Near here Captain John Ratcliffe built Fort Algernourne, 1609. In 1614, it was a stockade containing fifty people and seven cannon. In 1632, the fort was rebuilt. It was discontinued after 1667. In 1727, a new fort, Fort George, was ordered built . . . — — Map (db m73818) HM
Fort Monroe is the largest stone fortification ever built in the United States. Construction began in 1819 and continued for 15 years. Second Lt. Robert E. Lee served as an engineer at Fort Monroe from 1831 to 1834. During the Civil War, Fort . . . — — Map (db m10357) HM
In this house President Abraham Lincoln stayed during his visit of May 6-11, 1862. It was here that President Lincoln, General Wool and Commodore Goldborough planned the attack on Norfolk, Virginia. — — Map (db m138062) HM
Explore Fort Monroe
400+ Years of History
For over 400 years the point of land known as Old Point Comfort, which now includes Fort Monroe has served as a strategic site at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. From its use by Virginia . . . — — Map (db m166579) HM
Fort Monroe is the largest stone fortification ever built in the United States. Construction began in 1819 and continued for 15 years. Second Lt. Robert E. Lee served as an engineer at Fort Monroe from 1831 to 1834.
During the Civil War, Fort . . . — — Map (db m166589) HM
The fort was begun in 1819 and named for President James Monroe. It remained in possession of the Union forces, 1861-65, and from it as a base McClellan began the Peninsular Campaign, 1862. Jefferson Davis was imprisoned here, 1865-67. — — Map (db m10319) HM
Building 27 was constructed about 1860. During the Civil War, and for a number of years after, it was occupied by the machine shop of the Fort Monroe Arsenal. This arsenal specialized in the manufacture of seacoast gun carriages. — — Map (db m103841) HM
Fort Monroe Concrete Seawall
Eastern Terminus
The place where you are standing marks the terminus of a seawall constructed along the southern shores of Old Point Comfort at various periods between 1895 to the mid-twentieth century. This seawall . . . — — Map (db m102144) HM
For Your Information
Safety is our top priority at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe History
Fort Monroe, decommissioned in 2011, provided coastal defense to the Chesapeake Bay and served as an artillery school for the Army from the early . . . — — Map (db m103898) HM
Fort Monroe, decommissioned in 2011, provided coastal defense to the Chesapeake Bay and served as an artillery school for the Army from the early 1800s through the end of World War ll. During that time, the Army fired unknown numbers of cannonballs, . . . — — Map (db m103899) HM
Strategic Location
Fort Monroe occupies a peninsula in the shape of the letter "J" or a “fishhook" surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads, and Mill Creek. The southern tip of the peninsula is known as Old Point Comfort . . . — — Map (db m103859) HM
The first concrete seawall, constructed at Fort Monroe between March and August of 1895, was designed to provide better protection against coastal flooding and erosion. This concrete wall extended 664 feet from the eastern edge of . . . — — Map (db m103860) HM
In 1619, Virginia Colony Secretary John Rolfe stated that "20, and odd Negroes" had been traded for supplies.
In 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, three enslaved men sought refuge at Fort Monroe. The federal commander, Major . . . — — Map (db m166614) HM
Fort Monroe was the site of Major General Benjamin F. Butler’s decision in 1861 to accept escaping slaves as “contraband of war.” Thousands of former slaves who cast off their bondage and sought sanctuary here called this “The . . . — — Map (db m10366) HM
Harbor defense regiments were formed in the Coast Artillery Corps from SEP companies in 1924. The distinctive insignia of these regiments and station of the regimental headquarters in 1939 are shown on the signs of this battery. The regiments were . . . — — Map (db m103843) HM
Honoring
Dr. John J. Craven
of the United States Army
Whose Humanity, Intelligent Companionship and
Professional Skill Lightened The Monotony,
The Loneliness and the Physical Suffering of
Jefferson Davis
President of The Former . . . — — Map (db m102138) WM
Very big… Fort Monroe is a giant among forts—the largest masonry fort ever built in the United States. The main fortification covers 63 acres and the walls stretch 1.3 miles around it. The fort is so big that it took 15 years to build . . . — — Map (db m166637) HM
The Jefferson Davis Memorial Arch was erected in 1956 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, with the permission of the US Army, to commemorate the imprisonment of Confederate President Jefferson Davis at Fort Monroe. The arch was . . . — — Map (db m166584) HM
Robert E. Lee, future Confederate General, was stationed at Fort Monroe 1831-1834 as a lieutenant of engineers. He had almost complete charge of construction and put the finishing touches on the fort. Lee's first child was born here in 1832. — — Map (db m8614) HM
In memory of first U.S. regular army officer killed in action during the Civil War Lieutenant John Trout Greble 2d U.S. Artillery USMA class of 1854 A member of this garrison killed in action at Big Bethel 10 June 1861 USMA graduates Fort . . . — — Map (db m16346) HM
1. Fort Monroe — largest stone fort built in U.S. (1819-34). Home of Artillery School (1824-1906). Coast Artillery School (1907-1946) and other major commands.
