Truckin' on the Western Branch

Spring was when the first new potatoes, green peas, and strawberries came in. Juliet talked of the Sunday in May when the family had their first fried chicken of the season— a happy Sunday. People did not have fried chicken all year, so it was a treat.

The farm grew different crops throughout the year. Because of the milder climate, farmers planted crops one after the other. As soon as they finished cabbage, they planted peas. In September farmhands plowed and planted kale, spinach, and other greens.

August was their only leisure time because hay was the sole crop and the hands only had to weed the hay. In August the family came to Floral Point for several days and took the truck boats on an all-day picnic to the Dismal Swamp Lake.

The waters off Floral Point were shallow and had long sandbars where they could swim and crab. They went out in rowboats about a mile to the edge of the channel to fish. Croaker, trout, spot, and perch were abundant. The Ballards kept an oyster bed in Hoffler Creek as well.

Roads were not paved until the 1920s, and farm produce was sent to market by truck boats. Juliet remembered their first “truck boat,” the Index, built on the Northern Neck. It was crewed by three black men—a captain and two assistants.

After Juliet’s father died, her uncle had the Lancaster built and according to Juliet, “she was fast.” Mr. Jim Carney, a neighbor, had a boat called the Charlotte , and the two would race.

The tides and weather were important, and they called the weather bureau every day. The Floral Point truck boats would take the produce packed in crates, baskets, burlap sacks, and barrels to Norfolk for shipment north. Each container was stenciled with the farm name so the buyers in Richmond, Baltimore, New York, and Boston knew whom to pay.

Steamboats left from Norfolk every day. Two left for Baltimore, one to Richmond, one to New York, and one to Boston (Boston took two days). Produce arrived in those cities fresh.

When Juliet Ballard married Otis Hawks, a merchant in Churchland, they moved into the third floor of Floral Point. Otis was an inventor and spent many hours tinkering with his projects. Their daughter Joan lived with them for many years.

Juliet’s brother, John Wright Ballard, moved to Virginia Beach but continued to manage and work the family truck farms in Pughsville and Churchland. Her sister Margaret married William Lee Whitehurst, a farmer from Norfolk who also owned and worked farms in Churchland. Margaret made her home in Virginia Beach but traveled frequently back to Floral Point with her daughter Julia to visit.

The Ballards planted much of the property in timber in the 1940s and ’50s. By 1970 the house had been torn down and the property was sold to developers. The developer went bankrupt and passed the property on to VDOT who wanted it for a borrow pit—hence Lake Ballard.

Annexation In 1955 the city of Portsmouth lost its lawsuit to annex 25 miles of Norfolk County along its western and southern border. Norfolk County became the City of Chesapeake and merged with the City of South Norfolk in 1963. South Norfolk had feared being swallowed by Norfolk, and Norfolk County had been plagued with annexation suits from Portsmouth and Norfolk. Considerable disagreement to the merger of Norfolk County and South Norfolk surfaced at public hearings. In 1968 after years of court battles, Portsmouth won its case and gained West Norfolk, Craney Island, and parts of Churchland and Western Branch. What once had been part of Norfolk County was now split between the two cities of Portsmouth and Chesapeake. Portsmouth was required to pay Chesapeake $10.9 million to help fund the $34 million needed for new schools.

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