"Mr. Ward wants to see you at Ward's Corner!"¹ 

Table of Contents

Where is Wards Corner?

History of Wards Corner

Greater Wards Corner Task Force

Wards Corner Time Line

Hofheimers Shoe Store and Rice's Fashion Center, January 2,1952 - Norfolk Public Library VA Digital Archives

 Teggs Log Cabin 1929 - Carroll Walker

Wards Corner - November 30, 2014

Where is Wards Corner?

Wards Corner is directly located on the corner of Granby Street and Little Creek.² From Wards Corner you are easily able to navigate to Ocean View, Downtown, Hampton Blvd, Shore Drive, and the local military bases.³

History of Wards Corner

How did Wards Corner get it's name?  Just a century ago, initially and for many years Wards Corner (then Ward’s Corner) was just a giant farmland.⁴ However, in the year 1910 on Little Creek road (then Sewells Point rd) and Granby Street in Norfolk, VA, a man named Alfred C. Ward had built a general store.⁵  This general store was the main attraction to people who lived near because it was the only store in the area.⁶  It was a grocery store with a gas station attached to it on the “northwest corner of the intersection."⁷ Later Alfred Ward asked to take on the Michellin tire line and was the first to sell their tires in the Norfolk area.⁸  As an advertising slogan, "Mr. Ward wants to see you at Wards corner" was posted on signs of converging roads.⁹ Alfred Ward was the first to build a successful business at this intersection.¹⁰ He is the reason why we now call this busy intersection Wards Corner.

Early Businesses Alfred Ward’s business was the first of many businesses to come. Besides Alfred Ward's general store, there also on Wards Corner later came another gas station, a drug store, a restaurant, and many other businesses.¹¹

 One of the first gas stations of this area after Alfred Wards general store, was called Texaco and it resided on the northwest corner of Wards Corner.¹² There was also a drug store on the Northeast corner of Wards Corner that stayed open 24 hours.¹³ In 1963, currently where Farm Fresh is today, there was a Giant Open Air Market.¹⁴

One of the most memorable businesses by old residents of 1929-1950 however, was Tegg's Log Cabin. ¹⁵ This business was created by two brothers, J. Buell and C.H. Tegg.¹⁶ Old residents say Tegg's Log Cabin was well known for their specialty, Barbecue.¹⁷ Tegg's Log Cabin is said to have been the first to introduce Norfolk, VA to Barbecue.¹⁸ In the years between 1934 and 1935, the Tegg brothers tore down their restaurant and rebuilt it with a banquet floor in it.¹⁹ This business lasted for about a little over 20 years before it was leased out to Hofheimers Shoe Store.²⁰

In the 1950s and 1960s, Wards Corner became known as the Shopping Mecca for Ocean View Residents and the Times Square of the South.²¹ To people who grew up in Norfolk in the 80s, it was the center of Norfolk.²² It was a retailing giant and one of the nation’s first suburban shopping centers with some of the most upscale retailers.²³  

 

Greater Wards Corner Task Force The Greater Wards Corner Task Force is composed of their “elected city council representatives, city representatives, and concerned residents of the Greater Wards Corner area.”²⁴ The purpose of this group is to bring a group of businesses and neighborhood representatives together to work with the city to create and improve the "Greater Wards Corner" area.²⁵ They focus on improving Wards Corner, and neighborhoods adjacent to it, including Little Creek and southern shopping center to Hampton Blvd.²⁶ They have goals and plans written out and displayed in the Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan.²⁷    

Wards Corner timeline

1910 - Alfred C. Ward operated a Grocery Store at Old Market Square and a General Store on the corner of Granby St. & Little Creek Rd. He took on the Michellin tire line and began calling Old Market Square, Wards Corner.²⁸

1926 - Two brothers named J. Buell and C.H. Tegg built Teggs Log Cabin on the corner of Sewells Point and Granby Street, introducing the first Barbecue sandwich to Norfolk, VA.²⁹

