David Lowenberg

Forest Lawn Cemetery
Location: Jewish A, Lot 167, Space WCTR
( – Dec. 11, 1909)

David Lowenberg was a prominent Norfolk businessman who also contributed to the establishment in Norfolk of the Jamestown Exposition of 1907.

Business Interests

Lowenberg was part of the Jewish community of Norfolk, many of whom established businesses in the clothing industry.  He was co-owner of Lowenberg, Jacobs, and Company, one of two wholesale clothing firms of Norfolk which were both Jewish owned.  He also owned the Chesapeake and the Elizabeth Knitting Mills, which made undergarments.  In addition to his interests in the clothing industry, he built the grand Monticello Hotel in 1899.  (The Monticello Hotel was later owned by Colonel Charles Herbert Consolvo, who is also buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery and profiled in Norfolk Notables.)

The Jamestown Exposition

When area businessmen and political leaders convened in April 1902 to discuss the feasibility of hosting an exposition to commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown and to establish the Jamestown Exposition Company, Lowenberg was named as a director.  He was soon elevated to the executive committee and served as “director general” from 1902-1905.

The Jamestown Exposition was one of many world’s fairs and expositions popular in the United States in the early part of the Twentieth Century. It was held from April 26-December 1, 1907, and was built at Sewell’s Point, where Norfolk Naval Base is now located.  Although the Exposition was designed to commemorate the founding of Jamestown, the location in Norfolk was chosen over Jamestown because Jamestown was an abandoned site at the time without train transportation or hotel accommodations available in the area.  

References:

http://www.isjl.org/virginia-norfolk-encyclopedia.html (accessed July 22, 2015)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown_Exposition (accessed July 22, 2015)
Yarsinske, Amy Waters, The Jamestown Exposition: American Imperialism on Parade (Volume 1) 1999, p. 60.

Visitor Information

Visitor Hours: Sunrise to Sunset

Office hours: Monday to Sunday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Free parking inside cemetery.

Admission Cost: Free

Address: 8100 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23505

Official web site for more information: www.norfolk.gov/cemeteries

Norfolk Society for Cemetery Conservation Web Site: www.norfolksocietyforcemeteryconservation.org