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This gateway to Hampton Roads retains
the flavor of a simpler time.
Windsor
is the crossroads of two fast lanes,� says Delbert O�Meara.
It�s an apt description for the
rural-struggling-with-suburban-growth town of
Windsor
. Heading east along U.S. 460, a steady
stream of truck traffic passes through pastoral land and towns like
Waverly,
Wakefield
and Ivor on the way to
Windsor
and points beyond. Route 460 cuts right through
Windsor
, which in promotional literature touts itself as �at the heart of
Isle of Wight
.� The town is also intersected by U.S. 258, running north-to-south and
linking
Windsor
with communities like
Franklin
and
Smithfield
.
O�Meara, who says he�s �65
plus,� is surrounded by friends Tim Gardner, 70, of
Suffolk
; Jay Stephen�son,
66, of Windsor; and Ray Lee, 85, of
Windsor
. The men are holding court at the local Dairy Queen on Route 460,
indulging in not just breakfast, but a meeting of the minds where diverse
conversation is part of the regular menu.
Stephenson, born and raised in
Isle of Wight
county by parents who were farmers, is himself a retired farmer. Lee, who
has lived in
Windsor
56 years, says he �sold out and retired� from his farm-supply business
to enjoy golf. Both are quick to respond when asked about life in
Windsor
.
�It�s an old country town, and
most people here are friendly,� Lee says. �Northerners come down here
and don�t want to leave!�
Stephenson opines, �It�s relaxing
and wonderful � country roads and a country town. People ought to visit
and see it for themselves.�
But in almost the next breath, the men
agree that
Windsor
is changing. Stephenson says
the coming Route 460 bypass road �will make
Windsor
a ghost town�; but Lee thinks the bypass road �might be good ... it
will get all the trucks [going through town] off the road.� Everyone
agrees growth and increased population are inevitable. Stephenson
describes
Windsor
�s future as �more taxes and more people,� while O�Meara says
�locals will have to adapt to a faster way of life.�
At an adjacent table, Margaret Anna
Marshall, 84, of Windsor and her friends Celia Outten, 80, and Janie
Rhodes, 82, both from nearby
Zuni, agree that growth is coming. �
Windsor
will grow ... there�s nothing to keep it from growing,�
Marshall
observes. Outten interjects, laughing, �Don�t come here, we don�t
want you!�
Marshall
lives on a family farm, adding, �I�ve lived here all my life.
Windsor
is a nice little town. I knew everyone when I was young; now I don�t
even know some of my neighbors. A lot of people are coming from cities to
get to rural areas [like ours] where there is less crime. A lot of people
who have moved near me are from other states, or from
Virginia Beach
.�
The women are keeping their community
ties, despite concerns about growth.
Rhodes
says they�re all members of The Young At Heart Club, which began as a
group of senior citizens getting together: �We take one trip a month and
we [do things like] give to the library and the Salvation Army.�
|
James
Beale, 90, a frequent visitor at Tidewater Farm Supply, remembers
when electricity first came to the twon in 1939. |
James Beale, 90, hangs out with
friends at another town fixture, Tidewater Farm Supply, where locals often
gather for small-town fellowship. Beale worked at Newport News
Shipbuilding, a 45-minute commute, for
50 years. He agrees
Windsor
has changed � for the better.
�There are more conveniences now,�
he notes. �I remember when there was no electricity here; electricity
came in 1939. There were few
stores, and I remember when Route 460 was a dirt road.�
Windsor
is now the headquarters for Community Electric Cooperative.
|
Tidewater
Farm Supply is a Windsor fixture offering not only farm and garden
supplies, sporting goods and plants, but providing a gathering
place for small-town fellowship. |
Beale says there wasn�t much to do
when he was growing up in
Windsor
: �You had to figure out your own things to do. There was a train
station and about 10 trains a day ran through here. The train station is
closed; passenger trains were done away with [here], although the freight
trains still run.�
�They let us sit here and talk,�
says Charles Braswell, 80. A
retired farmer, Braswell says he farmed peanuts, cotton, and soybeans
�all my life on the same farm� until his 1991 retirement. Braswell
says the cost of farmland is �pricing farmers out of the business ... a
lot of farms are selling [their land] to developers.� His son farms the
200-acre family farm, plus an additional 1,000 acres of leased farmland.
