Hilton Park lies roughly between Jefferson Avenue and Madison Avenue and Hilton Boulevard
and Briarfield Road. It includes that part of Highland Court which is west of Madison.*

- Patti Johnson Stowe ('62) of FL - 04/04/09

Thanks so much, Patti! Let's see if we can find out!
 

Hi Carol,

I sent you an email a few days ago regarding the old neighborhoods.  My half-sister Terrie (Johnson) Larsen ('72 - of Northern VA) (who is ten years younger than I am) reminded me that we lived in Hilton Park (not Warwick Gardens).  She's younger and has a better memory than I do.  We lived between Briarfield Road and Hilton Boulevard.  I think most of the kids in that area went to Warwick High, but we went to Newport News High.  Wonder who else remembers this neighborhood.  I remember the Miller sisters and not much more, but names would jolt my memory.

- Patti Johnson Stowe ('62) of FL - 04/09/09

OHHH - Hilton Park! Thanks, Patti!  Let's see what we can learn!
 

As best as I can discern from the NN website I mentioned ….

http://www.nngov.com/engineering/pdf/sibook97.pdf

Hilton Park lies roughly between Jefferson Avenue and Madison Avenue and Hilton Boulevard and Briarfield Road.
It includes that part of Highland Court which is west of Madison.

Consider the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Briarfield Road, which creates four quadrants. Skateland was
on the northeast corner of the intersection, and Hilton Park lies within the northeast quadrant. 

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/09/09

Thank you, Dave! Nobody does it better!
 

Many of us went to Parkview Baptist. I never knew our neighborhood was called Hilton Park but I forget that sort of thing anyway. There used to be big dances put on by NN parks and recreation on the tennis courts across the street from our house.  It was nice having a park  with tennis courts across the street. A working man's country club if you will. Donna Worsham Lonce remembers the names of people in the adjacent streets much better than I do. Sue Miller ('64), the Mortimer family, Ann Nuckles, Nancy Dodd, so many names elude me.  It was an area full young people rich in potential.  

There are many fond memories of those times I tuck away in my heart. The area has gone down. Every time I am there, which is rarely now that my father died in '07, it makes me sad to see the neighborhood slipping further and further down. On Christmas morning several of the guys would crowd into our home to see what Santa had brought everyone and to me those communal times were the best. I am a big one for community and family bonds.

- Frances Goodson Wang ('65) of MD - 04/10/09

Thanks so much, Frances!
 

Carol...

I lived on the corner of Hilton Boulevard and Marshall Avenue all my life until I married and moved to Stuart Gardens....... there were so many friends and classmates living within walking distance it will be hard to name them all. I spent many a Saturday night at the tennis courts listening to music or at the community center with Mr. Whitmore spinning the tunes...

If you include the area bounded by 74th Street to Briarfield Road...there must have been 30-40 of us.....The Hilsdon girls, Bill Rash ('67), Rickey Yow ('67), Billy Mortimer, David Hatchett ('65), Doug Edgerton ('67), Price girls (Diana and Donna - '66), Miller girls, Tony Holcomb ('68), Terry Kiser ('66), my cousin Garland Hudson ('65), Billy Turner  ('65), Stewart girls, Casey Riggs ('67), Woody Wagner, Fred Seldonridge, Winky ('67) and Diane ('67) Winkler, Jimmy Dinwiddie ('67), Ron Timberlake ('67), The Stanaways, Raymona Rawls ('67), Kenny Baker and the Baker girls, Joe Bell and so many more....... it was a very good place to live...the Boys Club was just up the street...Parkview Baptist Church (which started out in the Skateland), the Cut-rite drug store at Briarfield and Marshall Avenue, Shifflet's Barber Shop next door, grocery store.. Debbie Braswell ('67) lived right there...her mom did my mom's hair....

Sandra Bateman ('65) spent many a night cruising the area.. that was a very good thing!

Thank you so much, Terry!
 

As I read  Frances Goodson Wang’s ('65 - of MD) account of her neighbors on Highland Court, I was reminded that if one were to continue on down Madison Avenue they would find the likes of Tom Oxner ('65), Ronnie Wood ('65), Donny Reed ('65), Bob Jeffries ('63), Jimmy Smith ('62), Garland Hudson ('65), and me! Now I’m sure I’ve omitted many but the mind ain’t what it used to be and no slight is intended. The point is, this area was home to a great number of Typhoons.

I was saddened to hear Frances report the area has declined. I remember it as a real neighborhood full of good folks. Many a pickup football game was played on our front yard! Good, simpler times for sure.

Thanks, Carol

- Joe Wingo ('65) of NC - 04/11/09

Thanks so much, Joe!
 

I can add a few more names, if we extend the boundaries north to 74th Street and east to Wickham Avenue.
There have been so many entries that I may duplicate some.

Jefferson Avenue: Rex ('66) & Malcolm ('65) Davis

Clinton Drive: The Dempsey Girls: Katie (WHS ‘64), Patty ’66, and Mary (NNHS ??); Vickie Edgerton ‘66

Marshall Avenue: Robert Smith ‘64/'65

72nd Street: Billy Gallimore ’66, Anita Parker ’66, Al Hines ’65, Dave Spriggs ‘64

Paul Street: John Gillikin ‘63

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/12/09

Thanks, Dave!
 

What a special gift to read Terry Seay ('67 - of TN) and Joe Wingo's ('65 - of NC) recollections of our neighborhood on Easter Day! It brought back so many memories from those sweet days. We used to go over into the park at night and play games soon to be wiped from kids' minds by video games and iPod use: hide and seek, the one one where you had to freeze and hold the position, tag, etc. Can you imagine letting kids play outside after dark now? We were safe.  

I remember smudge pots to keep mosquitoes away while my parents talked to neighbors out on the front lawn on summer nights. I can smell the smoke. I remember our neighbor, Mildred Thomas, sitting with us talking about buying a new hat for Easter but no new dress this year to economize. Little things like that come to mind: the smell of  hot tomato plants that my  daddy grew so skillfully in his garden, the sound of corn leaves in a  high wind, the smell of the lawn freshly mowed, the odor of burning leaves wafting across a golden autumn evening, or the smell of my daddy cutting wood to do yet another improvement on our little house. He was never idle and could fix anything non-electrical.

It was so good to see the pictures of people whose names had eluded me. The Oxners were good friends of my parents.

Thank you all for the memories.

- Frances Goodson Wang ('65) of MD - 04/12/09

Thanks, Frances!