Olde Towne in Portsmouth, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
John Luke Porter
(19 Sept. 1813 14 Dec. 1893)
Photographed by Scott Rollins, June 1, 2009
1. John Luke Porter Marker
Inscription.
John Luke Porter, first president of the Portsmouth common council, was born just two blocks south of here. An accomplished naval constructor, commissioned first by the United States and later by the Confederacy, Porter supervised, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the conversion of the frigate Merrimac to the ironclad CSS Virginia. On 8 March 1862, the Virginia rammed and sank USS Cumberland and destroyed USS Congress at Newport News. The next day Virginia fought a historic but inconclusive battle with USS Monitor in nearby Hampton Roads, in the worlds first naval combat between ironclads. Porter later became chief naval constructor for the Confederacy, designing 21 ironclads. He died in Portsmouth.
John Luke Porter, first president of the Portsmouth common council, was born just two blocks south of here. An accomplished naval constructor, commissioned first by the United States and later by the Confederacy, Porter supervised, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the conversion of the frigate Merrimac to the ironclad CSS Virginia. On 8 March 1862, the Virginia rammed and sank USS Cumberland and destroyed USS Congress at Newport News. The next day Virginia fought a historic but inconclusive battle with USS Monitor in nearby Hampton Roads, in the worlds first naval combat between ironclads. Porter later became chief naval constructor for the Confederacy, designing 21 ironclads. He died in Portsmouth.
Erected 1997 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number Q8-s.)
Location. 36° 50.124′ N, 76° 17.833′ W. Marker is in Portsmouth, Virginia. It is in Olde Towne. It is on High Street west of Water Street, in the median. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Portsmouth VA 23704, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Hampton Roads, specifically in Coastal Virginia, and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
The Home Site of William Crawford marker is on the median in the same block.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 2, 2009, by Kristin Rollins of Portsmouth, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,453 times since then and 46 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on July 2, 2009, by Kristin Rollins of Portsmouth, Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
