Norfolk - Alaska - Culture

In 1917,  600 German sailors, crew of the interned raiders Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prinz Eitel Friedrich, arrived  at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth.  They built a German Village to pass their time. After the United States entered the war, the sailors became prisoners of war and were sent to POW camps in Georgia.  Today, this village is a popular tourist attraction.  The income from the entrance fees and revenue from the sale of baked goods and souvenirs are sent to the German Red Cross.

In 1919, Crispus Attucks Theatre opened.  It was designed, financed and developed by African-Americans.  This theatre is named to honour African-American Crispus Attucks, who was the first American killed by British soldiers when they fired into a crowd of demonstrators in Boston in 1770.

In 1921 the Virginia Beach Boulevard, a concrete road running from Virginia Beach to Norfolk, was completed.   In 1971-1972,  Norfolk's $30,000,000 convention and cultural centre opened; Scope, a unique domed convention hall; and Chrysler Hall, a separate theatre were all built.