Dorris Smith

• Photo of Sunrise on Hampton Roads, Sunset on Hampton Roads.



• Mary Robinson—J.C. Robinson was her father. A photo of Mary Robinson. Mary Robinson was the Mrs. Smith’s (the interviewee’s) girl scout leader, and she enjoyed it so much that she wanted to hold meetings at her house when her sons were in cub scouts. Mrs. Smith’s sister, Emmy Lou Machin, taught a class called Fun in Out of Doors. They learned about trees, rocks and minerals, snakes, and astronomy. They had a telescope in the ballpark at Indian River Park (near land her father had purchased) to learn the constellations. Ms. Machin did birds and trees again, then they took a field trip. Everyone had such a good time and was so excited about it that the next year they developed a six-week class on birds, resulting in the Hampton Roads Bird Club. It gained popularity as men found out they could band the birds. They had nets 8 feet wide and 40 feet long, thin as a hairnet with panels which would trap the bird but not harm it. They decided to go to the Eastern Shore, as that is the main flyover during Eastern migration. Between 1963 and 1998, they banded 240,000 birds from 162 species. It became so popular that the governor became a supporter, and in 1963 the first state park was bought. Her husband built a Sunfish [small sailboat] for her, and they formed an adult education group.



• Mr. Lavalett (a Frenchman) had a pier out from the creek all the way out from Chesapeake Avenue to Kecoughtan Road. He raised turtles for turtle soup. Doris Smith’s mother would take 6-10 children down to see Mr. Lavalett’s houseboat. The windows on the boat were facing west and had lead cut crystal. He had crystal goblets and china with Napoleon’s insignia on it. It was located right at the end of LaSalle avenue, and her mother called it a Hobo Hike. The children would have lunches tied in a red bandana on the end of a 3 ft. stick when they went to see Mr. Lavalett’s turtles. Approximately 1923.
• There were rumors about Robinson Park being an Indian burial ground. You could see big holes lined with bricks, which probably weren’t for Indians, and Captain Robinson must have had another kind of grave site.
• Fort Smith—play fort made by children. The interviewee’s son did a lot of beachcombing on Orchard Avenue. He went down to Chesapeake Avenue and brought all kinds of lumber and driftwood. He had a cardtable he used in the back yard, and a table was over a sandpile covered with a big sheet. It became known as Fort Smith. They decided they could build their own table bigger than the card table, and it became a neighborhood project. They decided to add a second story, so he put in a trap door. You could go inside and stand up. They cut another hold in the ceiling and added ammunition, which was walnuts with a sling made out of old wood and part of an old intertube. Eventually someone complained to the city about someone building a building and did not apply for a proper permit, but the man who came from the city was more fascinated by the fort than he cared about tearing it down.

<< back