The year was 1917 and the United States was at war. The Newport News Shipyard was working night and day to turn out ships for the Navy. The government decided to build homes for the 500 workers who were then living in tents. By 1920, Hilton Village was complete.
The Woman’s Club of Hilton Village was formed in 1928. For 12 years the club met in the Hilton Elementary School. By 1940, the Club had grown and decided to purchase one of the houses then for sale in the village. On November 15, 1940, the Club closed on the sale of a duplex located at 87 Main Street in Hilton Village for the sum of $5,400. On February 3, 1941, the Woman’s Club had the house renovated and the upstairs apartment added. The apartment was rented to provide income for the club.
In 1943, the United States was again at war. The WCHV turned the lower floor of their clubhouse over to the Selection Service Bureau as an induction center. During the war years, the Woman’s Club members met in homes, hotels, or churches. At the end of the war, club members decided to have an addition to the clubhouse to be used as an auditorium. The addition was completed on September 10, 1948.
In 1969, WCHV was helpful in having Hilton Village, along with our clubhouse, become a National Historic area included on the National Register.
1970-2018 was filled with many years of fundraising and community service. Spaghetti dinners, fashion shows, hours at the food bank, and covered dish meetings, went into Domestic and Social Violence Awareness and Prevention, making our presence known by working on legislative issues, feeding the poor, advocating for community service programs and raising money for scholarships.
From the 2018 disaster of the tree falling on the roof of the Clubhouse to the COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020 causing a “stay at home” order, we were faced with rebuilding our Club and Clubhouse. The summer of 2018 proved to be very dynamic with a special project, Discovering Beauty, which involved club women as well as some ladies from the community. The six-week pilot program for under-resourced girls (3rd-5th grade), was a life changing experience for twelve participants as well as workers. A two-day retreat at Sandbridge provided an opportunity to discuss short and long term projects, ways to improve and how to expand our membership.
The 2019 fall began the year with traditional meetings, fundraisers, speakers, making blankets for the Peake Childhood Center, monthly book club discussions, and sandwich making for the Salvation Army. Early 2020 arrived with members going to the theater to see Menopause the Musical and other fundraisers that would support the Renovation Fund.
In March 2020 we returned to in-person meetings; election of 2020-2022 officers. In-person meetings were short lived due to the rise in COVID cases and we returned to zoom and telephone meetings for the remainder of the year.
Fall 2022 began with a new administration of women eager to begin working on projects that will help our community.