Fort Monroe

A while back, visited Monroe, Michigan, which was named after President James Monroe.  Today, I visited Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, Virginia, the fort likewise being named after our fifth president.  It was built between 1819 and 1834, and stayed in Union hands during the entire Civil War, despite being in a Confederate state.  After parking at the visitor center and getting some information, I walked over a bridge spanning the fort's moat to a pedestrian entrance.

Once inside, I saw the old cistern.

A stairway leads up to the fort's walls, which overlook the aforementioned moat.  The grave stones seen near this part of the walls mark a pet cemetery.

Several guns used to mounted on the pivots and arc-shaped rails seen here.

I went back down the stairway and walked up this ramp to the Flagstaff Bastion, which includes the flag pole seen at the top.  Two other visitors have made it most of the way up.

This white building partially obscured by a tree is the Chapel of the Centurion, named for the Roman Centurion Cornelius.

I continued walking eastward and found the Quarters no. 1, the oldest house inside the moat.  It was built in 1819 and used at first to house the engineers in charge of building the fort, and later became the residence of the fort's commanding officer.

Here's a section of the fort's walls on its eastern side.  You can also see more former gun emplacements, a tower, and part of the moat.

The fort includes this row of buildings on the north side of its parade grounds.

I continued walking westward back toward the aforementioned pedestrian entrance.  On the west side of the parade grounds is the Lincoln Gun, cast in 1860 and named after President Abraham Lincoln in 1862.  As the nearby sign indicates, the gun has a 15-inch interior bore and hurled 300-pound projectiles over four miles.  One such projectile, or perhaps a replica thereof, is halfway embedded in concrete next to the gun.

Here's the view across the parade grounds, looking eastward from the Lincoln Gun.

Finally, before I left, I had to take a photo of a wheeled cannon, like I have done in many other places.  The stairway, as indicated by the adjacent sign, leads to the aforementioned pet cemetery.

To learn more, besides all the above links, go to FortMonroe(dot)org, the Hampton, Virginia government site, Virginia Is For Lovers, Visit Hampton Virginia and American Battlefield Trust.