Thursday, July 2, 2020

Buck Trout Swamp

 Indian River Park is one of the last remnants of a once much larger ecosystem known as Buck Trout Swamp. Below is a part of the an 1887 Norfolk County Map that can be found in the History Room at the Central Library. It shows a great woods from Providence Rd south to Kempsville Rd, from the modern Battlefield Blvd east to Centerville Turnpike. Most of the swamp was drained for the huge Greenbrier Nursery Farm in the early 20th century, which of course eventually was developed into today's Greenbrier section of the city. Learn more about this part of the history at http://thecitizenofchesapeake.com/2013/05/05/a-chance-glimpse-of-a-rose-births-the-worlds-largest-nursery/