1940s- Suburban Shopping Center opened (included Suburban Theater, Melvin's Deli, Suburban Newsstand, GiGis, 15 Barbers). ³⁰

1950 - Teggs Log Cabin closed and was leased out to Hofheimers Shoe store.³¹

1952- Hofheimers Shoe Store and Rice's Fashion Center opened. ³²

1963- "Giant Open Air market opened its new Wards corner mercantile center."³³

2012 - Wards Corner Mall was torn down to begin the reconstruction of the Wards Corner.³⁴

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^{1Carroll Walker, "Wards Corner History," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, wardscornernow.com/history.}

^{2 Harry Minium, "Whats in a name?," Virginian-Pilot, February 15, 2008, hamptonroads.com/2008/02/whats-name-wards-corner-Norfolk#.}   

^{3 RKPuma, "Wards Corner: Times Square of the South," Ocean View Nickel tour, accessed November 19, 2014, www.rkpuma.com/ov/nickel20.htm.} 

^{4 Carroll Walker, "Wards Corner History," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, wardscornernow.com/history.}

^{5 Ibid.} 

^6 Ibid.

^7 Ibid.

^8 Ibid.

^{9 Ibid.}

^{10 Ibid.}

^11 Ibid.

^{12 Ibid.}

^{13 Ibid.}

^{14 Wards Corner Business District, "Historical Photos of the Wards Corner Giant Open Air Market,"  Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, http://wardscornernow.com/2013/05/10/giant/.} 

^{15 Carroll Walker, "Wards Corner History," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, wardscornernow.com/history.} 

^{16 Ibid.}

^{17 Ibid.}

^{18 Ibid.}

^{19 Ibid.}

^{20 Ibid.}

^{21 RKPuma, "Wards Corner: Times Square of the South," Ocean View Nickel Tour, accessed November 19, 2014, www.rkpuma.com/ov/nickel20.htm.}  

^{22 AltDaily, "This used to be the center of Norfolk: Wards Corner, Memories & Dreams," AltDaily, July 19, 2012, http://www.altdaily.com/features/news/5678-41this-used-to-be-the-center-of-norfolk-wards-corner-memories-dreams.}

^{23Harry Minium. "Whats in a name?," Virginian-Pilot, February 15, 2008, hamptonroads.com/2008/02/whats-name-wards-corner-Norfolk#.}

^{24 Wards Corner Business District, "About," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, http://wardscornernow.com/about/.} 

^{25 City of Norfolk, "Greater Wards Corner Task Force," Norfolk, accessed November 31, 2014, www.norfolk.gov/index.aspx?NID=490.} 

²⁶Ibid. 

^{27 Wallace Roberts & Todd, "Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan," Comprehensive Business Plan, City of Norfolk, November 2004, accessed November 31, 2014, http://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/914.} 

^{28 Carroll Walker, "Wards Corner History," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, wardscornernow.com/history.}

^{29 Ibid.}

^{30 RKPuma, "Wards Corner: Times Square of the South," Ocean View Nickel Tour, accessed November 19, 2014, www.rkpuma.com/ov/nickel20.htm.}

^{31 Carroll Walker, "Wards Corner History," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, wardscornernow.com/history.}

^{32 Harden D Vollmer, "Hofheimers Shoe and Rice's Fashion Center at Wards Corner," Norfolk Public Library VA Digital Archives, accessed December 1, 2014, http://cdm15987.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15987coll9/id/5780/rec/20.}  

^{33 Wards Corner Business District, "Historical Photos of the Wards Corner Giant Open Air Market," Wards Corner Now, accessed November 19, 2014, http://wardscornernow.com/2013/05/10/giant/.}

^{34 Bill Tirnan, "Wards Corner Strip Mall Torn Down in Norfolk," Virginia-Pilot, July 19, 2012, http://hamptonroads.com/2012/07/photo-gallery-wards-corner-strip-mall-torn-down-norfolk.}

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