Petersburg, Virginia

[Bryan Danielson]

I’m a Georgia girl now so....close enough.

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

Man, the whole peninsula is trash (VA/MD/DE). I'm from the VA part - aint shyt over there lol. Princess Anne real trash too.

Been in VA all my life, between the Eastern Shore, Tidewater area and NoVA. I loved it down in the 7 cities If I could, I would move back.

You ain’t never lied breh. It’s like one person I know personally that’s from the VA part of The Shore, she’s from Withams but currently lives in Mappsville. I’ve only driven through the VA part once on Greyhound omw back to UMES. I’ll definitely say coming from PG County, The Shore in general was quite the culture shock. Before going to UMES, only time I’ve ever “been to” the Eastern Shore was family trips to Ocean City. But when me and my college friends stayed in OC last summer, that was the first time I’ve consciously witnessed subtle racism. Some of the local Cacs in the OC neighborhood we rented a weekend house in were upon seeing us, nikkas kept looking out their doors whenever we were outside

But yeah breh, IMO outside of Salisbury and OC and maybe Cambridge, there ain’t really much to do on The Shore, or at least the MD side.

Fruitland is meh, that Walmart be feeling dirty asf sometimes
Pocomoke aka The Moke looked okay, rather quiet
Princess Anne aka PA aka Pistol Ave is
Crisfield got a nice maritime country aesthetic and one of my friends (she’s a redhead) is from there but Idk what the race relations is really like there
Snow Hill got a nice old school aesthetic but I get sundown town vibes from that place
Haven’t explored Cambridge like that but that Harriet Tubman mural is always a really dope sight to see when I’m passing through
Main things I like about Salisbury is exploring SU’s campus; CookOut; better availability of food options including a decent diversity of international cuisines that took me by surprise such as Thai, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Arabic, Jamaican, etc.; XL Games ; Salisbury Mall (not the best mall I’ve been to coming from the DMV but not the worse either); the decent amount of bars and clubs in the area; Salisbury Zoo; Salisbury City Park; the Folk Festival; Deadstock; the Riverwalk area; and those nice looking apartments and condos in the suburban parts of the city near the mall. Some of the local Cacs in Salisbury are ok but I do get dusty redneck vibes from most of them. The local Black folks are pretty decent even if a lot of them be on some wannabe Baltimore shyt for some reason Overall tho, Salisbury and OC are about as urban as The Shore gets, which brings me to...

Ocean City is self-explanatory, though I will admit to preferring VA Beach to it more often nowadays. VA Beach is bigger and more spread out, so it has more things to do away from the beachfront. And honestly, I find VA Beach’s beaches and boardwalk area to be cleaner than OC’s. Both cities definitely aren’t strangers to fukkery tho, especially during the warmer seasons and Spring Break. VB is also Blacker than OC in terms of local population so that’s another major point for them. Compared to OC, I’ve personally never gotten vibes while in VB.

 

[todd1]

Ain’t shyt in Petersburg. My dad is a VSU alumni so we’d always go for homecoming.

anybody remember the animatronic bears they had at Petersburg mall in the 90s?

There was NO mall in Petersburg in the 90s....Walnut Mall (the only mall in the city) closed years earlier. I'm not liking all this slander about my hometown. It's a small city that's gotten even smaller over the years. There are some historic areas (Battlefield) and if you're into the Civil War, that area is an absolute goldmine. Pocahontas Island was one of the first all-black villages in America. The area has also been racked with drug dealing and crime. It it approximately halfway between Miami and NYC. It was a crack hub for the drug trade. Crack and the departure of Brown and Williamson Tobacco literally destroyed Petersburg in 1983. It was a bad place to grow up. Traps everywhere. But I had a great childhood. Short answer to OP's question is No, it's not worth visiting, unless for Civil War history only

 

[murksiderock]

There was NO mall in Petersburg in the 90s....Walnut Mall (the only mall in the city) closed years earlier. I'm not liking all this slander about my hometown. It's a small city that's gotten even smaller over the years. There are some historic areas (Battlefield) and if you're into the Civil War, that area is an absolute goldmine. Pocahontas Island was one of the first all-black villages in America. The area has also been racked with drug dealing and crime. It it approximately halfway between Miami and NYC. It was a crack hub for the drug trade. Crack and the departure of Brown and Williamson Tobacco literally destroyed Petersburg in 1983. It was a bad place to grow up. Traps everywhere. But I had a great childhood. Short answer to OP's question is No, it's not worth visiting, unless for Civil War history only

I was always told that Walnut Mall was open until a tornado came in the early/mid 90s. When I was in the area in the early/mid 00s it was a boarded up shell, there was a bowling alley and skating rink across Crater that all the kids would go to often, so I knew about Walnut Mall, we still called it that even though it was crumbling and boarded up...

