Fort Norfolk

Edited from the Historic Fort Norfolk website- In 1794 Congress authorized President Washington to build a series of fortifications along the “Maritime Frontier” to protect 19 American harbors. Fort Norfolk, originally built of earthen walls with wooden and some brick supports, is the last remaining of those forts. In June of 1807 it was upgraded in anticipation of a British attack. The brick and masonry walls and several buildings were completed about 1810. During the War of 1812 the fort was one of the key defenses to Norfolk’s inner harbor and home to the frigate Constellation. A British attack was repulsed at the nearby Battle of Craney Island. After the war, Fort Norfolk’s strategic value declined with the construction of Fortress Monroe, and it fell into disuse. The Navy took over the fort in September of 1849. Two barracks were modified and several structures built. They included a massive 55 x 136-foot powder magazine with walls more than four feet thick, which still stands today. Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861, and rebels seized the fort along with its powder, shells, and ordinance supplies. Cannon again were mounted, and it served as a river battery defending the Gosport Navy Yard. The fort’s magazine supplied the CSS Virginia for its historic battle with the USS Monitor. The Confederates evacuated Norfolk on May 10, 1862, and the Union Army occupied it for use as a prison for several years. Fort Norfolk was returned to the Navy in 1875 and used as an ordinance depot. It was occupied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1923, and they remain here to this day.

Visiting the fort- The fort is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM for Self-Guided Tours. The self guided tour is only the outside of the buildings inside the fort. Free parking is available behind the guard house at the entrance. The fort is located on a military base so you must show a government or Real-ID driver’s license to gate guard. The Norfolk Historic Society opens the fort and provides tours from June 1 until the end of September on Sundays from Noon-4:00 PM, and the first Sunday of each month from Noon to 4:00 PM. Admission is free. The address is 810 Front Street, Norfolk, VA. For information regarding access to the fort, call 757-201-7015. For tours and other historical information, call the historical society at 757-640-1720.

Stop 1- The main gate, or sally port, has been the principal access to the fort since about 1810 and features distinctive archways. The large green oak doors, believed to be original, are each suspended on a single pintle and hinge. The smaller door allowed the guard to view callers without losing the security of the closed gate.

Stop 2- Visitors passing through the main gate will see a small opening with bars to the right. This opening allowed sentries to keep an eye on prisoners locked up in a room commonly referred to today as the Dungeon. This small brick vaulted room is built into the rampart. Black Hole was a nickname given to dimly lit rooms or cells where soldiers under arrest were kept while awaiting court martial. In the earliest days of the fort, this room probably was a magazine for storing powder and shot.

Stop 3- This two-story 1812 building was described in 1824 as containing two ground rooms for a carpenter’s shop, and one upper room for a store room, and in 1860 as an old store house in ruins. The Norfolk Historical Society restored the building in 1992 with a grant from the late Fairfax Mackie Berkley and now uses it as headquarters. The lower level houses historical artifacts, exhibits, and numerous books, and serves as a welcome center for visitors to Fort Norfolk.

Stop 4- Of unknown age, this small compartment is built into the rear rampart and may have served as an old-fashioned cooler to preserve meats and vegetables.

Stop 5- This 1810 building was described in 1824 as “a substantial two story bulding for officers quarters, containing four ground and four upper rooms with cellars and outhouse.” The Navy had the structure renovated for ordnance purposes in the mid 1800s, using it to fill cannon shells with powder and to store empty shells. The filled shells were stored in the vauted room in its northern end. The original windows and doorway locations can still be seen. A second-floor room still contains graffiti inscribed by Confederate blockade runners kept there during the Civil War. It is believed to be one of the few existing examples of Civil War graffiti in the country. During the Civil War civilians were held here as political prisoners.

Stop 6- This walkway was constructed during the Navy period of the fort, probably after the Civil War. Its purpose was to keep powder dry while it was being moved.

Stop 7- The U.S. Navy started construction of this powder magazine in 1851 on the fort’s old parade ground, and completed it in 1856. This massive structure with brick walls 4 feet 3 inches thick is about 55 feet wide and 136 feet long. The original copper-clad front door (now painted), has a copper hasp and hinges. The use of copper was to prevent sparks. The rear entrance was added during World War II. The interior is broken up into open bays, each of which has a brick groin vault ceiling supported by granite pillars. The ceiling, vaulted to dissipate the possible effects of an explosion, now yields curious acoustical results. During the Civil War Confederate soldiers were held here as prisoners of war. The officers who escaped from the Maple Leaf were held here. Two described their experience in diaries Peter Tinsley the Chaplain of the 28th VA (located at the College of William and Mary) and Captain Gary Allen (located at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture). Black soldiers were held in the cook houses. Visitors could visit with prisoners twice per week at specific times on the first floor of the magazine keepers house outside the walls. The guards camp was on the east side of Colley Avenue.

**The carriage house is in the foreground followed by the magazine**

Stop 8- A set of narrow-gauge tracks ran from the front of the Navy Magazine to the wharf, enabling the movement of powder and shells in small rail cars probably pulled by horses or mules. The remnants of this track are believed to be under the present sidewalk.

**Tracks ran in front of the magazine which is the building to the left. The walkway is in the center.**

Stop 9- The Carriage House and stable were built against the south end of the Navy Magazine sometime after its completion. The Carriage House’s role at the fort is unclear.

Stop 10- The stable was built against the south end of the Navy Magazine sometime after its completion. The stable was used for a mule or horse.

Stop 11- This 1810 building was described in 1824 as a “one and a half story soldier barracks, containing three ground and three upper rooms — at one end a bake house.” The Navy also had this structure renovated for ordnance purposes, using it for filling cartridge bags with powder, putting them into watertight copper tanks for shipboard use, and storing empty powder barrels. US soldiers were held here who had committed military crimes during the Civil War. The first prison guards during the Civil War after the Union reoccupation were from the 148th NY. On January 2, 1864, they were replaced by Company B of the 1st US Colored Troops who were there until January 13, 1864, when they were replaced by Companies H and K of the 2nd MA Heavy Artillery. Captain James Frankle commanding.

Stop 12- Unlike most forts from the period before the War of 1812, Fort Norfolk was built with a distinctive semicircular battery and is the best surviving example of such a fort. The majority of the fort’s 30 cannon were mounted on top of wooden platforms on this curved rampart, which guarded the entrance to the ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Stop 13- Over the main gate is the guardhouse, home of the fort’s guard. The guard regulated traffic into and out of the fort, and maintained security of the fort as well as the orderly conduct of the garrison. The guard room was renovated in 1993 thanks to a grant from the National Society of the Colonial Dames of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Plexiglass shields allow viewers to see the progression of inner wall construction from the original construction through the late 1800s Navy period. Please do not get too close to the edge of the wall, while visiting the guardhouse. The edge of wall is old and could be a fall hazard.

Stop 14- The cistern, designed to hold 90,000 gallons of water, is constructed of masonry and was completed at the end of 1856. Access to the cistern is through a trap door in the floor of the cistern house, which was built after the Civil War. Originally, rainwater from the Navy Magazine’s gutters fed directly into the cistern.