Hampton Roads Area

Last Update: 20/MAY/2007

Compiled by Pete Payette - Š2007 American Forts Network

Hampton Roads Ports of Embarkation
(1898, 1917 - 1919), Newport News
POE Headquarters was located in the Federal Building downtown. Assembly camps for the Spanish-American War POE were located at the C&O rail terminal on the Casino Grounds (28th Street), along 23rd Street one block away from Hotel Warwick, on a field between 34th and 36th Streets, and along the James River between 45th and 50th Streets (Camp Grant ?). These were all part of Camp Brooke. Pennsylvania state troops arrived to protect the Newport News Shipyard, and encamped just north of the yard, named Camp Warburton.

Assembly camps associated with the World War I POE include:
Camp Hill (1) located north of 64th Street and into Huntington Park, between the C&O Railroad and the James River. Primarily used as a Motor Transport Depot and Remount Station. The Virginia War Museum (admission fee), 9285 Warwick Blvd., is now on site.
Camp Alexander was the northern section of Camp Hill, seperated in 1918. Used for Black troops and stevedores. Site located between Warwick Blvd. and Jefferson Ave, now a residential area. Markers at 71st Street and Huntington Ave. recall both camps.
Camp Stuart (2) located near the Small Boat Harbor between Ivy Ave. and Salter's Creek near Newport News Point, was the largest (309 acres) of the four camps. Became a golf course after the war. A Dodge Plane and Boat plant was built on site in the 1920's. Later became a residential area in the 1940's, known as Stuart Gardens.
Camp Morrison located in the Morrison area, one mile east of the James River. Used for the Army Air Corps and Balloon Corps personnel, with 24 supply warehouses.

Camp Butler
(Greenlawn Memorial Park)
(1861 - 1865), Newport News
A fortified Union camp on Newport News Point. A POW camp for 3,490 Confederate prisoners was located here near the end of the war. It was active for only five months.

Hampton Forts
(1610 - 1637), Hampton
Fort Henry (1) (1610 - 1637) was located at the mouth of the Hampton River, on the west-side, between John's Creek and Strawberry Fields, near the VA Hospital. Fort Charles (1) (1610 - unknown) was built opposite on the east-side. They were briefly abandoned in 1610. A trading post was established on the west-side in 1630, at the former Kecoughtan Indian town site, which had been burned down by the English in 1610. Settled by the English in 1611 and known as Kecoughtan until renamed Elizabeth City in 1619, this is the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in North America. An early colonial palisaded homesite (1628 - 1655) was recently discovered and excavated near Hampton University. In 1625 there were 24 palisaded structures listed in records.

Hampton Batteries
(1813), Hampton
Two VA state militia batteries were captured and destroyed by the British in June 1813 after their defeat at Norfolk (Craney Island). Located in the Little England area, above Blackbeard Point.

Camp Hamilton
(1861 - 1865), Hampton
A large Union encampment for the overflow at Fort Monroe. Hampton Army General Hospital was also located here. Located in the Phoebus section of town.

¤ COAST and HARBOR DEFENSES of HAMPTON ROADS

¤ Fort Monroe (U.S. Army Reservation)
Fort Monroe Virtual Tour || Fort Monroe Redevelopment Program 2006-2012
(1817 - present), Old Point Comfort
Fort Algernourne (1609 - 1667), aka Point Comfort Fort after 1612, was first located here. A Spanish spy reported in 1611 that the fort had 25 men and four guns. It was reported to have seven guns and fifty men in 1614. It fell into disuse after 1622, but was rebuilt in 1632. Fort George (1) (1727 - 1749) with 20 guns was later built on the site, but was destroyed by a hurricane. It may have been rebuilt in 1755 - 56 with 25 guns. During the American Revolution at the time of the Battle of Yorktown (1781), the British built several batteries on the point.