2. Fort Wool — man-made island built on shoals by U.S. Army . . . — — Map (db m166588) HM
The lighthouse, built in 1802, is the oldest standing structure at Fort Monroe. It remains an active navigational aid, the property of the U.S. Coast Guard. During the War of 1812, the tower was used as a lookout by a British invasion force while . . . — — Map (db m165076) HM
This tree, planted with authentic soil from Omaha Beach of Normandy, France, commemorates the 40th anniversary of Allied forces’ landings on 6 June 1944. It stands as a memorial to sacrifices in battle and a tangible symbol of our heritage. Planted . . . — — Map (db m12038) HM
Retreat
Retreat is a custom first used by the French Army and dates back to the Crusades. Retreat is sounded at sunset and its purpose was to notify sentries to start challenging until sunrise and to tell the rank and file to go to their . . . — — Map (db m166585) HM
This piece was originally a 10-inch, smooth bore gun. It was converted in 1876 at the West Point foundry, New York, to an 8-inch rifle by inserting a rifled steel tube in the barrel. This particular conversion process was a failure as the system . . . — — Map (db m42451) HM
Originally cast as a 10-inch, smooth bore gun, this weapon was converted to an 8-inch rifle in 1884 at the South Boston Iron Works. The gun weighs 15,800 pounds, has a length of 144 inches and a diameter and a diameter of 35 inches. The ordnance . . . — — Map (db m42452) HM
This gun, known as number 40, formerly stood in the last casemate of the water battery. It acquired the name, "The Lovers' Gun", as it was a favorite rendezvous of sweethearts from Garrison, the Hygeia Hotel, and the
Old Chamberlin Hotel. . . . — — Map (db m184221) HM
One night in 1905, Captain H.M. Merriam (while quite possibly under the influence of our favorite beverage) swore he saw a strange, large eyed bird outside the Fort Monroe Officers' Club. His outlandish tale quickly spread throughout the . . . — — Map (db m166643) HM
Cast in 1860, this was the first 15-inch Rodman Gun. Its range was more than four miles. Weight of the projectile was over 300 lbs. During Civil War it was used to bombard Confederate batteries on Sewells Point. The gun was named for President . . . — — Map (db m185101) HM
One of several large cisterns shown on a map of 1834. No potable water was ever found on Old Point Comfort, although one well was sunk to more than 900 feet. The garrison had to depend on cistern water and water brought in from wells on the mainland. — — Map (db m10334) HM
This zero mile post is a replica of the original post that stood here at the end of the track on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, from which point all main line distances have been measured for the 664.9 miles to Cincinnati, Ohio, since 1889. The . . . — — Map (db m73819) HM
In the largest land battle ever fought by the United States Army six hundred thousand valiant Americans rallied to defeat three powerful German armies in the snows of the Ardennes Forest of Belgium and Luxembourg. Almost 20 thousand soldiers made . . . — — Map (db m11478) HM
Water Battery
Built in 1832, this casemated battery protected the seaward approach to Fort Monroe. It was obsolete by the 1890’s and demolished soon thereafter. All that remains is this powder room. The high ground beyond it s all that remains of a . . . — — Map (db m102143) HM
Like Fort Monroe itself, the work force that built it was huge. Thousands of people helped plan and build the fort, completing its construction in 1834. This work force included free and enslaved blacks, contract laborers, army personnel, and . . . — — Map (db m166636) HM
The water-filled moat surrounding Fort Monroe covers about 19 acres, ranging from 50 to 250 feet in width, and was designed to be eight feet deep. The moat is tidal, fed by the waters of Mill Creek.
