Fort Monroe (Hampton, Virginia)

 fortification, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, closed / former military, historic landmark, historic district, U.S. National Historic Landmark

20 Ingalls Road
Fort Monroe, VA 23651
(757) 637-7778
www.nps.gov/fomr/index.htm

Fort Monroe was was begun in 1817 and completed in 1834, and is named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe. It is the second largest of all the Third System defensive fortifications built in the U.S.

As of 1851, it was intended to be armed with fourty-two 42-pounder guns, one hundred eighty-nine 32-pounder guns, ten 24-pounder guns, fourteen 18-pounder guns, twenty-five 12-pounder guns, twelve field pieces, sixteen flank howitzers, twenty 8" heavy seacoast howizters, five light 8" howitzers, three 13" mortars, seven 10" heavy mortars, three light 10" mortars, five light 8" mortars, five 16" stone mortars and fifteen coehorn mortars for a total of 371 guns.

It is the site of imprisonment (without trial) of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis from his capture in 1865 until he was freed some years later by Andrew Johnson.

Completely surrounded by a moat, the six-sided stone fortress was the only one of its kind in the United States that was still an active Army post at the time of its closure in September 2011.Fort Monroe closed on September 15, 2011. Many of its functions were transferred to nearby Fort Eustis (which was named for Fort Monroe's first commander, General Abraham Eustis, a noted artillery expert). Several re-use plans for Fort Monroe after it is decommissioned are currently under development in the Hampton community.

The fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), where it is designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark District.