Alvah H. Martin Residence
Woman's Club of Norfolk, 1925
Source: SMC-NPL; smc-vp-fn0000179-003
It was built for Alvah Howard Martin (184 – 1918) in 1909 and finished in 1910. It was designed by Lee and Diehl of Norfolk, Virginia at an estimated cost of $30,000. The Martin family lived in the house until Alvah Martin’s death in 1918. The Virginia Club (Norfolk, VA) acquired the house in 1920 and added onto the house. The Woman’s Club of Norfolk purchased the house on October 22, 1925 from the Virginia Club (Norfolk, VA) to be used by their organization as a meeting place, place for social events, and a home for single women.
Street Address: 228 Fairfax Avenue (1910); 222 Fairfax Avenue (1910-1912/1913); and 524 Fairfax Ave (1912/1913 to Present)
Name (Original): Alvah H. Martin Residence (1910-1920)
Name (Also Known As): Virginia Club (1920-1925); Woman’s Club of Norfolk (1925 – Present); and The Historic Martin Mansion
Architect: Lee (James W.) and Diehl (H. Robert) of Norfolk, Virginia
Contractor: N/A
Architectural Style: Classical Revival
Cost (Original): $30,000
Construction Date: 1909
Completion Date: 1910
Demolition Date: N/A
GPS: 36.858751, -76.297842
GPIN: 1427791645
Legal Description (2020): Lot Y, Blk 9, 13212 Sq Ft
Legal Description (1910): Lots 12-15, parts of lot 11 and lot 16, Blk 9 of The Ghent Company
Sources:
1. Books and Pamphlets:
Chandler, Fay. Martin Family History. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 2001.
Parker, John A. Thirteen Blocks: A Social History of Early Ghent in Norfolk, Virginia. Norfolk, Va: Money Pit Press, 2011.
Shank, Joseph E. Shank's Raw Materials on the History of Norfolk-Portsmouth Newspapers and of the Tidewater Area. [Norfolk, Va.]: [Shanks], 1965. Vol 6. 2132.
Wells, John E., and Robert E. Dalton. The Virginia Architects, 1835-1955: A Biographical Dictionary. Richmond, VA: New South Architectural Press, 1997. 249.
Yarsinske, Amy Waters. Ghent, Virginia: John Graham's Dream, Norfolk, Virginia's Treasure. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006.
City Directories:
1910 Norfolk City Directory – Alvah H Martin, 228 Fairfax Avenue, pages 368, 730.
1912 Norfolk City Directory – Alvah H Martin, 222 Fairfax Avenue, pages 385, 748.
1913 Norfolk City Directory – Alvah H Martin, 524 Fairfax Avenue, pages 461, 892.
1920-1921 Norfolk City Directory – Virginia Club, 524 Fairfax Avenue, pages 883, 1000.
1927 Norfolk City Directory – Woman’s Club of Norfolk and Bristow Hardin Studio of Music, pages 696, 766.
2. Documents/Collections:
Packet 478, Guaranty Title and Trust Corporation Records, MSS 0000-052
Norfolk City, Virginia. “Deed from The Ghent Company, Corp. to Alvah H. Martin, 18 December 1906,” Deed Book 154B, 40.
Norfolk City, Virginia. “Permit – From City of Norfolk to Alvah H. Martin, 30 March 1910,” Deed Book 174A, 35.
Norfolk City, Virginia. “Deed from Alvah H. Martin, exor’s of to Virginia Club, 1 July 1920,” Deed Book 255A, 131.
3. Maps/Plats/Surveys:
Plat sheet 186, Guaranty Title and Trust Corporation Records, MSS 0000-052
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Norfolk, VA; 1910 edition, volume 1, sheet 54. (not shown)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Norfolk, VA; 1928 edition, volume 1, sheet 70.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Norfolk, VA; 1950 edition, volume 1, sheet 70.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Norfolk, VA; 1970 edition, volume 1, sheet 70.
4. Newspaper/Magazines/Journals:
Manufacturers record : A weekly southern industrial railroad and financial newspaper (Baltimore, MD: Conway Publications), vol 56, # , 22 July 1909, 60.
“Woman’s Club Buys Alvah Martin House,” The Tidewater Trail, Vol 1, no. 12, 7.
Articles about the structure or shows parts of the house.
1920s:
“New Home of Woman’s Club,” Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 1 January 1926.
--- Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 5 October 1925.
1950s-1960s:
---- Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 5 November 1950.
“Clubwomen to Sell Fairfax Property,” Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (Norfolk, VA), 4 December 1963, 10.
“Clubwomen’s Landmark,” Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 6 December 1963.
“Norfolk Clubwomen Plan Victorian Yule,” Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 1 December 1968, G-2.
1970s-1980s:
Hawkins, Ruth. “Never a Dull Moment Around This House,” Ledger-Star (Norfolk, VA), 25 October 1972, C1.
Smith, Anne. “Their Mansion’s…a Ball,” Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 30 October 1975, D1.
Lewis, Vicki. “By Invitation Only,” ?, unknown date (abt 1980).
2000s:
Stanus, Joan C. “History at the Hague,” Norfolk Compass from Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 21 December 2000, 6-7.
Ruegsegger, Gary. “Book Relates 102 Years of Woman’s Club History,” Norfolk Compass from Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 23 March 2008, 1, 8-9.
5. Photographs and Other Visual Images:
Scrapbook “Ghent Houses,” Volume 1, 1989 from Wyatt Hibbs Papers, MSS 0000-410
Film negative packets FN 19-323 TO 325, Photo Craftsmen Photograph Collection, MSS 2016-033
SMC Main Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-MPC
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-017
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-018
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-020
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-022
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-023
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-028
smc-main-ph-fairfax-ave-029
Box 1, “Norfolk–Buildings–Clubs and Organizations,” SMC Postcard Collection, MSS 0000-PCC
Virginian-Pilot Photograph Collection, MSS 0000-187
Film Negative Packet 17
Film Negative Packet 2126a
Film Negative Packet MY107 - What's Cooking with Mrs. Ezra T Summers and Paintings at Woman's Club (date: April 27, 1955)
Film Negative Packet MY658 - Garden Club of America president at Mrs. Grandy's - Turkish exhibit at Woman's Club (date: April 17, 1950)
Film Negative Packet MY1133 - Horace Edwards speaks at Woman's Club (date: April 25, 1949)
6. Vertical Files:
Folder: “Norfolk – Charities, Clubs and Organizations – Woman’s Club of Norfolk”, Sargeant Memorial Collection Norfolk Clippings Files, MSS 0000-NCF
7. Websites:
Norfolk AIR - https://air.norfolk.gov/ Account Number 00939930
Sources at Other Institutions and Archives
Library of Virginia
Harry C. Mann Photograph Collection - "524 Fairfax Ave., home of Alvah H. Martin, pres. Merchants & Planters Bank". Mann negative number: MA 1668.