Question About Norfolk Area

[NW Mailing List]

>Jerry

>

>Wonder where they send you if you requested services to 

Norfolk Naval 

>Shipyard?  England??

>

>Jim Blackstock 



Hi Jim, Yes, I know a little bit about the problems of 
getting people to Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  I've only worked 
here for 32 years!

Several comments have discussed the origin of the name - It 
actually started out as Gosport and was later renamed Norfolk.

This is from the NNSY webpage:

NNSY History
  
On November 1, 1767 Andrew Sprowle, established the Gosport 
Shipyard (in the town of Gosport) on the western shore of the 
Elizabeth River under the British flag. When the American 
Revolution began in 1775, Sprowle fled the area aboard the 
Royal Governor's flagship. All his properties were 
confiscated by Virginia. 

Known for most of its first century as "Gosport", it was 
renamed "Norfolk" in 1862 after the largest city in the area. 
It has never borne the name of its home city of Portsmouth.