Kempsville in the 20th Century

Kempsville in the 20th Century. . , Agriculture , Beginning ín 1900, the climate and improved soil conditions that were fostering expanded truck farming and the promise of cheap land attracted the first families of what became. a significant Amish-Mennonite community surrounding Kempsville. They formed the cooperative Yoder Dairy in 1929., Education , The consolidated school movement led to replacing one-room structures. Kempsville's O.B. Mears School opened in 1910, with some secondary course offerings. After World War I, Kempsville successfully competed with Euclid and Glenrock to become the site of the 1924 high school built adjacent to the Mears School. At the same time, county African American parents raised funds to build a high school north of Kempsville for their children, the Princess Anne County Training School, which opened in 1938. It was renamed Union Kempsville High School in 1962. While the county embarked on a program of consolidation of elementary level schools for white students, black students remained in smaller and one-room schools until after World War II., Post-War Development , A 1941 account described Kempsville as "just a beautiful little country village," but a larger new Kempsville High School (now the 757 Apartments) - was already under construction, presaging a post-World War Il population influx that would alter, Kempsville permanently. Princess Anne became Virginia's fastest growing county by the early 1950s. In 1963 the county merged with Virginia Beach to form a large independent city., After World War II, rapidly growing surrounding neighborhoods occupied former Mennonite farm lands. Their residents were brought together by recreational and cultural facilities including the Pony League baseball fields and the Kempsville Meadows Golf Course in the 1950s, the Kempsville Branch Library in 1969, the Kempsville Recreation Center - the city's first - in 1977, and the Philippine Cultural Center in 2000. The growing population of active-duty and retired military personnel brought an influx of residents from outside of the area. Three miles southeast of Kempsville, Nike Missile Site N-36 was built as part of the nation's defenses during the cold war. It was manned from 1954 to 1964., With the Princess Anne/Witchduck intersection identified as the City's busiest, discussion began in the 1980s to address the "failed" traffic conditions. The present, realigned intersection, was complete by 2018. Pleasant Hall (ca. 1779), the Carraway House (ca. 1735), and the Kempsville Baptist (organized in 1814) and Emanuel Episcopal (ca 1843) churches remain as structural reminders of Kempsville's historical significance within the modern City of Virginia Beach., (captions) , Milk delivery an Alvin Yoder, circa 1948 , Reprinted from the Amish-Mennonites at Kempsville, Virginia 1900-1970, Leroy Miller, ed., The Donning Company Publishers, 1995, photo courtesy of Mrs. Henry Zook., Kempsville school photograph 1915. Courtesy of Virginia Wesleyan University Archives, Aerial photograph of Kempsville schools complex. Courtesy of Virginia Wesleyan University, The Princess Anne County Training School, later named Union Kempsville High School Photograph Courtesy of Edna Hawkins-Hendrix, Aerial photograph of Kempsville 1958, Courtesy of Virginia Beach Center for GIS, Aerial photograph of Kempsville 2019, Courtesy of Virginia Beach Center for GIS