Hampton Roads

The Battle of Craney Island was a victory for the United States during the War of 1812. The battle saved the city of Norfolk, and the adjacent city of Portsmouth, from British invasion. Especially important to Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, the region was a major hub for American commerce.

Newport News Middle Ground Light is a lighthouse near the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) on Interstate 664 in Hampton Roads. It is the oldest caisson lighthouse in Virginia.

USS Congress—the fourth United States Navy ship to carry that name—was a sailing frigate, like her predecessor, USS Congress (1799). Congress served in the Mediterranean, South Atlantic Ocean, and in the Pacific Ocean. She continued to operate as an American warship until the American Civil War, when she was sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia in battle of Newport News, Virginia.

Elizabeth City Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I. During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of Jamestown in 1607, English settlers and explorers began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1610, the English colonists had established a permanent settlement in the Kecoughtan area of what was to become Elizabeth River Shire. Now located within the corporate limits of the independent city of Hampton, Virginia, it is the oldest known continuously occupied English settlement in North America. On, November 18, 1618, the Virginia Company of London, proprietor of the colony, gave instructions on the formation of a laudable government for the Colony to Sir George Yeardley when he departed from London to become full governor of Virginia. As directed, in 1619, Governor Yeardly established four large corporations, termed citties (sic), which were designated to encompass the developed portion of the colony. These were Elizabeth Cittie, James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie. In 1634, the English king (Charles I) directed the formation of eight shires (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these was Elizabeth River Shire, which included land area on both sides of Hampton Roads. In 1636, New Norfolk County was subdivided from it, including all the area in South Hampton Roads now incorporated in the five independent cities located there in modern times. The remaining portion became known as Elizabeth City Shire. To this date, the Hampton-Norfolk city line is on the shore of Norfolk's beach on Hampton Roads, not in the middle of the water as might be expected. In 1643, Elizabeth City Shire became Elizabeth City County. The boundaries of this area which contained the early colonial settlements at Kecoughtan and Millwood (later Phoebus), now essentially form those of the modern independent city of Hampton, Virginia.

Wythe is a neighborhood in Hampton, Virginia, along the water's edge of Hampton Roads, at the end of Virginia's Lower Peninsula. It is named after one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, George Wythe. The oldest historic portion of the Wythe neighborhood became known as Olde Wythe and is on the National Register of Historic Places. When it was developed in the first half of the 20th century, Wythe was part of rural Elizabeth City County, one of the first eight colonial Virginia counties, the county seat was Hampton. Settled in 1610, Hampton is the oldest continuously inhabited English-speaking city in the United States. In 1952, all of Elizabeth City County merged with Hampton.

Old Wythe Historic District is a national historic district located at Hampton, Virginia. The district encompasses 2,076 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 1 contributing structure in a primarily residential area of Hampton. The residences include notable examples of the Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Mission Revival styles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The neighborhood association uses the spelling "Olde Wythe." This is followed on numerous local signs and historical makers.

The East End is an area of the independent city of Newport News, Virginia, located in the older portion of the port city near the harbor of Hampton Roads.

Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to the north, Hampton Roads to the west, and the Lafayette River to the south. It is the site of Naval Station Norfolk.

The Battle of Sewell's Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell's Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861, in Norfolk County, Virginia in the early days of the American Civil War. Little damage was done to either side. By the end of April 1861, USS Cumberland and a small number of supporting ships were enforcing the Union blockade of the southeastern Virginia ports at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and had captured several ships which attempted to pass the blockade. USS Monticello's bombardment of the Sewell's Point battery was one of the earliest Union Navy actions against Confederate forces during the Civil War. While it has been suggested by some sources that the Monticello's action may have been the first gunfire by the Union Navy during the Civil War, a brief exchange of cannon fire between the U.S. gunboat USS Yankee and shore batteries manned by Virginia volunteer forces which had not yet been incorporated into the Confederate States Army at Gloucester Point, Virginia on the York River occurred on May 7, 1861.

The Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) is the 4.6-mile-long (7.4 km) Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 664 (I-664) in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States. It is a four-lane bridge–tunnel composed of bridges, trestles, artificial islands, and tunnels under a portion of the Hampton Roads harbor where the mouths of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers come together. It connects the independent cities of Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula and Suffolk in South Hampton Roads and is part of the Hampton Roads Beltway, a circumferential Interstate Highway which links the seven largest cities of Hampton Roads. The MMMBT, completed in 1992, provided a third major vehicle crossing of the Hampton Roads harbor area, supplementing the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel which carries I-64 between the independent cities of Hampton and Norfolk (1957), and the James River Bridge connecting the independent city of Newport News and Isle of Wight County in the South Hampton Roads region (1928). All three facilities are toll-free. The MMMBT cost $400 million to build, and it includes a four-lane tunnel that is 4,800 feet (1,500 m) long, two artificial portal islands, and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of twin trestle.

King-Lincoln Park is an 18.8 acre (76,000 m²) park in Newport News, Virginia. It is maintained by the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

J. Thomas Newsome House is a historic home located at Newport News, Virginia. It was built in 1898, and is a 2+1⁄2-story, seven-bay, asymmetrical, frame Queen Anne style dwelling. It features a steeply pitched irregularly composed roof, three sided bay, front Palladian window, and corner tower. From 1906 until 1942, it was the residence of J. Thomas Newsome (1869–1942), an African-American attorney and journalist.The restored house is open to the public as the Newsome House Museum & Cultural Center, and features exhibits related to African-American art, history and culture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.