Watts Chapel

09/01/2024

04/16/2024

Today in Hampton History
1932 - Harry R. Houston proposes to the Hampton Rotary Club that a bridge be constructed between Fort Wool, near Hampton, and Willoughby Spit in Norfolk. The proposed bridge was to have memorialized the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth in 1732, and the Battle of Hampton Roads, fought between the Ironclads Monitor and Virginia (Merrimac) in 1862.

Originally, a committee proposed that a memorial island park, with a statue of George Washington acting as a beacon, be built using dredged silt on top of Hampton Bar, the shallow oyster grounds along Hampton’s waterfront. However, seafood magnates opposed the idea, and leaders from other Hampton Roads localities argued that a memorial project should be more beneficial to the rest of the region. A memorial bridge also seemed more practical, since it would considerably lessen the distance ferries needed to travel to convey vehicle traffic between Hampton and Norfolk.

In the end, support for the memorial bridge waned. However, the vision of a bridge connecting Fort Wool with Willoughby Spit was realized in 1957 with the opening of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, part of I-64. The I-664 Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, between Newport News and Suffolk, opened in 1992.

Explore more!
Fort Wool in the Museum’s collections: https://hampton.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=%22site--fort+wool%22&searchButton=Search

Hampton Bar in the Museum’s collections: https://hampton.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=%22site--hampton+bar%22&searchButton=Search

02/11/2024

Port Hampton Culture Series
“Life in the Reservation Community”
Monday February 5, 7-8pm
Museum members free, non-members $5
In the decades before and after the Civil War, free and enslaved Black landholders and entrepreneurs settled on the banks of the York River to build families and livelihoods. The community they established became known as the Reservation. In 1918, the U.S. government commandeered the land to create what is now known as the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown. Over the following years, families at the Reservation were displaced – pushed from their land and community.

Join Reservation descendants Chief Charles Bowman, Mary Lassiter, Rosa Lee, and Johnette Weaver as they tell their stories.

Museum members enjoy free admission to our programs. Join today and show your support for the Hampton History Museum. Visit www.hamptonhistorymuseum.org/membership.

The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane in Downtown Hampton. There is free parking in the garage across the street from the museum. For more information call 757-727-1102.

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06/15/2023

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12/20/2022

Sunday night!