From Wikipedia,
the free 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]
