Fort Monroe and the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse

At the edge of Hampton, Virginia, thick stone walls stand near the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Their angled corners give Fort Monroe the look of a giant star. Nearby, the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse has guided ships through these busy waters for generations.

Construction of Fort Monroe began in 1819, after the War of 1812 showed that the United States needed stronger coastal defenses. The fort’s pointed sections, called bastions, allowed defenders to watch and protect the walls from several directions. A moat surrounds much of the fort, creating another barrier between the walls and anyone approaching them.

During the Civil War, Fort Monroe remained under United States control, even though Virginia joined the Confederacy. In 1861, three enslaved men—Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Shepard Mallory—escaped to the fort. When their enslaver demanded their return, Union General Benjamin Butler refused. The men had been forced to work on Confederate defenses. Butler said he would not return them because they had been used to help the Confederate war effort. His decision became known as the Contraband Decision. The term “contraband of war” was later used for enslaved people who escaped into Union-controlled places. The three men were kept at the fort rather than sent back to enslavement. Many more people seeking freedom came to the area, and Fort Monroe became known as “Freedom’s Fortress.”

The site also holds an earlier and painful history. In 1619, the first recorded Africans in English Virginia arrived at Point Comfort, where Fort Monroe was later built. Their arrival became an early, significant event in the history of slavery in English Virginia, which developed into more than two centuries of enslavement.

Today, visitors can walk near the stone walls, see the lighthouse, and discover the many layers of history held within this coastal place.