MAPS: YOUR RIVER THROUGH TIME
6:16 AM
1800s
The Elizabeth River
The Elizabeth River was once almost a third as wide as today, and its channel only half as deep. Originally a broad, relatively shallow estuary of the Chesapeake Bay, our river has been dredged since the 1800s for its role as one of the world’s leading military and commercial ports, and filled to accommodate its four river cities (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach).
2018
Knitting Mill Creek
The site of the Ryan Resilience Lab formerly included an assembly hall and small marina operated by the American Legion. Most of the current Learning Park is prior river bed, filled for previous development projects.
TODAY
Elizabeth River Watershed
If you live or work anywhere in the peach-shaded area, your yard or business site drains to the Elizabeth River when it rains – typically through aging stormwater systems with no filtering before reaching the river. In fact, runoff pollution is now the No. 1 source of Elizabeth River pollution.
