Explore Hundreds of Years of Our Nation's History

The Fort Monroe Story

Exploring Years of History

The area known today as Old Point Comfort has an extensive and complicated history that spans long before and after the occupancy of the U.S. Army. To celebrate both the civilian and military communities which have coexisted on this stretch of land, we refer to events regarding the military history as occurring at Fort Monroe and those regarding the local community as part of the larger history of Old Point Comfort. What follows is a timeline of significant events which have occurred in this geographic space in written memory. We, as a staff, acknowledge that written memory severely limits the telling of a diverse historical narrative and are actively working to collect additional material culture and oral histories, which shed better light on lived experience. This timeline will be updated as we continue to learn, but truly begins over 10,000 years before the arrival of the English with the occupation of Indigenous peoples.

1597

After years of resisting the Powhatan Confederacy, the weroance of the Kecoughtan Indigenous People dies. Powhatan installs his own son, Pochins, as the new weroance. To disrupt the unified identify of the Kecoughtan people, Powhatan orders his people throughout the land of Tsenacomaco to settle in the area.

1819

To prevent any enemy force from controlling the Chesapeake Bay area again, construction begins on Forts Monroe and Calhoun (now Fort Wool) as part of the Third System of Coastal Forts.

1822

The Hygeia Hotel opens its doors in 1822, originally providing housing for laborers on the fort, but quickly becoming a sought-after getaway. A resort community flourishes in later years, and countless forms of transportation connect the public to the three major hotels on Old Point Comfort.

1824

Brig. Gen. Abraham Eustis establishes the Artillery School of Practice at Fort Monroe. Later becoming the Coast Artillery School, the training of artillery officers was centralized here for over a century.

1828

Edgar Allan Poe, serving in the Army under the name Edgar Perry, is assigned to Fort Monroe. Poe returns to Fort Monroe in 1849, to recite his poetry at the Hygeia Hotel.

1833

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, chief of the Sauk Indians, known also as Chief Black Hawk, led a faction of Indigenous people in fighting to regain tribal lands in Illinois. He was held for several weeks at Fort Monroe on his way to Washington D.C.. His imprisonment draws crowds of curious people, including artists, pressuring the government to release him.

1858

The Chapel of the Centurion is consecrated. Three years prior, an explosion at the arsenal killed two of three soldiers. The third, 1st Lt. Julian McAllister, is the driving force behind the chapel’s construction, crediting divine intervention for his survival.

1861

As the first battles of the Civil War begin, three enslaved men, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, flee to the Union Army at Fort Monroe. The men were a source of forced labor by Confederate forces and as a result, Fort Monroe’s commanding officer refuses to turn the men over, claiming them as “Contraband of War.” This decision combined with increasing pressure from the Black community, compels President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

1862

The C.S.S. Virginia, formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack, sinks two Union ships off the coast of Fort Monroe. The U.S.S. Monitor engages the ship in the Battle of the Ironclads. Although neither ship is seriously damaged, the Virginia pulls back to Norfolk, ceasing Confederate control of the bay.

1863

In February, representatives from both the Union and the Confederacy meet aboard the River Queen to discuss an end to the Civil War. This Hampton Roads Conference ended in a stalemate.

1865

John B. Jones, former Buffalo Soldier and lighthouse keeper since 1878, petitions the Secretary of War for permission to build a boarding house for Black visitors to Old Point Comfort. His request was denied, illustrating continued racism and segregationist policies of the United States following Reconstruction.

1889-1890

Over the course of a few years, three major rail lines are constructed on Old Point Comfort, including a streetcar rail for visitors from Hampton and later Newport News. Mile Post Zero of the Chesapeake & Ohio is situated nearby the resort hotels.

1896

Designed by the same architects responsible for the Library of Congress, the Chamberlin Hotel opens its doors. In 1920, a devastating fire destroys the hotel; however, it is rebuilt in 1928 and presently functions as a senior living facility.

1896

With advancements in artillery, construction on the Endicott Batteries along the shoreline of Fort Monroe begins. The casemates are replaced by concrete emplacements and modernized steel artillery pieces.

1898

Fearful of an attack along the eastern coast by the Spanish, mobilization occurs at Fort Monroe and soldiers are trained for assignment to Cuba. Nurses at the fort treat soldiers returning from the front and those ill with typhoid fever.

1901

Nurses served at Fort Monroe in times of need at least as early as the Civil War; however, they become a permanent presence on the fort after the creation of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. The need for a permanent corps of nurses was illustrated during the Spanish American War.

1907

The Great White Fleet can be seen from Fort Monroe as they set sail from Hampton Roads. The fleet takes over a year to circumnavigate the world in a demonstration of the United States’ naval prowess.

