After damaging British coastal attacks during
the War of 1812, Pres. James Madison recognized
the need to improve the nation’s coastal defense
and naval power. In 1816, Congress created the
Board of Engineers for fortifications and in . . . — — Map (db m129905) HM
On April 18, 1878, at about midnight, more than 60 former Cheyenne and Kiowa warriors who had been imprisoned in St. Augustine, Fla., arrived by steamer and made their way to campus. Most soon left for reservations in the West, but 17 stayed and . . . — — Map (db m167720) HM
In the summer of 1834, having supervised Fort Monroe's completion, engineer Robert E. Lee took up residence in Fort Calhoun's officer's quarters. Three years earlier, ominous fissures had materialized in the citadel's stone piers and arches. . . . — — Map (db m85965) HM
British Approach to Hampton. Following the British defeat at Craney Island on 22 June 1813, Adm. Sir John B. Warren sought revenge and ordered Adm. Sir George Cockburn and Gen. Sir Sidney Beckwith to attack Hampton. This port town was . . . — — Map (db m76815) HM
The Bunch of Grapes Tavern stood here during Hampton's heyday as a busy colonial seaport in the 1700s. The tavern, one of three then, served as an inn and meeting place for sea captains, planter and agents from the nearby customhouse where . . . — — Map (db m33827) HM
Dr. Katherine G. Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, on August 26, 1918, the youngest of four siblings. She began school in the second grade when she was four, and loved to learn and "counted everything." At fourteen, she . . . — — Map (db m200210) HM
(front)
Near this monument
disembarked on February 19, 1755
Edward Braddock
Major General and Commander-in-Chief
of all the British forces in America.
His coming marked the beginning
of an important stage in the war
which . . . — — Map (db m33892) HM
Hampton entered its second century as Virginia’s most important town. With merchant ships calling at its docks, paying customs duties and taking on hogsheads of tobacco, the growing village bustled with activity. Crews and ship captains, dockworkers . . . — — Map (db m76810) HM
The control of Hampton had been disputed during the war’s first months. Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler sought to expand Union control over the lower Peninsula. Despite his defeat during the June 10, 1861, Battle of Big Bethel, his troops occupied . . . — — Map (db m33838) HM
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), created in 1915 to revitalize American aviation, was a pivotal force behind opening Langley Field in 1917 nearby to the north. It was named for the late Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley. . . . — — Map (db m33844) HM
An event that set the stage for Hampton’s new century took place on the night of June 24, 1813 when a large force of British infantry and marines landed on the western edge of town and overwhelmed a much smaller group of defenders. The invaders then . . . — — Map (db m76811) HM
It began as a brief encounter. The Jamestown-bound English settlers landed at Strawberry Banks on April 30, 1607 and, after a wary first reception by native villagers, ended up breaking bread and smoking tobacco with them. During a stormy . . . — — Map (db m76809) HM
Built by the Philadelphia Tobaggan Co.
in 1920
Located at the Buckroe Beach Amusement
Park from 1921-1985
Purchased by the City of Hampton in 1985
and completely restored in 1991
Grand Opening June 30, 1991
One of less than . . . — — Map (db m33835) HM
The Hampton Carousel, one of the few working merry-go-rounds in the nation, is considered a fine example of early twentieth-century American Folk Art. Thanks to the foresight of city leaders and contributors who "corralled" and restored it, the . . . — — Map (db m200125) HM
The recovery that began with the seafood and hotel industries after the Civil War continued well into Hampton’s fourth century. Oysters and d crabs were packed and shipped around the world. Tourism got a boost when the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad ran . . . — — Map (db m76814) HM
Nearby, William Claiborne (1600-1677) built a warehouse about 1631 to support his trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay. When Maryland seized the island in 1632, Claiborne fought an unsuccessful "naval war." Born in Kent County, England, he . . . — — Map (db m33832) HM
Admiral Sir George Cockburn on the Chesapeake. During the War of 1812, a British naval squadron arrived in Hampton Roads on 4 February 1813 to establish a naval blockade of the Chesapeake Bay. Later commanded by Adm. Sir George Cockburn, the . . . — — Map (db m76819) HM
In 1906, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the Virginia School
for Colored Deaf and Blind Children. Founded by deaf humanitarian
William C. Ritter and Hampton Delegate Harry R. Houston, the school
opened on 8 Sept. 1909 to serve . . . — — Map (db m129908) HM
Long before citizens of Hampton ever called Olde Wythe home, this area was used by the Kecoughtan Indians for hunting, fishing, and growing crops. The Kecoughtans were part of a loose confederation of the Algonquin whose chieftain was Powhatan. The . . . — — Map (db m33932) HM
In Hampton Roads, southward and a mile or two offshore, the Virginia (Merrimac) and the Monitor fought their engagement, March 9, 1862. The day before the Virginia destroyed the Cumberland and Congress, wooden ships of Union Navy. — — Map (db m10139) HM
The body of water before you, named Hampton Roads, is one of the world’s biggest, deepest, natural harbors. It is formed at the mouths of the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth Rivers and empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The name Hampton Roads honors . . . — — Map (db m33941) HM
On this site in 1916 local businessman and developer Charles Hopkins and his partners launched the Boulevard Development Company, to build “attractive, high class home places” half way between Hampton and Newport News. With the local . . . — — Map (db m33949) HM
The Olde Wythe neighborhood was once part of Elizabeth City County, one of the four original Corporations of the London Company’s Virginia colony. The county is now classified as “extinct,” because its citizens voted to consolidate with . . . — — Map (db m33937) HM
Sack of Hampton. As British Gen. Sidney Beckwith dispersed the local militia on 25 June 1813, Adm. Sir George Cockburn feigned an attack with barges at the mouth of the Hampton River. Hampton’s water battery was abandoned and the British . . . — — Map (db m76817) HM
After the March 8-9, 1862, Battle of Hampton Roads, CSS Virginia went into drydock for refitting. USS Monitor guarded Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s transport vessels in the York River near Fort Monroe, and the Federals reinforced . . . — — Map (db m10351) HM
In the years prior to the Civil War, the area known today as Olde Wythe was simply country farm land, with no special designation. After the war it remained the same for quite a while as there were no roads in the area, just country lanes. Although . . . — — Map (db m33935) HM
The Hampton Roads Golf and Country Club was established in 1893 on undeveloped land purchased for speculation by Mary Frances Armstrong in 1888. This site today would extend from Hampton Roads Avenue to East Avenue, from Kecoughtan Road to Hampton . . . — — Map (db m33945) HM