In '15 I got a spot in both Richmond and Petersburg and saw they completely reinvented the mall site into a strip mall, and it's definitely better on the eyes now than it was when I was a kid:

Google Maps

They also rebuilt Southside Regional at some point and moved it further down Crater, the old SSRC over in Walnut Hill was a crumbling structure just as Walnut Mall site was years ago:

Google Maps

 

[HellRell804]

I was always told that Walnut Mall was open until a tornado came in the early/mid 90s. When I was in the area in the early/mid 00s it was a boarded up shell, there was a bowling alley and skating rink across Crater that all the kids would go to often, so I knew about Walnut Mall, we still called it that even though it was crumbling and boarded up...

In '15 I got a spot in both Richmond and Petersburg and saw they completely reinvented the mall site into a strip mall, and it's definitely better on the eyes now than it was when I was a kid:

Google Maps

They also rebuilt Southside Regional at some point and moved it further down Crater, the old SSRC over in Walnut Hill was a crumbling structure just as Walnut Mall site was years ago:

Google Maps

Nah walnut hill mall closed in the 90s because South Park Mall opened in colonial heights and took all of the business. We all know how people feel about businesses in white areas vs black areas.

The tornado you're talking about hit colonial heights and tore the roof off the old wal mart (where Sam's club is at now).

And that skating rink tried to reopen a few years ago but closed after a shootout where a young girl got shot in the stomach by a stray.

And that bowling alley is now a beauty supply store

 

[murksiderock]

Nah walnut hill mall closed in the 90s because South Park Mall opened in colonial heights and took all of the business. We all know how people feel about businesses in white areas vs black areas.

The tornado you're talking about hit colonial heights and tore the roof off the old wal mart (where Sam's club is at now).

And that skating rink tried to reopen a few years ago but closed after a shootout where a young girl got shot in the stomach by a stray.

And that bowling alley is now a beauty supply store

Good look on the history lesson of the malls. Not surprised with the Colonial Heights/Petersburg history...

I didn't even know there was an "old" Walmart site in Colonial Heights, but I do remember when the Crater Rd Walmart was the "new" Walmart and opened in '03 or '04. Everybody was excited Petersburg got a Walmart lol...

Damn, the skating rink and bowling alley were some good memories. Petersburg is funny, I mentioned this to my kids mom when we lived there a few years back, it always had some rough spots but it's definitely way more violent than it used to be, Hopewell and Colonial Heights too. It wasn't this wild west area it is today, you knew the areas to stay away from...

Back then Downtown Petersburg was a ghost town and now it's like the city has done a role reversal, Downtown is actually pretty prosperous relative to the rest of the city. I had a loft at Butterworth's and there are way more businesses open and people on the streets downtown than there ever was when I was around, it was cool to see, but the rest of the city is declining and engulfed in violence...

And is it just me or have you noticed Colonial Whites has gotten blacker over the years? It definitely ain't as white as it used to be...

 

[AlwaysLurkin]

Fuuuck no Petersburg wack asab and dirty

 

[Don Diego]

Is this a good place to visit?

Is this a good place to visit?

Petersburgh


No nope nah not at all. Petersburgh got a couple good restaurants thats it.

Dope boys getting money out there though.

Im in south richmond 15 min from petersburgh.

Dont go to petersburgh. If you want a place to visit in Va go to Williamsburgh, Richmond or Hampton Roads Area.

 

[Boujee Bonita Braxton]

State wise, Sir. Georgia is close enough to South Carolina. That’s what I meant.

 

[todd1]

I was always told that Walnut Mall was open until a tornado came in the early/mid 90s. When I was in the area in the early/mid 00s it was a boarded up shell, there was a bowling alley and skating rink across Crater that all the kids would go to often, so I knew about Walnut Mall, we still called it that even though it was crumbling and boarded up...

