On this site was the Norfolk College for Young Ladies, which was chartered on February 20, 1880 with Capt. John L. Roper as President of the Board. The school was designed by James H Calrow, one of Norfolk's leading architects at the time. It opened that year with 125 students. The school offered educational opportunities for young women both in the traditional academic subjects and in such social refinements as music, drawing, deportment, elocution, and "mental and moral science." When the public school expanded programs for women, the College closed. Its last class graduated 1899. An active Alumnae Association supported young Norfolk women with grants and scholarships for many years. College Place, originally Green Bush Street and later Washington Street, was named for the College in mid-1880s. The building became the Algonquin Hotel in 1905, in time to accommodate visitors to the Jamestown Exposition. The name was changed to the Hotel Edwards in 1918 and to the Hotel Lee in 1936. Stores occupied the first floor until the building burned and was demolished in 1983.
Comments 0 comments