The Constantia Chapter, NSDAR, was organized on February 21, 1924. Constantia Chapter, NSDAR, was named after the oldest house in Suffolk and home to John Constant.
Constant was one of the first English-speaking persons to settle at Constant Warehouse on the Nansemond River. In May of 1748, the Williamsburg legislature passed an act to establish a town at Constant Warehouse to be called Suffolk.
The original Constant dwelling survived both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, but by the early 1900s was in such a state of disrepair that it was demolished to make way for Cedar Hill Cemetery.
In 1924, Blanche Kilby Bell, the chapter’s first regent, instituted the raising of the necessary funds to rebuild the replica of the main portion of the house on its original foundation. The house and site were deeded to Constantia Chapter, NSDAR, by the city council.
In 1994, it was moved to its present location and served as a meeting place for the DAR and other civic groups in the city ever since.
On November 10, 1994, the Constantia Chapter, NSDAR, dedicated a memorial tablet marking the site of the John Constant House, circa 1720, and the replica of the house, built by the DAR in 1926.