The present moated hexagon-shaped fortress is the largest (in area) in the United States. It was first garrisoned in 1823 and has been continuously occupied since then. Prior to 1832 the official name was Fortress Monroe. The Army's Old Point Comfort Proving Ground was located here from the 1830's to 1861. It was relocated to Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, New Jersey after the Civil War. This was one of the four southern permanent forts that was never taken by the Confederacy. Several batteries were located outside of the fortress. These included the Water Battery (1832 - 1898), which is now in ruins, and Endicott batteries, which include Battery Irwin (1903 - 1920's, 1946 - 1949) (two guns here from Fishermans Island), Battery Parrott (1906 - 1943), converted to Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 23 (1943 - 1946) (one gun remains), Battery DeRussy (1904 - 1944), Battery Church (1901 - 1942) modified before WWII, and the combined Battery Anderson (1898 - 1943) and Battery Ruggles (1898 - 1943) partially destroyed. Battery Gatewood (1898 - 1914), the Experimental Battery (modified), and the WWII harbor entrance control tower are located on the fortress parapet. Other batteries once located here were Battery 124 (planned at Buckroe Beach, never built), Battery Humphreys (1897 - 1910) destroyed, Battery Eustis (1901 - 1942) destroyed, Battery Bomford (1897 - 1940) destroyed, Battery Barber (1898 - 1915) destroyed, Parapet Battery (1898 - 1915), and Battery Montgomery (1904 - 1920's, 1941 - 1948) destroyed. The Coast Artillery School was once located here from 1824 to 1946. It moved to Fort Winfield Scott in San Francisco, CA, and was then disbanded in 1949. The Casemate Museum is located in one section of the casemates. A lighthouse is located next to the fortress. Built in 1802 it was used by the British as a watch tower during the War of 1812. Camp Josiah Simpson Army General Hospital was located on post in 1898. There were once several fire-control towers over the years located from the Point to North Buckroe Beach. The last remaining fire-control tower (1903), located near Battery Anderson, was demolished in late 2001. Hurricane Isabel in 2003 severely flooded the fortress. The base is now scheduled for closure within the next few years. Another website at Geocities

¤ Fort Wool
(1823 - 1946), Rip-Raps, Hampton
Formerly named Fort Calhoun until 1862. It was also referred to as Castle Calhoun. It is located on a man-made island (the Rip-Raps) at the entrance to the harbor of Hampton Roads. The island was created between 1819 and 1823. Construction of the fort was then begun but the foundation kept sinking causing numerous delays. Construction was finally halted in 1830. Fort Wool was to have consisted of three tiers of casemates plus a barbette tier with 232 guns. Only about one and a half tiers were completed. More stones were added to the island in 1858. The fort finally received 10 cannon in 1861 and the Union held it throughout the Civil War. They were able to fire on the Confederate position at Sewells Point, located on present-day Norfolk Naval Station.
In 1902 most of the old fort was torn down. Modern batteries were built, incorporating eight of the original casemates and the remaining outer wall. They were Battery Claiborne (1908 - 1918), Battery Dyer (1908 - 1917), Battery Gates (1908 - 1942) converted to #229, Battery 229 (1944), Battery Lee (1905 - 1942) (guns to Fishermans Island), and Battery Hindman (1905 - 1946). The fort was a subpost of Fort Monroe in World War I. During the world wars a huge anti-submarine net was stretched across the channel to Fort Monroe. Two WWII fire-control towers were located at either end of the island. A BC station tower still stands. The island is accessable by a tourboat (fee) operating out of downtown Hampton. Hurricane Isabel in 2003 damaged the boat dock.

Sewell's Point Fort (1)
(1692, 1861 - 1862), Norfolk
A small local militia fort was once located here, at the present-day U.S. Navy Base.
CSA Sewell's Point Battery (2) (1861 - 1862) was later located here. No remains.

Camp Captain John Smith
(1907), Norfolk
A Federal camp that provided security at the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, located on the grounds of the Norfolk Naval Base.

Fort Norfolk (U.S. Army Reservation)
(1794 - 1802, 1809 - 1880), Norfolk
A Patriot battery was once located here in 1775. First built in 1794, the original Federal fort was destroyed to build the new 30-gun fort in 1809. This is one of the best preserved "Second System" forts in the country. Confederates occupied this fort in 1861 but it was recaptured a year later. The Confederates had built a five-gun naval battery by the wharf. The U.S. Navy used the fort for weapons storage beginning in 1863. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now occupy the site (since 1923), but they do not occupy the historic fort, which is overseen by the Norfolk Historical Society. The view of the river is now obscured by the A.C.E.'s Waterfield Building. 2nd VA Regiment, 1813 Living History Unit | Another website at Geocities.

Norfolk Defenses
(1812 - 1815, 1861 - 1862), Norfolk
American Fort Barbour (1812) was located at Princess Anne Road and Church Street, and Fort Tar (1812) at Monticello Avenue north of Virginia Beach Blvd. These earthen redoubts protected the landward approach to Fort Norfolk during the British attack in June 1813.

