Norfolk County Historical Society of Chesapeake, Virginia
Preserving and Sharing Chesapeake, VA History Since October 1963
The Out-House
by
Robert B. Hitchings
I did not grow up in Norfolk County, now the city of Chesapeake. I grew up in the city of Norfolk. However, I have many fond memories of the farms and family members of Norfolk County that I visited as a child so long ago.
One memory I have is of my Uncle Kenny Butt’s farm on Elbow Road not too far from the Stumpy Lake Spillway. I remember the first weekend I spent with my Butt relatives, especially my girl cousins. As the only boy, it was bad. I had to play house and be the Daddy. My Butt cousins being a few years older decided to use the old out-house as the site to play house. It had been abandoned for years. Being a city boy, I did not know what an out-house was. My girl cousins proceeded to make mud pies. They even snuck into Aunt Eva’s kitchen and stole some of her flour to make the mud pies look yummy. Aunt Eva must have wondered what we were up to and when she looked out the window and saw us in that out-house! She came out of that porch, like a bat out of HELL, the old screen door banging, white butcher apron flowing in the breeze. I do not think her feet touched the ground. Boy, did she give us HELL. “Look at the germs you have picked up,” she said. “Get inside and take a bath, you are all filthy and germy!”
When I got home, I told Mama what had happened and how Aunt Eva was so mad. Mama explained to me what the out-house was used for. Today, my Butt cousins have no memory of this event. However, I still remember, etched in my brain, that summer day on the Butt’s farm on Elbow Road and how that old out-house got me in trouble.
Event Calendar
August 2022
Closed
17 Aug
September 2022
Closed
4 & 5 Sep
NCHSC Board Meeting
(via ZOOM)
13 Sep 6:00pm
NCHSC Membership Meeting
18 Sep 2:00pm
October 2022
Closed
10 Oct
November 2022
Closed
8 & 11 Nov
NCHSC Board Meeting
(via ZOOM)
8 Nov 6:00 pm
Closed
23, 24, & 25 Nov
Newsletters
Read past editions of our
NCHSC newsletter
The Historian,
below:
Publications
for Sale
For a list of all NCHSC publications, click below:
Historic Reminiscing
with
Robert Hitchings
Our Archivist/Historian and President, Robert Hitchings, shares his blog for history fans, and we are sharing it with you! Find it here:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/history/rbhblogindex.html