Excavation of the moat began in 1820. It was . . . — — Map (db m166612) HM
Captain Christopher Newport explored the land of the Kecoughton tribe in 1607. English colonists named it Cape Comfort before moving up the James River to settle at Jamestown. Captain John Smith, who surveyed the area between 1607 and 1609, . . . — — Map (db m166619) HM
Completed in 1909, Wisser Hall (Building #138) originally served as the Coast Artillery School Library. Four floors of stacks in the rear wing held up to 60,000 volumes. Noted architect Francis B. Wheaton designed the building. It was named after . . . — — Map (db m166624) HM
From where you are standing, with marshes and creeks and wide-open vistas all around, it is not hard to visualize what this area looked like thousands of years ago when the only human residents of Fox Hill were Indians. Oysters, crabs, fish and wild . . . — — Map (db m151397) HM
The first landholders at Fox Hill had their work cut out for them. They had received grants for hundreds of acres of pine forests that dominated the landscape, and they used indentured servants and slaves to clear the forests, then to plant and . . . — — Map (db m151400) HM
This part of Fox Hill was the hub of a thriving fishing industry that put food on the tables of families from here to distant cities. At the heart of this industry was the fishing camp, which usually included a modest shanty where fishermen would . . . — — Map (db m151401) HM
In 1812, two Englishmen, William Johnson and Alex Weston, jumped ship out on the bay and made their way to Bell's Island, less than a half mile to the east of this marker. No one knows whether they were pirates or deserters, but Johnson brought . . . — — Map (db m151402) HM
The Back River Lighthouse was a familiar Fox Hill landmark for more than a century, guiding boats around dangerous shoals at Grandview and into the entrance of the York and Back rivers. The lighthouse was built in 1829 on four acres of land the . . . — — Map (db m151404) HM
On June 10, 1861, Confederate forces under Colonel John Bankhead Magruder engaged numerically superior Federal forces under Brigadier General Ebenzer W. Pierce in what is recognized as the first planned land engagement of the Civil War.
After a . . . — — Map (db m161318) HM
This is the site of the first land battle of the Civil War in present-day Virginia. During the spring of 1861, Federal officials took steps to secure Fort Monroe, which occupied a strategically vital position at the mouths of the Chesapeake Bay and . . . — — Map (db m66886) HM
Although Confederate Col. John B. Magruder and his forces won the Battle of Big Bethel, they could not stem the Federal tide for long. On June 15, 1861, within a week of the battle, a huge Sawyer rifled cannon mounted at Fort Calhoun (Fort Wool) on . . . — — Map (db m103837) HM
Unlike at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the U.S. Army held Fort Monroe and its environs too strongly for Confederate forces to overcome. Instead, the Confederates concentrated on attempting to control Hampton Roads and protect Norfolk, the major . . . — — Map (db m103829) HM
Confederate Col. John Bankhead Magruder (1807-1871) graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1830. He served in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and commanded an artillery battery in . . . — — Map (db m181096) HM
“As a political question and a question of humanity can I receive the services of father and mother and not take the children? Of the humanitarian aspect I have no doubt; of the political one I have no right to judge.”—Gen. . . . — — Map (db m181098) HM
In the spring of 1862, Union Gen. George B. McClellan led his 100,000-man Army of the Potomac west from Hampton past Big Bethel in a campaign to capture Richmond. The battlefield of June 9, 1861, soon faded into obscurity.
Little remains of the . . . — — Map (db m103832) HM
During the Federal attack, the first Confederate enlisted man who died in combat during the Civil War was killed here.
Union Gen. Ebenezer W. Pierce began his assault at about 9 A.M. on June 10, 1861. Capt. H. Judson Kilpatrick led the 5th New . . . — — Map (db m103833) HM
The Battle of Big Bethel was, for most of the participants, their first experience with warfare. Officers and enlisted men on both sides often wrote of details that in fights to come would not merit a mention.
Union Gen. Ebenezer W. Pierce, the . . . — — Map (db m103834) HM
As the Confederates here tried to burn the Zouaves out of the buildings that stood in front of you, the last act of the battle unfolded to your left across the creek. The "New England Battalion” (1st Vermont, 4th Massachusetts, and 7th New . . . — — Map (db m103835) HM
For the Federals, the Big Bethel expedition ended in complete failure. Casualties totaled 76: 18 killed, 53 wounded, and 5 missing. The Northern press blamed Gen. Benjamin F. Butler for ordering his troops into battle with poor preparation and for . . . — — Map (db m161320) HM
On 10 June 1861, the first land battle of the Civil War in present-day Virginia took place here at Big Bethel Church. Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, commanding at Fort Monroe, sent converging columns at night from Hampton and Newport News for a dawn . . . — — Map (db m181040) HM
Dedicated on the
150th anniversary
Battle of Big Bethel
Union regiments engaged:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th (Duryee Zouaves)
& 7th New York
4th Mass. & 1st Vermont
2nd U.S. Artillery
Union losses:
18 killed, 53 wounded, 5 MIA
To . . . — — Map (db m66887) WM
One mile north is Chesterville, birthplace of George Wythe (1726-1806), a prominent Virginia attorney, judge, legislator, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Wythe inherited the family plantation in the 1750s and operated it until the . . . — — Map (db m73768) HM
On this spot June 10, 1861 fell
Henry Lawson Wyatt
Private Company A.