Lambert's Point Battery (1813, CSA 1862) was north of town, directly across the channel from Craney Island. No remains. CSA four-gun Bushy Bluff Battery (1862) was once located at Boush's Bluff at the mouth of the Lafayette River, opposite Tanner Point. A line of CSA earthworks were located just east of the present-day downtown area, between the Lafayette River and Broad Creek.

Half Moon Fort
(1673 - 1680, 1682 - unknown), Norfolk
Built to defend against the Dutch, it was named after its semi-circular shape and renamed Fort Farthing (1682) after the city was established. It was located at Four Farthing Point, now known as Town Point Park.
British Town Point Fort was located at Town Point in 1781. No remains.

Camp Talbot
(1861 - 1862), Norfolk
A Confederate encampment for Norfolk's defenders until the city was evacuated. Site located one-half mile west of intersection of Oak Grove Road and Granby Street.

Camp Naglee
(1862 - 1864), Norfolk
A Union camp and hospital after the city surrendered. Located around the former Norfolk Academy Building (1840), now the Chamber of Commerce Building on 420 Bank Street.

Fort Nelson (2)
(1776 - 1782, 1794 - 1802, 1804 - 1826), Portsmouth
Located at Hospital Point, just across the river from Norfolk. It was built by troops under Benedict Arnold (the Patriot) for a 150-man garrison. Some entrenchments were previously built in the area during 1774. In May 1779 the fort was evacuated just before the British destroyed it. The British later returned, under Arnold the Traitor, and occupied the city until August 1781. The fort was again rebuilt in 1794 and 1804 with 37 guns, and repaired in 1808. It was discontinued in 1826 and torn down the next year to make way for the Naval Hospital. Some of the bricks were reused in the construction of the hospital. History of Portsmouth Naval Medical Center and Hospital Point. (NOTE: There is a street named "Fort Lane" located nearby.)
The site was also used as a Confederate strongpoint in 1861 and 1862.

Portsmouth Defenses
(1781, 1861 - 1862), Portsmouth
British forces, commanded by Benedict Arnold the Traitor, built several earthen redoubts in 1781 as they occupied the city, to defend against a landward Patriot attack from the west. They extended in an arc along Dinwiddie and Washington Streets from Crawford Parkway and Court Street on the north waterfront on the Elizabeth River south to Gosport Creek (Southern Branch). No remains.

CSA Naval 12-gun Pinner's Point Battery is now the site of the Portsmouth Marine Terminals. A line of CSA earthworks were just west of the present-day downtown area.

Craney Island Fort
(Craney Island Naval Fuel Depot)
(1813 - 1815, 1862), Portsmouth
Successfully defended Norfolk from British attack in June 1813. Consisted of a mile-long earthwork, with the main seven-gun fort on the southeastern end, a small redoubt in the center, and an outer battery and a blockhouse on the northwestern end. A larger blockhouse was later built in the main fort. It was also a Confederate strongpoint (20 guns) and it is where the CSS Virginia had its anchorage. No trace exists, site not publicly accessible.

Chesapeack ?
(c. 1600), Chesapeake
A major Chesapeack Indian town located at the junction of the East and South Branches of the Elizabeth River. Probably palisaded. Never a part of the Powhatan dominion, the entire town was exterminated by them in 1607 to deny the fulfillment of a prophecy warning the Powhatans of a rival kingdom overpowering them. Chief Powhatan resettled the area with his own people later.

John White, Thomas Hariot, and Ralph Lane visited the palisaded village of Skicoac in 1585 - 1586, travelling overland from Roanoke Island in North Carolina. This may have been the same site as above. A small fort may have been built here during the winter. Some accounts have the 1587 Roanoke Colony survivors migrating here in 1589, and were thus killed off in 1607 with the rest of the population.

Camp Bowers
(1862 - 1865), Chesapeake
A Union camp during the Civil War, located at Bowers Hill four miles from downtown Portsmouth. Also known as Camp Bowers Hill. This was part of the Union front lines defending Portsmouth from the west, after Suffolk was abandoned in June 1863. Also known as Camp Getty (or a nearby camp ?).

Nansemond Fort (1)
(1609, 1676), Suffolk
A short-lived fort located on an island at the mouth of the Nansemond River, established by Capt. John Martin. Site located near the present-day Harbourview area.
A colonial militia fort was located on the river near here in 1676.

