Broad Creek Village

Broad Creek Village was built in 1942 in the Tanners Creek section of Norfolk County to house a wartime surplus of military families. It was located on 507 acres between Princess Anne Road and Broad Creek Road (now part of Virginia Beach Boulevard). Built with federal Lanham Act funds, it was one of the nation's largest defense housing projects and Norfolk's first pre-fabricated housing, scheduled to be "demounted" and moved elsewhere six months after the end of World War II. The Village was nearly self-sustaining, with schools, police and fire station, shopping center, and recreation facilities all located within its boundaries.

When Tanners Creek District was annexed to Norfolk in 1955, most of Broad Creek Village was still standing. Through Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the City purchased the tract from the federal government in January 1956. While NRHA managed residential units in half of the Village, the other half began to be razed for industrial development. By July 1958, all of Broad Creek Village had been vacated. Remaining units were demolished or demounted and Norfolk Industrial Park was created on the site.

Playing "Feed the Monkey" at the Broad Creek Recreation Center. October 1955.

A group of Broad Creek Village teens in January 1943.

The end of the school day at Broad Creek Village Elementary School 1943.

Broad Creek Village police and fire station.

Street scene, 1948. A sign in front of the Colonial Store grocery announces Cleanup Week, November 15.

New Broad Creek Village grade school and high school on Westkey Street in 1948.

Residences on E. Woodlawn Street, 1945.

Faculty and students, Broad Creek Village Elementary School, 1943.

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