Pleass see the article below by Dave Forster and the link to the Virginian Pilot's feature today, "What's in a Name - Shea Terrace." There are some interesting facts about the founding of the neighborhood. Thanks to Dave for a very well-researched story.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/12/whats-name-shea-terrace
What's in a name? | Shea Terrace
By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 28, 2009
Marriage has changed many a last name. In the case of Shea Terrace, it recast an entire neighborhood. Near the entrance to Martin Luther King Freeway and bordered on much of three sides by water, the community between downtown and midtown today boasts more than 400 homes.
In the mid-1800s it was mostly undeveloped farmland and on its way to being known as Scottsville, according to one historical account. The would-be namesake, Thomas Scott, had received the land in the late 1600s through a grant.
Around the year 1844, however, two Irish-American brothers from Maine married two of Scott's descendants. One of the Northerners, John J. Shea, began to buy back much of the land that the Scott family had sold over the years.
Perhaps Shea saw potential. A newspaper account from 1851, as excerpted in "History of Scotts Creek" by Ronnie Wilder, described the area as a place celebrated for its oysters and agriculture - "a beautiful region of Norfolk County, the garden spot of the state."
What's more, it was "undoubtedly the most decidedly democratic precinct in Virginia," the newspaper account said. The area boasted 21 voters, with "but a single Whig among them," it said.
"He stands solitary and alone in this neighborhood, a monument of the forgotten principals of his defunct party."
One of Shea's sons, Edward B. Shea, began to develop the land in the 1930s. Corner lots went for $300. A neighborhood sprouted.
Some of the Sheas' descendants still live there. One is Edward "Butch" Shea, a 62-year-old retired insurance broker.
He lives in the house where his father was born, which is just down the street from the house where his grandfather was born.
Outside, a tributary to the Elizabeth River rises and falls with the tide, just like it did when Thomas Scott was around. That, at least, kept his name: Scotts Creek.
A Ledger-Star article from Jan. 14, 1969, contributed to this article.
Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com
