting to see the original house, Ivy Gates, where the apartments of the same name now stand.
There are Sanborn maps in my office (Petersburg Dept of Planning, Room 304 of City Hall) dating from 1915 to 1954. They show the building foot prints & some idea of building materials. If anyone out there is interested in seeing them, please let me know.
Walnut Hill appears to have been annexed from Prince George County in 1921. Then another portion annexed in 1956. Not sure if that would make a difference in researching.
For pictures you might contact Laura Willoughby at Centre Hill. She has the Lums collection which I believe is from the 1930s & 1940s.
Something I have found helpful is the newspaper index at the main library. It is a card catalog in the research room. I am sure it is not perfect but you can look up different key words & it will give you the reference to newspaper articles that relate. I don’t remember how far back it goes… but I was researching an architect from the 1880s, so it should cover Walnut Hill. Maybe there was enough building going on at one time that it was news-worthy!
Sweet, thanks!
Re: annexation, it does matter, for example, for researching homeownership — one can start in the Petersburg Circuit Court from the present working backward, and then at some point the oldest deed on record in Petersburg will note which deed book to start with (again, working backward) at the Prince George courthouse.
Another interesting tidbit: old city directories can help one research if their home was owner-occupied or rented out, and if the latter, to whom. (If I recall correctly, these directories are indexed both by address, and by name; searching under a homeowner’s name, one can find info on things such as the individual’s residence, other real estate owned, employer, job title, etc.; searching under address, one can find who actually lived at a particular property.)
All — I’d like to start a Walnut Hill photo/story-collection project. If you have old photos/memoirs of the area (or if you’ve been here long enough that you could jot down the history of some homes or parcels of land), please send me a jingle — I’d be tickled to scan a digital copy of what you might like to share.
I was doing genealogy work and discovered that my (great x6) grandfather was buried in an old walnut hill cemetary. I highlighted the following passage:
“This is the family graveyard of Dr. George E. Rives, prominent in Prince George
County for many years.
George E. Rives, M.D.
Born June 17, 1829
Died Nov. 4, 1884
Don’t know if this helps but it might.
Does anyone have information on the home of John Thompson Brown. I have family info that says he lived at Walnut Hill in Petersburg C1820’s/30’s. He married a wilcox and was politacaly active.