FOX HILL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Established - October 13th 2001

Mission Statement

To research, record and preserve the heritage and history of the community known as Fox Hill, a peninsula on the Peninsula of Hampton, Virginia.

To honor and remember those who have gone before us that called this once small fishing village, home. Officially noted in the record books since 1625 as Fox Hill.

In the Beginning . .

The Fox Hill Historical Society is an outgrowth of the interest generated by local historians, sisters-in-law, Manola Patterson Clark and Virginia Johnson Clark and continued by their friend, Charles Elliott. Manola and Virginia created a map of Fox Hill and Charles wrote several books and articles.

In March of 2001, a group gathered to form what eventually became the Fox Hill Historical Society.  Katie Evans Arredondo was chair and called meetings from time to time. Members felt the group needed to become more formal and the Fox Hill Historical Society was officially founded October 13, 2001, and held its first meeting at the Fox Hill Community Center in Fox Hill, Virginia. The charter members elected the following as the first officers: Katie Evans Arredondo was president; Judy Clark Riss, vice president; Rosemarie Arredondo Kidd, secretary and Brenda Thomas Watson, treasurer. 

Meetings

We meet on the second Saturday of each month for a general business meeting, focused on genealogy and history of Fox Hill and its families past and present. The Society established a constitution and by-laws.

We currently have a genealogy committee, history committee, and a cemetery committee, that report their activities at our business meetings. All of our committees are open to anyone interested in preserving any of these areas.

Newsletter

Need for communication with members became obvious, and at the urging of Judy Riss, a newsletter was begun, and sent out. The first issue was in July of 2003. Judy is the editor and publisher. We hope to continue with newsletters on a regular basis. The first newsletter was sent to several transplanted Fox Hillians who become members.

Officers

Katie Arredondo has served as president, Judy Riss as vice president, and Rosemarie Kidd as secretary since the beginning of the Society. Brenda Watson was the original treasurer.  Cheryl Evans replaced Melodye Ballard as treasurer.

Incorporation

 Members felt the group needed to formally incorporate as a non-profit organization.  In September of 2003, the society was incorporated under the laws of the State of Virginia.  The initial Board of Directors were: Katie Evans Arredondo, Judy Clark Riss, Rosemarie Arredondo Kidd, David Routten and Melodye Ballard who signed the Articles of Incorporation.

Tax-Exempt

The IRS has granted us status as a non-profit organization under IRS code 501 (c) (3) in September 2003.  Now the Society can receive charitable contributions.

Activities

Our focus has been on:

Cemeteries

In 2001, six women met at the home of Ann Johnson Behm. Clark Cemetery is the largest one in Fox Hill and maintenance is managed by the Clark Perpetual Care Association. There are several cemeteries in Fox Hill which have been taken over by the Society. The Society did a walking survey of the burials and reconstructed the records from documents.

Other Activities

We have tried to document the many changes taking place in the city, especially in the past few years as the city grows, and buildings and older homes are moved or demolished, and new ones take their place.

We have written a book on local history in pictures with Arcadia Publishing which is currently at the printers. This book covers the our beginning as a fishing village, a trip through Fox Hill focusing on the buildings and their significance, a chapter on families and family history and the last chapter on our heroes who served their country during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. We regularly have speakers and programs on a variety of historical subjects such as early agriculture, 1933 hurricane, Civil War ceremony honoring veterans, Revolutionary War artillery reenactment, and genealogy workshops. 

We have written a cookbook, Eating on the Dock of the Bay, which is available from the society or the Hampton History Museum.

We are currently working on a second Arcadia book which we hope to publish early next year.

Get Involved

  We welcome all who are interested in the area of Fox Hill! Please come and join us. We invite and encourage our members to save and contribute old photographs, property abstracts, and other documents pertinent to Fox Hill history. Our current membership is 143 residing in 10 states.

Future Project:  Fox Hill Historical Society Home

We are currently raising funds in order to purchase a building as "home" for the Society. We will use the building to house artifacts of the community as well as storing genealogical records which would be available to everyone.

Contact us at:

Email: foxhillhs@foxhillhistory.org

                         Katie Arredondo, President

Address:           208 Beach Road

   Hampton Virginia 23664

Phone:               757-851-3631