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encyclopedia
Driver is an
unincorporated community in the
independent city of
Suffolk,
Virginia,
United States. It is located at the junction of
State Route 337,
State Route 125, and
State Route 627.
Originally named "Persimmon
Orchard", Driver was once located on the now-abandoned
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's line in the former
Nansemond County between the former town of Suffolk and
the
City of Portsmouth, which was itself was located in the
former
Norfolk County.
Through traffic in Driver formerly
used the now closed
Kings Highway Bridge to cross the
Nansemond River on State Route 125, known as the "Kings
Highway." The
drawbridge, opened in 1928, was deemed unsafe and closed
to traffic in March 2005 by the
Virginia Department of Transportation.
In modern times, as the Hampton
Roads area has become largely urbanized all around it, it
has been said that Driver is a town "suspended in time."
Driver is known in Suffolk for its
Driver Variety Store, which is styled as an old time
general store, and its annual
Driver Days festival.
[
April 2008 Suffolk tornado
]
After 4:00 PM EST on April 28,
2008, a
tornado touched down multiple times causing damage and
leaving over 200 injured in Suffolk along a path which
passed north and west of the downtown area striking near
Sentara Obici Hospital and in Driver. The storm seriously
damaged over 120 homes and 12 businesses. The subdivisions
of Burnett's Mill and Hillpoint Farms were damaged
particularly hard, as well as several of the older historic
structures in Driver. However, near Driver, large radio and
television broadcast towers located in an
antenna farm serving most of Hampton Roads were spared
serious damage.
Governor Timothy Kaine declared a
state of emergency and directed state agencies to assist the
recovery and cleanup efforts.
-
See also:
Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
[External
links]
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