1st North Carolina Regiment
This stone placed here
by the courtesy of
Virginia, is erected by
authority of the State
of North Carolina,
June 10, 1905. . . . — — Map (db m181046) HM
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was established by Congress in 1915 to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight.” The NACA created the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory at nearby Langley . . . — — Map (db m73771) HM
Following Reconstruction, black entrepreneurs established thriving downtown businesses. Bankers, merchants, lawyers and doctors provided almost any product or service needed by residents of the village, black or white. These businesses also . . . — — Map (db m166506) HM
On the night of May 23, 1861, just days after Virginia seceded from the Union, three enslaved men working on a Confederate fortification in Norfolk carried out an audacious plan, appearing at the gates of Fort Monroe and asking for sanctuary. The . . . — — Map (db m166507) HM
Born free in Norfolk in 1823, Mary Peake devoted herself to the education of African Americans. About 1850, she founded the Daughters of Zion to aid the poor and the sick. A seamstress by day, Peake violated state law to teach her fellow blacks at . . . — — Map (db m109903) HM
This house was the last headquarters of the Virginia
State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, organized
In 1907 by educator and social reformer Janie Porter
Barrett and other women who attended the annual
Hampton Negro Conference. The . . . — — Map (db m129844) HM
"The springe of sweete water", near the northern creek approach to the church, was a popular gathering place before and after divine services. — — Map (db m166552) HM
Civil War Dead
An estimated 700,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War between April 1861 and April 1865. As the death toll rose, the U.S. government struggled with the urgent but unplanned need to bury fallen Union . . . — — Map (db m130061) HM
Civil War Dead
An estimated 700,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War between April 1861 and April 1865. As the death toll rose, the U.S. government struggled with the urgent but unplanned need to bury fallen Union . . . — — Map (db m167927) HM
Here stood the U.S. Army’s first camp on Virginia soil after secession, built in May 1861. Only the Veteran’s Cemetery on County Street remains of this entrenched camp. The influx of soldiers at Fort Monroe prompted the commander, Lt. Col. Justin . . . — — Map (db m10479) HM
In this vicinity was situated Camp Hamilton. A large camp of Union troops first occupied in May, 1861. A great military hospital, Hampton Hospital was here. — — Map (db m59625) HM
Right in the middle of this playground stood, for a time, the easternmost terminus of one of America's great train lines, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. It was the dream of railroad magnate and shipbuilder Collis P. Huntington to augment . . . — — Map (db m234518) HM
Here, under an oak tree, newly freed African American students listened in January 1863 as the Emancipation Proclamation was read aloud. Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler’s “contraband of war” decision at Fort Monroe in 1861 anticipated . . . — — Map (db m33817) HM
Here, under an oak tree, newly freed African American students listened in January 1863 as the Emancipation Proclamation was read aloud. Union Gen. Benjamin Butler's "contraband of war" decision at Fort Monroe in 1861 anticipated that day, . . . — — Map (db m166561) HM
To the west, on the grounds of Hampton University, stands the Emancipation Oak. Under its sheltering limbs, protected and encouraged by the occupying Union army and prominent local church leaders, Mary Smith Kelsey Peake (1823- 22 Feb. 1862) taught . . . — — Map (db m73795) HM
Here stood the first known church at Kecoughtan erected 1624. Jonas Stockton, Minister. William Guantlett, Edward Waters, Church Wardens.
Ministers at Kecoughtan 1611 to 1624: William Mease, George Keith, Thomas White. — — Map (db m166553) HM
Hampton Institute
has been designated a
National
Historic Landmark
This site possesses national significance
in commemorating the history of the
the United States of America
1974
National Park Service
United States . . . — — Map (db m84264) HM
Marker front:
Near here the English landed April 30, 1607 before going to Jamestown. They were welcomed by the Kecoughton Indians with native religious ceremonies, dancing and feasting.
