Hidden behind the hustle of busy shopping plazas and fast-food stops on Virginia Beach Boulevard is the tranquil community of Thalia. That hectic thoroughfare, less than a block from Thalia's entrance, doesn't affect the Virginia Beach neighborhood's peaceful ambience or the habitat of the many Canada geese, mallards and swans that have made the subdivision their home.
Two brick columns with black iron accents and a small stand of oak trees greet visitors at the Thalia Road entrance beside the Willis Wayside furniture store.
The area, which contains 420 dwellings, is rich in history and legend. During World War II, the land housed German prisoners of war in Camp Ashby. The furniture store, which was built in 1937 as a tuberculosis hospital, became part of the POW camp in 1942. The barbed wire, guarded towers and 20-by-100-foot barracks have long since been replaced by brick ranch and colonial homes, azalea bushes and dogwood trees.
A bit of history remains at the dead end of Thalia Road. Steinhilber's Thalia Acres Inn, one of Virginia Beach's venerable dining traditions, was opened in 1939 by Robert and Marion Steinhilber on the foundation of the burned-out Lynnhaven Golf and Country Club clubhouse. Jeanne and Steve Steinhilber have overseen the restaurant on the riverfront since Robert's death in 1986.
The civic league meets regularly to listen to speakers and discuss ways to better the community. The Thalia Garden Club also is active planting the neighborhood's flowers. There are not many lots left in Thalia, but the ones that are open are big, 3/4 acres deep and wide. It is a quiet, peaceful and a very private community. It only takes 10 minutes to get to the beach. Thalia is a little city by itself on the very edge of downtown Virginia Beach.