In '15 I got a spot in both Richmond and Petersburg and saw they completely reinvented the mall site into a strip mall, and it's definitely better on the eyes now than it was when I was a kid:

Google Maps

They also rebuilt Southside Regional at some point and moved it further down Crater, the old SSRC over in Walnut Hill was a crumbling structure just as Walnut Mall site was years ago:

Google Maps

Yeah so the tornado was in 1993...I was on spring break from school. It leveled Old Towne, crossed 95 and took out a Walmart in Colonial Heights, which was near the SouthPark Mall (this is the mall that shut down Walnut Mall in 1988) I believe the money folks did not want to invest in Petersburg, but needed a retail presence (Walnut Mall was already closed at this point) so they built a brand new mall just over the river so it wouldn't be in Petersburg. Yes SRMC off of Crater Rd replaced the old Petersburg General Hospital (which was renamed SRMC). Petersburg General was on Sycamore Street, just north of Cameron Field.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

State wise, Sir. Georgia is close enough to South Carolina. That’s what I meant.

I’m a North Carolinian.....
and that’s the only Carolina we acknowledge


@Rekkapryde

don’t kill me!

 

[murksiderock]

Yeah so the tornado was in 1993...I was on spring break from school. It leveled Old Towne, crossed 95 and took out a Walmart in Colonial Heights, which was near the SouthPark Mall (this is the mall that shut down Walnut Mall in 1988) I believe the money folks did not want to invest in Petersburg, but needed a retail presence (Walnut Mall was already closed at this point) so they built a brand new mall just over the river so it wouldn't be in Petersburg. Yes SRMC off of Crater Rd replaced the old Petersburg General Hospital (which was renamed SRMC). Petersburg General was on Sycamore Street, just north of Cameron Field.

Good looking out on the history lesson. I didn't know SRMC went by another name...

People were still talking about that damn tornado in the 00s, always was led to believe that was what shut down Walnut Mall. Petersburg and Colonial Heights/Chesterfield always had these strong racial politics, correct?

It took a long time but the comeuppance has come full circle. Southpark Mall is a complete shell of the place it was in my teenage years and they'd probably do better shutting it down; it reminds me of Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, just a skeleton. Downtown Petersburg has returned as a viable business district within the last decade, old white dude in my building a few years ago told me DT is the most active it's been since he grew up in The Heights (Delectable Heights) in the 50s and 60s. Colonial Heights has continued to build out the Southpark area so besides the mall the area is fine, but DT Petersburg is a better experience than anywhere in the Tri-Cities now, which is something that nobody said 15+ years ago...

I think I heard you mention Pocahontas Island earlier. I remember the history being so much more appreciated when I was younger, they've kinda left it to rot now, at least when I was back in the area in the mid-10s. Many vacant lots and the houses that remain are falling apart at the seams. I went and played basketball at the park over there a few times when i was younger, the vibrancy is gone...

 

[HellRell804]

Yeah so the tornado was in 1993...I was on spring break from school. It leveled Old Towne, crossed 95 and took out a Walmart in Colonial Heights, which was near the SouthPark Mall (this is the mall that shut down Walnut Mall in 1988) I believe the money folks did not want to invest in Petersburg, but needed a retail presence (Walnut Mall was already closed at this point) so they built a brand new mall just over the river so it wouldn't be in Petersburg. Yes SRMC off of Crater Rd replaced the old Petersburg General Hospital (which was renamed SRMC). Petersburg General was on Sycamore Street, just north of Cameron Field.

I remember riding with my dad and my cousins on the MLK bridge watching that tornado cross the water. shyt was od scary I was like 7 years old. They evacuated the mall and people were hauling ass to get away from colonial heights. Got to my cousins house in matoaca and turned on the news to see the Walmart with the ceiling missing

 

[Suge Knight]

I live in Petersburg, I haven't read all the comments on here. But its alot of history here, but id describe this place like Detroit.. Lots of vacant homes and burned down homes. Its nice in "old town"..

Its like the wild west here, can't be caught slipping.. What-A-BURGER is the spot, I'm a Richmond cat born and raised but it ain't bad here..

 

[JoseLuisGotcha]

Ain't nothing to do in VA.

Nothing to do but cook