Peninsula In Passage

She remembers - We didn’t have the money so we traded cattle for it. During the summer we were out there most of the time. It was too nice a place not to share so we had lots of company. The river house was quite the gathering place for old Suffolk, even storms were wonderful out there - thunder and lightning, rain coming from the roof, everyone soaked – they were wonderful parties. Hinton Hurff remembers - The North Suffolk Rotary had a shrimp and crab feast at Nix’s clubhouse and the planning was not the best. The tide was not accounted for and when it was time to leave, it was low tide. The only thing to do was keep on drinking until the tide came in. Somewhat of a problem, several members had a little too much to drink and when it was time to leave they were a little unsteady. When getting out of the bateau missed their step and stepped in the mud rather deep. In 2003 Hurricane Isabel obscured the cottage in a cloud of fog and when the fog lifted, the structure was gone. But the river house rebounded, rebuilt a few years later and sold to a new owner. Alonzo Wood (A.W.) Ballard built the other river house, about 1000 feet east of the bridge, in August of 1930 after drawing the plans on a grocery bag. Capt. Lip Johnson of Crittenden drove the pilings. The house was built in 30 days. Robert Hall Ballard, A.W.’s son, often saw squalls come down the river but even without weather alerts his mother sensed that the Hurricane of 1933 was no mere squall. She led 11-year-old Robert, barefoot and carrying his canary, from the cottage at slack tide. Fifty mile per hour winds blew the gates off the drawbridge and buffeted the bird against the sides of its cage. The river rose to the top of the table holding the wind-up Victrola but left the house standing. The next day the Ballards read in the Suffolk newspaper that they had been “rescued” from their cottage in the storm. In 1948 Robert Ballard acquired the cottage and installed electricity and a well. “We used to all go to the river house, sit back and tell tales,” he says. Ballard turned over the cottage to the Nansemond River Power Squadron in 2001, just two years before Hurricane Isabel tore apart the building. After more storms and more repairs, current owners Jackie and Bonnie Sims set new pilings and restored the river cottage.

John H. Sheally II

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