Fort Wool
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Fort Wool | |
 Fort Wool Island from the Miss Hampton boat cruise | |
  | |
| Location | Island between Willoughby Spit and Old Point Comfort, Hampton, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Built | 1819 |
| NRHP reference No. | 69000339 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 25, 1969 |
Fort Wool (first called Ripraps, then Fort Calhoun) was the companion to Fort Monroe (Monroe is on the northern side of the channel) in protecting Hampton Roads from seafaring threats. This site was once the dumping place for ships’ ballast, gradually becoming a 15 acre (61,000 m²) artificial island.
History
Originally conceived in 1817, plans called for Castle Calhoun, the original name of Fort Wool, to have three tiers of casemates and a parapet with a total of 232 cannons to be built on a 15 acre (61,000 m²) artificial island southeast of Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia. The for was to be manned by a garrison of 1,000 soldiers. Construction got underway in 1819 when crews started dumping granite boulders into the water. It took four years to bring the rock pile up to the a 6-foot tall island called for in the plans.
The first level of casemates was finished in 1830.
Construction continued through the 1830s, when a young second lieutenant and engineer in the U.S. Army, Robert E. Lee was stationed there. Lee was an assistant to Captain Andrew Talcott and played a major role in the final construction of both the fort on the island, and its larger opposite on the mainland, Fort Monroe from 1831 to 1834. It was during this time when Andrew Jackson came to escape from the heat of Washington, D.C.. Construction and repairs continued for decades, because the foundation was unstable.
The Fort played a crucial role for the Union forces during the American Civil War. In addition to aiding in controlling entrance to the harbor of Hampton Roads, prisoners were confined in the fort. After the Civil War it was named Fort Wool for the Union Major General John Ellis Wool, who captured Norfolk in the early part of the war.
The Fort was modernized in the early 20th century, and served as the part of the harbor's defense during World War I and World War II.
The outmoded fort was finally abandoned by the military in 1953.[2]
Civil War
World War I
World War II
During World War I submarine nets were stretched across the harbor from this point. In the 1950s, the southern man-made island of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel was constructed next to Fort Wool, and used as the southernmost anchor for the tunnels. A small earthen causeway connected the man-made island with that of Fort Wool. The bridge-tunnel opened to traffic in 1957.
Decommissioned
The outmoded fort was finally abandoned by the military in 1953.[2] After being decommissioned, it was given to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1967 and in 1970, the City of Hampton developed it into a park. The Fort Wool passenger ferry, Miss Hampton II, allows tourists boarding in Hampton to visit the island during most of the year, but it can also be briefly glimpsed by passengers in westbound vehicles prior to entering the southern end of the tunnel portion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which carries Interstate 64 across the mouth of the harbor.
The island, now called Rip Raps, continues to settle in modern times, and occasionally the casemates of the original fortress are put off-limits for safety reasons. It remains a major draw for tourists, who usually include it in a visit to Fort Monroe. During the summer months, it is served by various harbor tour boats.
Notes
- As of 2005, the availability of public tours of both Fort Wool and Fort Monroe are subject to Homeland Security Alert conditions.
- On 28 April 2007, a garrison flag was raised over Fort Wool for the first time. This took place during a parade of tall ships sailing past the fort, part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the settlement of Jamestown.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "Fort Wool National Register Nomination" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 28 July 2011.