Nansemond River Batteries
(1861 - 1862), Suffolk
Confederate defenses for Suffolk located on the lower Nansemond River included:
Pig Point Battery, located at the mouth of the river at the present-day Portsmouth Campus of Tidewater Community College. During the two World Wars, a U.S. Navy munitions depot was located here,
Town Point Battery (2), upriver from Pig Point on Bennett's Creek,
Cedar Point Battery and Barrel Point Battery, near the mouth of Chuckatuk Creek near Eclipse.

Fort Murray
(Great Bridge Battlefield Park)
(1775), Chesapeake
This small British fort was located on the south bank of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River where the old causeway crossed over. The Battle of Great Bridge (December 1775) took place along the causeway (today's Battlefield Blvd. - VA 168) and the British retreated back to the fort. The fort's site is in the marshes between the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal and the river. The city now owns the old causeway parcel and the site of the Patriot breastworks on the other side of the canal. A visitor center will be built in the future.

Great Neck Archaeological Site
(1500's), Virginia Beach
A protohistoric palisaded Indian townsite, located on Great Neck along Broad Bay within the Broad Bay Colony housing development. This may have been the site of the Chesapeack Indian village of Chesipiuk, which was visited by White, Hariot, and Lane in 1585. This may have been the capital town of the Chesapeacks in the 1580's before moving to the Chesapeack town (see above). White's party also visited the minor village Apasus (not palisaded) in 1585, located near the historic Adam Thoroughgood House (1680) on the Western Branch Lynnhaven River.

Cape Henry Fort
(1757), Cape Henry
A VA colonial militia fort with 20 guns was proposed for this location. It was never built.

¤¤ HARBOR DEFENSES of CHESAPEAKE BAY (partial - see also page 11)

¤¤ Fort Story (U.S. Army Reservation)
(1914 - 1949/present), Cape Henry
Batterries here include the combined Battery Pennington (1922 - 1947) and Battery Walke (1941 - 1947), Battery Ketcham / 120 (1943 - 1948), Battery 121 (1943 - 1948), Battery Worcester / 224 (1942 - 1947), Battery Cramer / 225 (1943 - 1949), Battery 226 (1943 - 1949), Examination Battery, which was also Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 19 (1942 - 1945) buried, two unnamed batteries (both 1917 - 1919), both of which broke up in the surf, and Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Batteries 21 (broke up in surf) and 22 (broke up in surf), both from 1942. Railway artillery was also used here over the years. There were two four-gun 155mm batteries on Panama mounts; on the ocean-side (exposed) and on the bay-side (buried). A three-gun AA battery is located near the lighthouses, exposed on the dune line/high water mark. On the Chesapeake Bay shore is a Mine Casemate with a small fire-control station on top of the dune. A second station on a steel-frame tower was demolished in late 2006. During World War I the fort was a subpost of Fort Monroe. It became a subpost of Fort Eustis in 1961. Became a NIKE missile base from 1957 to 1974. The launcher area is abandoned, but intact. The first Cape Henry Lighthouse was built here in 1792. The second lighthouse was erected in 1881. A small mine casemate is located under the old lighthouse. The Cape Henry Memorial (1935) commemerates the first landing of the English settlers in 1607 before they moved on to Jamestown, and also the 1781 French naval victory in the "Battle of the Capes".

Additional WWII fire-control towers were once located in the area at Chesapeake Beach, Granite, Parcel C - 67th Street (demolished 1960, 2003), Emerson (demolished 1949), Sandbridge (demolished 1996), and Little Island (demolished 1986). A mobile 90mm AA battery was on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk in WWII. Other mobile AA batteries in the area are still being researched.

Of interest nearby along the resort boardwalk is The Old Coast Guard Station museum.

¤¤ Camp Pendleton (State Military Reservation)
(1912 - present), Virginia Beach
A Virginia National Guard training camp. Previous names include Camps Trinkle, Byrd, Pollard, Perry, and Price, after state governors of the time. In WWII it was Federalized into a coastal artillery training area and cantonment area for half of the 246th Coast Artillery VA NG that could not be accommodated at Fort Story or Fort Monroe. Two four-gun temporary batteries of 155mm guns were once located on the beach, Batteries X and Y. The WWII era barracks and chapel still exist, and are in excellent condition. Some of the barracks have been set up inside to look exactly as they were during that time. Two WWII fire-control towers were once located here.

NEED MORE INFO: Street names: Battery Park Road and Battery Circle in Chesapeake on St. Julian Creek; Battery Road and Rampart Ave. in Virginia Beach (Chesapeake Beach area).