1910

During a firing demonstration at Battery DeRussy, eleven soldiers die instantly and several others from the 69^th Company, Coast Artillery Corps are seriously wounded when a round is fired before the breechblock is secured, causing an explosion.

1918

The first school for Army Chaplains opens at Fort Monroe after General Pershing recommends a chaplain be appointed for every 1,200 soldiers in the Army. Fort Monroe is only home to one session, the school relocating to Camp Grant, Illinois after World War I.

1918

The Army Mine Planter Service (AMPS) is formally established as part of the Coast Artillery Corps. This specialty grew out of the civilian-crewed Army Mine Planter ships which had been in service since 1904. The grade of Warrant Officer is also established for the purpose of staffing the AMPS.

1918

As mobilization continues for World War I, the Coast Artillery Training Center begins operations with an emphasis on recruiting and training soldiers due to a manpower shortage. Coast Artillerymen are pivotal in the establishment of the Railway Artillery Reserve and the operations of railguns during the war.

1922

The Coast Artillery Corps Citizens’ Military Training Camp (CMTC) is organized at Fort Monroe. The CMTC program differs from traditional reserve programs in that there is no obligation of future military service for participants.

1934

The inaugural concert takes place at the new bandstand in Continental Park, constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) laborers. The original bandstand was destroyed by a hurricane the previous year.

1935

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp 3321 opens for Black men at Fort Monroe. More than 200,000 African Americans and 80,000 indigenous Americans served in the CCC program. However, Black enrollment was capped at ten percent despite the disproportionate economic hardship and racial discrimination faced by Black Americans.

1944

The first Women’s Army Corps (WAC) cadre arrive for duty with the Coast Artillery School. The women are soon recognized by the school for taking over skilled positions, including those in the finance, hospital, and quartermaster departments.

1946

The Coast Artillery School is moved from Fort Monroe to Fort Winfield Scott, California. After World War II, the role of the Coast Artillery dwindles as Anti-Aircraft Artillery and nuclear weaponry surges.

1948

The service of Black men and women during World War II and increased lobbying from African American activists influences President Truman to sign Executive Order 9981, beginning the racial integration of the Armed Forces.

Executive Order: Page 1 | Page 2

1950

The Coast Artillery Corps, as a separate branch, is deactivated and consolidated under the Field Artillery Corps. The traditions and practice of the Coast Artillery live on through both the Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery branches of the U.S. Army.

1951

The Casemate Museum opens, originally consisting of only one casemate – the cell in which Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, is imprisoned for several months before being moved to another building, while awaiting trial. Over the course of four years, two other casemates open with exhibits featuring the Battle of the Ironclads and the history of Fort Monroe.

1955

The Continental Army Command (CONARC) is activated at Fort Monroe, reorganized from the Army Ground Forces after World War II. CONARC is responsible for active units and armies as well as training in the U.S. Army.

1973

The army undergoes a reorganization following the end of the Vietnam War resulting in the activation of the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) and the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) thus replacing CONARC. Headquartered at Fort Monroe, TRADOC is responsible for educating and training the nation’s soldiers.

1986

The U.S. Army Cadet Command is established at Fort Monroe, building on almost 160 combined years of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and earlier programs of military instruction. Cadet Command centralized the operations of ROTC and Junior ROTC programs.

2005

Fort Monroe as an active military installation is slated for closure on the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list. Discussion surrounding the closure of the fort had been circulating since 1974.

2007

The City of Hampton establishes the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA), partnering with the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide a reuse plan for Fort Monroe.

2010

An Act of the Virginia General Assembly creates the Fort Monroe Authority (FMA) and charges the authority with the reuse planning and management of the more than 540 acres of land and over one million square feet of structures.

2011

Fort Monroe is deactivated as an active Army post. TRADOC and Cadet Command case their colors, relocating to Fort Eustis, Virginia and Fort Knox, Kentucky respectively.

2011

Two months after deactivation, President Barack Obama names Fort Monroe a national monument under the Antiquities Act, citing its historic significance in the defense of our nation and the continuing struggle for freedom. The National Park Service controls approximately 325 acres on Old Point Comfort, including the old fort and moat and many of the Endicott batteries.

2019

The Fort Monroe Authority removes letters designating “Jefferson Davis Memorial Park” on the south bastion of the old fort, in response to Black activism and conversations surrounding Confederate monuments. The park was funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and installed in 1956.

2020

In response to the murder of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter 757 organizes protests on Old Point Comfort, the same site remembered for the First African Landing and the Contraband Decision. These protests illustrate the continuing struggle to dismantle systemic racism in the United States.

2021

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates Fort Monroe as a Site of Memory associated with the UNESCO Slave Route project.

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History

The Fort Monroe Story

Exploring Years of History

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