Here & Then

The Virginia Company instructs Christopher Newport to find a safe harbor where they may erect a fort while keeping an eye out for the Spanish fleet.

Unfortunately , the site chosen is plagued with problems that almost caused the collapse of the settlement.

A visit to the Fort Boykins fortification reveals much about the life of the fort with its combination of Civil War and American Revolutionary history. In one brief battle during the Civil War, the forts 240 years protecting the harbor was suddenly put to an end.

Also known as the Old Brick Church it is one of the finest examples of gothic architecture in North America.

The only surviving building in the burning of Hampton during the Civil War. Confederate soldiers opted to set Hampton on fire rather that let it fall into enemy hands.

The scourge of the seas - It sank 47 Union ships but finally met her match as a Union ship rammed and boarded her flouting international law.

You lying Yankee scoundrels! The cry from the captain of the CSS Shenandoah as he learned the Civil War was over. The CSS Shenandoah was the last confederate shit to fly the confederate flag.

Franklin Buchanan takes control of the CSS Tennessee as she guards Mobile Bay. The Tennessee is attached by 5 Union ships. The ship is brought to the James River and is part of the James River squadron that blocks the Hampton Roads harbor.

The CSS Atlanta is one of the most powerful of the Confederates Ironclads. She runs aground on a shoal and is helpless as two Union Ironclads pound the CSS Atlanta.

In the early dawn of 1775 where the first sparks of the American Revolution struck. Lord Dunmore was already on alert after Patrick Henrys speech of Give me liberty or give me death. Lord Dunmore s men slipped into the Powder Magazine in Williamsburg and made off with 10 barrels of gunpowder.

Wheels were a very important part of early Colonial life. When your wheel broke, you had to come to the Wheelwrite shop.