Here is part two of York County and Poquoson in World War II. Pre- War York County During the years before the war, York County was still a very rural place. Route 17 as we know of today did not exist until 1952. In 1941 the road winded and meandered through the county and included what are now Burts Road, Grafton Drive and Old York Hampton Road. There were many small general stores that often doubled as post offices. There was Amorys and Wainwrights store on what is now Grafton Drive, Wornoms, Hunts and John Smith Charles at the Dare Cross roads and Jeffs, Moores and Messick in Poquoson. In Grafton there was Amory Funeral Home and Amory bottling works. The people still worked on family farms and harvesting the bay. Many people worked at local military bases and the Newport News Shipyard. The local government was: Trial Justice……………W.E. Hogge Clerk of Court…………..Floyd Holloway Treasurer………………..John F. Rollins Commissioner of Revenue…. Alva Riggins Deputy Treasurer…L.M. Callis and H.G.Kinde Deputy Commissioner of Revenue..W.K. Hunt Commonwealths Attorney…..Julian Cornick Sheriff……………….A.S. White Sr. Deputy Sheriff……….Harry Riley Special Officer……….Richard Goode Coroner………………Dr. L.O. Powell Board of Supervisors: John F. Smith…….Grafton David Powers…….Bruton Dr. E.B. White……Poquoson A. J. Renforth……..Nelson The biggest news of 1941 was the courthouse fire of New Years Eve, 1940. What remained of the building was torn down and the National Park Service conducted an excavation of the foundation and the courthouse grounds. The excavation was completed in September of 1941. Plans were starting to be made of the its rebuilding. Congressman Otis Bland tried to get federal funds, but a congressman from New York shot down the bill. The courthouse was rebuilt in 1955. Court was held in the Masonic Lodge and the USO building. Months before the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the Second World War affected York County. With the quick victory German victory in France in 1940, Virginia was very concerned about its own safety in the event of an attack. The state government was aware of the potential of Langley Air Force Base, Norfolk Naval Base, the Shipyards in Newport News and the other military installations as possible targets of a German attack. The state formed the Virginia Defense Council on May 30,1940. and named Douglas Southall Freeman as its chair. This was the first state formed civil defense organization in the country. Later a special defense council was formed for the Hampton Roads area. The first draft was held on October 16, 1940. Men between born between the dates October 17, 1909 to October 16,1919 had reported to local schools to register for the draft. The first York County man to be drafted was Frank Ferguson of Messick. His draft number was 158. His was officially inducted in May of 1942 and served in the Pacific. Housing shortages were beginning to be noticed. Many families rented out extra rooms to military men and war workers. Temporary housing in York County took the form of trailer camps and small cottages. Some of these cottages still survive in front of Harwood Trailer court on route 17. The Naval Mine Depot expanded and more sailors and marines were stationed there. In July of 1941, plans were approved for the building of USO on the jail sight in Yorktown. When the Virginia National Guard was federalized on February 3,1941 the Commonwealth created what was called the Virginia Protective Force. This was essentially a state run militia. The York County based unit in this organization was called the York Rangers after the York based Civil War group. The Virginia Protective Force was to do the work of the National Guard while they were away. In 1944 the group changed the their name to the Virginia State Guard. Sources are: Helen Jones Campbell papers at Swem Library at the College of William andMary. Daily Press Newpaper for the year 1941 Minutes of the York County Board of Supervisors meetings for 1941 Interview with Thelma Hansford Superintendants report 1941 National Park Service Yorktown Interview with Hunter Fletcher
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 06:25:58 +0000
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