For years, people kept asking Lynn Rose about setting up a historical foundation specifically for Chuckatuck.

People in the community knew that within that village were the stories, the artifacts and the history worth saving.

After more phone calls and more badgering, Rose made it happen.

“I just finally set a date and felt like we couldn’t wait any longer,” Rose said.

In February, Rose held the first organizational meeting of the Chuckatuck Historical Foundation.

“There’s so much history in our area that is being lost or nor being preserved, pictures or so forth,” Rose said. “I just feel the future generations to come, it’ll be important for them to have access to that information, those pictures, and to know about some of the people involved.”

Rose said she herself had been seeking out old photographs and information informally for the past 25 years, and she knew others in the community had been as well.

“We felt like the community would be behind it,” Rose said. “I just made about 30 phone calls and had a real good turnout at the first meeting. They want to try to get things going.”

In the past three months, the foundation has set up an email list serve, held elections and begun prioritizing work for the foundation members, including getting as many records as possible through interviewing neighbors and former Chuckatuck residents.

“There’s a lot that we need to do to keep these records and get them all in one place,” Rose said. “I think some of it is going to be of interest to a lot of people. It can just about go in any direction. We’ll make it available and people can have access to look up.”

She added that once people have access to the photos and the research, they will learn great thing about the Chuckatuck village.

“Some people don’t know, but there was once ocean coming into this area,” Rose said. “We have the evidence of this being where ocean touched ground. We’re talking about thousands of year ago, but many people don’t know this.”

She added that the foundation will also work to further research into the Nansemond Indian tribes and their role in the village’s development, and that the members are interested in making a book.

If anyone is interested in working with the foundation, Rose said they can contact either her directly at 255-4663 or Dr. Dwight Brashaw at 238-3489 or Kitty Martin at 255-4336.