Ghent district
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Ghent Historic District
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| Location | Roughly bounded by Olney Rd., Virginia Beach Blvd., Smith's Creek, and Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 36°51′45.6″N 76°18′2.9″W / 36.862667°N 76.300806°WCoordinates: 36°51′45.6″N 76°18′2.9″W / 36.862667°N 76.300806°W |
| Area | 77 acres (31 ha) |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Queen Anne |
| NRHP reference # | 80004455 |
| VLR # | 122-0061 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 4, 1980 |
| Designated VLR | June 19, 1979 |
The Ghent District includes the various Ghent neighborhoods (Ghent, West Ghent, and Ghent Square) in Norfolk, Virginia. Its boundaries are roughly Brambleton Avenue/The Hague on the south, the Elizabeth River on west, Monticello Avenue on the east and the railroad crossing immediately north of 22nd Street. The area continues to spread eastward with newer developments (The Alexander at Ghent [1] and The Row at Ghent [2]). The main north/south thoroughfares are Hampton Boulevard, Colley Avenue, Colonial Avenue, Llewellyn Avenue, Granby Street, and Monticello Avenue. The main east/west thoroughfares are Olney Road, Princess Anne Road, and 21st Street. Brambleton Avenue acts as a connector from Ghent to Downtown and crosses the southern tip of Ghent briefly.
The Ghent district of Norfolk, Virginia, was developed beginning in 1890, with most construction occurring between 1892 and 1907. Richard Drummer, a 19th-century Norfolk resident is credited with naming the neighborhood "Ghent." On 24 December 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the War of 1812. It is said that, because one of his ships had the distinction of bringing the signed treaty to America, Drummond renamed his "Pleasant Point" house "Ghent" to commemorate the event. The street "Drummond Place" in Ghent also bears his name. Located blocks west of Norfolk's present commercial core, Ghent originally covered approximately 220 acres (0.89 km2). Although most of Ghent was laid along a standard grid plan, the siting of the south section of the suburb by Smith Creek (now called "The Hague"), and a "Y"-shaped inlet off the Elizabeth River, suggested a different planning approach. Marshlands at this area were filled and the shoreline given a semicircular shape. The resulting street, Mowbray Arch, soon became the favored location for the stately houses of Norfolk's middle and upper-middle class residents. Ghent's plan was not particularly innovative, but it successfully exploited the area's strategic waterfront location, providing views over the creek to the grass banks on the opposite shore. While Ghent originally covered more than thirty blocks in area, the Mowbray Arch section displays the highest concentration of houses built during the late 19th century. This area is contained by Smith's Creek and Olney Road, a four-lane traffic artery connecting the two arms of the creek and providing east-west access to downtown Norfolk.
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