We are visiting the once vibrant seafood industry of Deep Creek.  This harbor was so productive that it prompted the C & O to build its Oyster Point Station. When C & O Railroad arrived on the Peninsula, it gave the region a viable transportation system connecting America’s hinterland with Hampton Roads.

Tide mills dominated the Tidewater Virginia landscape.  They used the ebb and flow of waterways to operate the mill stone to grind corn and wheat into meal.  The first mill was built on the headwaters of Deep Creek by Captain Samuel Matthews.  Rebuilt in the 1820’s by the Young family, the mill was acquired by D.Z. Yoder in 1899.  The Yoder family donated the mill to the city of Newport News to ensure its preservation and interpretation.  The mill stands today as a link to the Peninsula’s agrarian past.

During his tour of duty on Old Point Comfort, Robert E. Lee supervised construction of the Fort Monroe’s counter scarp wall, designed buildings and wharves, managed accounts and laborers and coordinated work on Fort Calhoun’s foundation.  Lee came to Fort Monroe as an engineer with limited experience.  His work on the construction of Fort Monroe and Fort Calhoun gave him the wherewithal to manage any major construction project as well as laying the foundation for Lee’s development as a great leader.

The first Elizabeth River ferry services began in 1636 when Captain Adam Thoroughgood offered passage across the river in a hand-rowed skiff.  Regular service started in 1821 when a teamboat was available, however, the first steam ferry was the Gosport which initiated operation in 1832.

"We’re here at St. Paul’s Church, Norfolk’s oldest building.

Following Royal governor Lord Dunmore’s defeat at Great Bridge on December 8, 1775, Loyalist forces abandoned Norfolk. Dunmore’s command remained aboard warships anchored in the Elizabeth River to await events. Loyalist troops were sent ashore to burn commercial buildings and soon skirmishes erupted with the Virginia militia. Dunmore withdrew his troops, yet the patriot troops continued to ravage and pillage the burning city. Order was finally restored on January 3rd.

James A. Fuller, a former slave, veteran of the 1st U.S. Colored Cavalry, and Norfolk’s first African-American councilman, initiated the effort to erect this monument in 1908.  When this monument was finally unveiled in 1920, it was the first memorial to African-American soldiers in Virginia

World War I was the first global modern war.  As more and more men were needed at the front, women stepped forward to serve as ‘soldiers without guns’ and filled the jobs the soldiers left behind.  Despite proving their equality, most women went back to domestic activities when the soldiers returned from the war.  Nevertheless, the important role women played in the American homefront prompted Congress to pass the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote

We are here at the James A Fields House.  Fields was born a slave, became a contraband in 1861 and was in the first class to graduate from Hampton Institute in 1871.  After graduating with a law degree from Howard University in 1881, he became Commonwealth Attorney for Warwick County in 1887 and served one term as a member of the General Assembly.  He built this elegant Queen Anne style house in the 1890’s.    By the time of his death in 1903, Field’s was a shining example of a man who would overcome slavery’s legacy.

We’re standing here at the monument documenting the yellow fever epidemic that struck Norfolk in 1855. Dr. Walter Reed, a Spanish American born at Belroi, Gloucester county in 1851. He studied medicine and was searching for a cure when the Spanish American war erupted. He organized the U.S. Army Yellow fever Commission to understand the fever’s effects. Dr. Reed’s bold experiments in Cuba proved that the disease was spread by the bite of the mosquito aedes aegypti.

Lincoln visits Fort Monroe and is disappointed the CSS Virginia is still dogging his fleet. When she is sunk Lincoln exclaims She had been a thorn in our side for along time and now she is gone.