What is so significant about Fort Monroe?
A. It is hard to overstate its significance. Its place in American history is of the first order, as is shown in the 27-minute film “Kingdom by the Sea,” which can be viewed online via a link (dated 12/07/08) from our “What’s New” web page (in that documentary, an official of the National Trust for Historic Preservation ranks Fort Monroe with Monticello and Mount Vernon). The forts site on Old Point Comfort close upon the main Hampton Roads shipping channel where it meets the Chesapeake Bay is extraordinary in itself. It was first visited by the Jamestown colonists in 1607, first fortified in 1609 when Fort Algernon was constructed to protect Jamestown, and the first African-Americans landed in Virginia here in 1619. Later, in the 18th century, Fort George was built here, only to be destroyed by the hurricane of 1749. Starting in 1819 Fort Monroe was constructed to protect Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake Bay from a repeat of the military incursions experienced in the War of 1812 (when