Jackie and Dean Blythe, co-owners of
Tidewater Farm Supply, bought the former Alphin Farm Supply in 1976. The
Blythes have retained the store�s comfortable, rural atmosphere: Amid a
flat-screen television that will show satellite-TV agricultural shows
along with an array of new products for sale, the decor includes mounted
deer heads on walls, rodeo ads and flyers announcing beagle puppies for
sale. A variety of customers, the Blythes say, buy their Purina feed,
garden supplies and plants, and sporting goods here. They offer a custom
seed-cleaning operation for farmers to replant their seed.
|
Jackie
and Dean Blythe have owned Tidewater Farm Supply since 1976. |
�We�ve had so many new residents
come in ... they want to raise animals and have gardens,� Jackie Blythe
says. �We�re seeing more backyard gardeners, although larger farmers,
who farm 500 acres plus, are really our [customer] base.�
Suffolk
is only 12 miles away and
Newport News
is a 25-mile drive. Most people commute to jobs outside of
Windsor
. �In the last five or 10 years, we have seen new subdivisions and
things have really been booming,� she explains. �A lot of town
businesses are owned by people who have lived here practically all their
lives. I think the biggest challenge is handling the influx of people
coming in and the impact on the school system. We have both volunteer and
paid emergency medical technicians, a wonderful volunteer fire department
and our own town police department.�
Employee Mac Williams, 41, a
self-described �country boy� who has lived in
Windsor
�all my life,� has worked at Tidewater Farm Supply for 25 years and
oversees the store�s seed-cleaning operation. He calls
Windsor
�a pretty good place to live,� adding, �The store is like family to
me, and I enjoy meeting people.�
Windsor
native Nikki Stokes-Council is excited about her
Windsor
business: As director of The Happy Hearts Childcare Center at
Windsor
�s Chapel Grove United Church of Christ, she�s fulfilling a long-held
dream of running a church-based, licensed child-care center. Happy Hearts,
overseen by Stokes-Council and three employees, has a diverse curriculum
including art, music, Bible lessons and even a 15-minute daily Spanish
lesson. �We started with five children when we opened in August 2004 and
we now have 23 children. I believe this is a ministry ... children are our
future, and if parents give them a safe en�vironment
and a place where they can learn, they will succeed,� Stokes-Council
says.
She
says the best part of her job is �making a difference in a child�s
life.� A graduate of
Old
Dominion
University
and a former elementary school teacher, Stokes-Council says she likes the
country life better than the �rushing� life she experienced in
Norfolk
, adding, �
Windsor
is laid-back and relaxed.�
The first recorded name for
Windsor
, given by Native Americans, was Corro�waugh
(�Frog Pond�), with a post office dating back to 1852. When a contract
to deliver mail was given to the railroad, the depot became Windsor
Station. Legend has it that the name
Windsor
was tapped from a novel by Sir Walter Scott that the railroad builder�s
wife was reading.
Chartered as a town in 1902,
Windsor
is one of only two towns (the other is
Smithfield
) in 319-square-mile
Isle of Wight
County
. The town is anchored by a smattering of businesses, stores, churches,
gas stations, homes and Town of
Windsor
offices in the midst of bustling Route 460. In 2000 the town�s
population was 916; in 2001 annexation swelled the population to 2,400.
|
Retired
farmer Charles Braswell, 80, is concerned that farmland will
continue to be lost due to development. |
Town Manager Kurt A. Falkenstein says
when he became town manager in 1997, there were 2� employees; today 10
employees oversee town functions.
�When I first came here we were
issuing three zoning permits annually ... now that number is in the
hundreds annually,� he explains. �Initially I had to wear a large
number of hats to do my job. I walked water-meter routes with the
maintenance man; normally a town manager doesn�t do that. Growth and
additional staff have changed my role to more managerial.�
Falkenstein says the Route 460 bypass
is due to break ground in 2010, noting the town wants the bypass to come
as close to the existing town limits as possible. He believes the bypass
will benefit town businesses, although he admits that depends on the type
of business and their target market.
Jackie Blythe says the bypass may help
local businesses like theirs: �Route 460 is scary to some people ... the
traffic has greatly increased. Years ago there was no problem with any
business in
Windsor
in terms of getting back out on 460, but there are more accidents now.�
Mayor Marvin A. Crocker, Jr., says
Windsor
�s biggest challenge is transportation issues affecting the town. A town
council member since 1992, Crocker has been mayor since 2002. The Isle of
Wight native has lived in
Windsor
37 years, and has worked at Newport News Shipbuilding for 41 years.
Despite recent growth, he says
Windsor
remains �very much a rural community in a small-town setting.�
�Because of our two main corridor
highways, we have business, tourists and truckers [in town],� he says.
�Regional issues will continue to drift our way, since we�re just
outside of
Suffolk
. Pressure from those areas will affect us as well.�
�
Windsor
is an entrance to Hampton Roads, which makes us marketable to ports and
ripe for residential development,� Falkenstein says. �But living here
is still like taking a step into the past, into a simpler place and
time.�
