Why do we have a neighborhood named "Norfolk Highlands"?

There was a question the other day on FB: why do we have a neighborhood named "Norfolk Highlands" if we are in Chesapeake? The short answer is we used to be part of Norfolk County and this was one of the higher areas of the county. But the full story goes back nearly four centuries ....

In 1637 Lower Norfolk Country was established and encompassed the entire Southside of Hampton Roads (which is actually the name of the waterway between here and the Peninsula). Out of this was carved Princess Anne County (today's Virginia Beach), and the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. What was left continued to be Norfolk County.

In 1904, during the nation's first wave of sub-urbanization, the Norfolk City and Suburban Railway Company extended the streetcar line from downtown Norfolk out along Indian River Road, built a new bridge over the Indian River. That same company also established a real estate company and bought up the farms on the east side of the river and laid out the plan for the community they named Norfolk Highlands. There was also a large parks movement, so the company donated 90 acres of land around the headwaters of the river to the city of Norfolk - that would become Indian River Park. The development plans slowed to a crawl when the overheated real estate market crashed in the Panic of 1907. Norfolk Highland Primary School opened in 1913. Significant development resumed after World War 2, which was when Military Highway was built through area.

The town of South Norfolk was established in 1919, south of the City of Norfolk. It became a City "of the first class" in 1950. It encompassed the area of along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and extended east to include the Campostella neighborhood on the west side of the Indian River. It did not include Oaklette, Norfolk Highlands, or Georgetown; a division still visible in our high school districts (Oscar Smith vs. Indian River).

In 1963 the City of South Norfolk and County of Norfolk merged to create the new City of Chesapeake. That same year the County of Princess Anne and the (then oceanfront area) City of Virginia Beach merged to create today's Virginia Beach.