Truckin' on the Western Branch

Chris Hall Chris Hall, Martha Frances Fortson’s cousin, lived on the Peake Farm adjacent to the Hardee Farm. A. B. Greene, his grandfather, owned the farm, and Hall’s father, Curry Hall, worked it. The family lived on the second floor of an old farmhouse about half a mile off Cedar Lane. His uncle, Earle Greene, lived on the first floor. When Hall was six years old, the family moved to land his mother and uncle developed as Briarwood.

Now Hall and his wife, Judy, live in Hampton next to his business, Bluewater Yacht Sales.

My first address was my name and Churchland, Virginia—that was it—and you made the paper when you went away to camp.

I remembers Adcock’s store on West Norfolk Road, half a mile from Cedar Lane, and its penny candy and pickles. Casteen’s service station was across from Churchland Baptist and a blacksmith shop. I remember Mr. Quick and having my first taste of pizza. The first TV show I saw was in a storefront window, and later we would ride to my grandfather’s house to watch TV. I remember lots of peacocks, May Day celebrations, and beautiful gardens.

A. B. Greene and his grandson Chris Hall.

Briarwood was one of the first developments. Sweethaven and Greenfield farms were also mapped out for A. B. Greene. I spent my youth there and went to Churchland Elementary when some kids still rode ponies to school. I loved school—such a community environment. I went to the new Churchland High with the class of 1961, a very close class. After some time at Frederick Military Academy, where I got my ability to study, I came back to Churchland for my senior year.

When I married we lived in Churchland, first in Cavalier Forest, where my son Chris was born, and then in Hatton Point. My grandfather Greene was selling farms to developers that built a dozen developments on his land.

Churchland was a nest of hydroplane racing and I got my first trophy at 16. I’ve still got it. My brother, Earle, drove the unlimiteds. [Unlimited hydroplanes are racing boats with speeds over 200 mph, throwing roostertails as high as 300 feet with engines capable of 3000hp. Earle Hall’s skill earned him a place in the American Power Boat Association’s “Hall of Champions.”] Chris Hall’s son, Chris Hall Jr., was the 2012 East Coast Inboard Hydroplane Racing rookie of the year and works with his father and uncle Earle at Bluewater Yacht Sales. “I loved my time in Churchland,” he said, “Riding our bikes on the mudflats—now Midfield Point, playing Little League, boating up the little canal. It’s where I got involved in boats when we went to the boat races every year.”

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