NATIONAL HISTORIC TREASURE:
The stone fortress at Fort Monroe’s center,
surrounded by a moat, became the Gibraltar of the
Chesapeake nearly two centuries ago. Its history involves Stonewall
Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, who was confined there after leading the
Confederacy in the Civil War. (more)
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The
Contrabands’ Story: Shortly after the Civil War began, hundreds who had been enslaved seized their freedom by
escaping, at great risk, to Fort Monroe. The Union general in command declared them “contraband” and refused to send
them back. According to University of Pennsylvania professor Robert F. Engs, these Contrabands initiated “the first mass
freedom incident of the war,” numbering 20,000 by war's end. (more)
NATIONAL CULTURAL AND
ARCHITECTURAL
TREASURE:
Stand on the lawn at Fort Monroe’s southern tip and
watch the world’s seaborne commerce—and 
the occasional aircraft carrier, destroyer, or submarine—pass in front of
you, entering or leaving one of the planet’s grandest harbors. Turn around and enter what’s much like an old-fashioned
college campus, leading to fine old tree-lined residential neighborhoods. Much of Fort Monroe is Hometown America, with
countless scenes that a Norman Rockwell might paint. In the post’s scores of national historic landmark buildings, daily
life and activity show that Fort Monroe’s history lives in the present too.
NATIONAL RECREATIONAL TREASURE:
Fort Monroe offers recreational
opportunities that could benefit everyone:
* At the north end, beaches, campgrounds, picnic areas and green space.
* At the south end, a deep-water fishing pier, with room for more piers.
* Playing fields and sports and fitness facilities.
* A well-sheltered marina, with room for more slips.
Few Atlantic coast locations—and almost nothing in Virginia—offer publicly owned
recreational potential like Fort Monroe. Creating a Fort Monroe National Park would guarantee that all of it would remain
publicly owned forever.
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