The Former Nansemond Ordnance Depot ("FNOD") is located in Suffolk, Virginia, near the northwestern
end of State Route 135. The FNOD was located at the mouth of and to the east of the Nansemond River, on the south side of Hampton Roads. The FNOD contained approximately 975.3 acres. It was bordered to the
west by the Nansemond River, to the north by the James River (Hampton Roads), to the east by Streeter Creek, and to the south by undeveloped areas of Suffolk. The general FNOD coordinates are 36ø 53'
59.0" North and 076ø 26' 05.0" West . Use and ownership of the property prior to 1917 is not known. Local historians claim, however, that the Confederate States of America had an artillery battery on the
property during the Civil War in order to protect the entrance to the Nansemond River. The property was obtained by the United States Department of Army between 1917 and
1929 by various deeds, easements, permits, and Declarations of Takings; at this time the facility was known as Pig Point Ordnance Depot. During World War I, the facility was used for munitions storage,
shipment, classification, and destruction, handling up to 1300 tons of ammunition daily. As of October 1918, the facility contained numerous buildings, including, but not limited to, 28 standard ammunition
magazines, 25 high explosive magazines, 13 smokeless powder magazines, eight primer and fuse magazines, and one large warehouse. Between World Wars I and II, the facility
was used for various activities, including preparation of ammunition and components for permanent storage, painting and marking shells and containers, segregation of certain lots of ammunition, transference
of powder charges from fibre to metal containers, salvage of munition parts, and inspection and disposal of unserviceable ammunition by defusing or burning. In 1929, the name of the facility was changed from
Pig Point Ordnance Depot to Nansemond Ordnance Depot. During World War II, the facility supported operations at the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, including storage and
transhipment of all types of ammunition overseas. It also received captured enemy munitions for processing and further shipment to other U.S. military facilities. Toward the end of the war, it was used as a
distribution depot, and performed reconditioning and loading of ammunition. In April 1945, the Depot was in demobilization, including the destruction of unserviceable explosives, ammunition, and chemicals.
In November 1950, the facility was transferred to the Department of the Navy, then known as the Marine Corps Supply Forwarding Annex. In June 1960, the facility was declared
excess by the Federal government. Of the original 975.3 acres, 5.87 acres were being used at that time by the State for road right-of-way. The remaining property was conveyed to the
Beazley Foundation Boys Academy, which operated a private boys military academy there until 1968. *
Beazley Foundation conveyed 207 acres to Virginia Electric Power Company in 1960, 36.246 acres to General Electric Company ("GE") in 1965, and 4.704 acres to the former County of Nansemond for road right-of-way in 1966. In 1968, Beazley Foundation donated the remaining property to the Virginia Department of Community Colleges ("VDCC"), which currently uses it for the Frederick Campus of Tidewater Community College ("TCC"). VDCC later conveyed one portion of the property to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District and allowed another portion to be used for the construction of Interstate 664.
The property acquired by GE in 1965 included an existing building, the size of which was more than doubled in 1966; this was the Television Assembly Building. GE added the
Finished Goods Warehouse onto this building in the early 1970s. GE eventually acquired a total of about 134 acres. GE operated as an interim status facility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
("RCRA") between November 1980 and August 1984. Of the 207 acres deeded to Virginia Electric Power Company (now known as Dominion Power) by the Beazley Foundation in 1960, Dominion Power plans
to develop 135 acres and adjacent property into an industrial/commercial park called Bridgeway Commerce Park. In addition, the City of Suffolk plans to acquire a portion of TCC property for the purpose of
developing a commercial area called the Hampton Roads Technology Park on 158 acres in the eastern portion of the former NOD. This latter complex would be constructed along both sides of I-664 and contain
office and research and development space, a high-technology workforce development center, hotels and corporate/conference centers, a restaurant, and a day care facility. 
*
Webmaster's Note: It should be clarified that the high school never departed from the Brighton area campus. Only the college classes relocated to the property described above. |