Marker back:
In 1610, following the . . . — — Map (db m92321) HM
National Cemetery
The U.S. Army established Hampton National Cemetery in 1866 about two miles from Fort Monroe. The Southern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, opened in 1870, used this cemetery when residents . . . — — Map (db m193670) HM
The Hampton University Museum is a unique institution and a national treasure. In 1868, Hampton University founder Gen. Samuel Chapman Armstrong declared that a good education influenced “the head, the hand and the heart” and charged . . . — — Map (db m167700) HM
National Soldiers Home
In 1870, the federal government bought the building that had served as Chesapeake Military Hospital during the Civil War. It became the Southern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the fourth . . . — — Map (db m130137) HM
Harrison Phoebus was born the youngest of 16 children in 1840 and grew up on a small farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He lost his father at an early age and had to forego much formal education in order to help his family scratch out a living. He . . . — — Map (db m205387) HM
The men from the Town of
Phoebus — Virginia
who made the Supreme Sacrifice
in World War II
Bradley, James •
Crabb, Johnnie •
Davenport, John B., Jr. •
Englebert, Jack •
Ferris, John D. •
Fuller, Wendall E. •
Hoak, . . . — — Map (db m166564) WM
Cooperative Extension Service pioneer, innovator, and educator, John Baptist Pierce was appointed in 1906 by Seaman Knapp and H. B. Frissell of Hampton Institute as the first Negro farm demonstration agent for Virginia. Pierce served for 35 years as . . . — — Map (db m33819) HM
186 ► Virginia, Hampton, Phoebus — Phenix Hall — Hampton University's College of Education and Continuing Studies — Explore Hampton 2010: From the Sea to the Stars —
George Perley Phenix, a prominent white educator from Maine, was elected the fourth and last principal of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute on Jan. 30, 1930. His title was changed to president the following July 1, the same day the . . . — — Map (db m166557) HM
Settled as Mill Creek and Strawberry Banks by English Colonists, the Town of Phoebus was “Roseland Farm” until 1871 when it was divided into lots and became known as Chesapeake City. When the town was incorporated in 1900, it was named Phoebus in . . . — — Map (db m33627) HM
Settled as Mill Creek and Strawberry Banks by English Colonists, the Town of Phoebus was "Roseland Farm" until 1871 when it was divided into lots and became known as Chesapeake City. When the town was incorporated in 1900, it was named Phoebus in . . . — — Map (db m33630) HM
This quaint waterfront community traces its origin back to April 30th 1607. It was here that the first English-speaking Colonists set foot in the New World and called this "safe harbor" Cape Comfort.
It began as a settlement for defenders and . . . — — Map (db m33633) HM
From its earliest days as a cluster of homes on Mill Creek, Phoebus—originally known as Chesapeake City, altered to honor entrepreneur Harrison Phoebus—as anything but a typical southern town. Because of the presence of Fort Monroe . . . — — Map (db m166571) HM
For many years the community has gathered in Hampton University Robert C. Ogden Auditorium for musical performances, concerts, conferences, formal gatherings, convocations and university assemblies. This building , located at the center of the . . . — — Map (db m167713) HM
The story of Saint Mary Star of the Sea School goes back to 1858 when Chapel of the Centurion was built at Fort Monroe primarily for Protestant services. A group of officers—some of Irish extraction—requested that a Catholic church also . . . — — Map (db m103893) HM
During the Civil War, a young Army major, upon hearing a reading of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation , came face-to-face with the purpose of his life. Samuel Chapman Armstrong, born of missionary parents in Hawaii on Jan. 30, 1839, acted . . . — — Map (db m167690) HM
Nearby a monument marks the site of the second church at Kecoughtan (later Hampton), built in 1624 for Elizabeth City Parish, established 1610 and now the oldest Protestant parish in continuous existence in America. This building was replaced before . . . — — Map (db m73777) HM
You are standing near the entrance to the second church a Kecoughton. The church was built in 1624 for the English settlement here, near a former town of the Kecoughtan Indians. The granite cross to your right is inside the church's eastern . . . — — Map (db m166551) HM
This is the second class building to rise on this spot. The first, Academic Hall, was to be “the most complete tasteful school building in the southern states,” declared Samuel Armstrong, the school’s founder. This was no . . . — — Map (db m167686) HM
Hampton Institute began the Hampton Indian Program to “christianize and civilize” American Indians. The first students arrived at the Institute near midnight on 13 April 1878. They had been incarcerated at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida, in . . . — — Map (db m73794) HM
In Honor Of Those Who Gave The
Ultimate Sacrifice In Service To
The United States Of America And
The Families They Left Behind.
The Sacrifice Will Not Be Forgotten. — — Map (db m167798) WM
This wall encloses part of the second church site of Elizabeth City Parish and the foundations of its first known church building, 1623(4) - 1698. — — Map (db m166548) HM
This was the heartbeat of Phoebus civic life, its Town Hall and Fire Department. All government services were packed into this classical brick building, even its Court, Police Department, and jail. It was 1938 when the building opened, but the . . . — — Map (db m166563) HM
