Make sure Java is enabled in your browser settings.
"In 1634, Capps Point, later known as Little England, was patented by William Capps, a prominent planter who maintained a lucrative saltworks. He served as a burgess in the 1619 General Assembly, the first representative legislative body in the New World. On 25 June 1813, during the War of 1812, British Admiral George Cockburn sailed into the mouth of Hampton River and shelled Hampton. A complement of 450 Virginia militiamen tried in vain to hold the British at bay with several small cannons mounted in the fortification at Little England. Afterward the British occupied and plundered the town."Welcome to the Highway History Markers section of Historic Hampton Roads. Our mission as a corporate entity and as citizens of Hampton Roads, is to document the historic resources of our region and increase the awareness among our residents of the history resources available in our region. No, we do not want you to learn all of your history from our web sites; in fact, there is much more to be learned at your visit to these publicly available sites. We aspire to increase the knowledge of Hampton Roads' residents to the multitude of historic resources available. By educating our residents about these resources, we believe at least one of you will become more involved with at least one of the historic resources in our region.
We began this documentation effort with our postcard collection and are now including the Highway History Markers located in our region. Virginia's State Highway History Marker program began in the late 1920's as an effort to provide a reason to stop and brief history lesson to the "new" tourist - the automobile tourists. Hopefully, these resources would be properly noted, respected and preserved by the touring public and residents.
Over time, many of these history markers have vanished for an assortment of reasons: roads were re-routed and the history marker became inconvenient or impossible to visit; city, town and county consolidations; traffic accidents; lack of State funding; sometimes clear responsibility for their upkeep was not assigned and the original cast iron markers deteriorated and were removed. Add to this the fact that we have instant information availability with our PDA's, email, Internet access, FAX machines, cell phones and other modern conveniences, our 21st century life style discourages taking the time to get out visit these locations --- to feel and experience history.

Highway history marker tour of Hampton Roads VA
Still, while traveling our city streets and state routes, we will remember there is a history marker "on the way to Roxanne's house" or some other familiar route. We may remember the title, but little else. Very rarely do we stop to read the marker. Here is where you will find that information. As we complete our phased implementation project, you will have the ability to plan your own car, bicycle and/or walking tour of these locations and other history resources.
Highway history marker tour of Hampton Roads VA

Phase One implementation of the Highway History Marker section began July 1, 2006. This phase includes: uploading the current documented history markers (50+) and their descriptions, and general categorization changes. This is not a complete listing ... yet. Please check back frequently for updates.
Hampton Roads Highway History Markers

CATEGORY

 RESOURCE
Beaches and Resorts Buckroe
Churches Benn's Church, First Church at Kecoughtan, Little England Chapel, Martin's Hundred Church, Providence Mennonite Church, St. John's (Hampton), St. Luke's Church, Third Elizabeth City Parish Church, Trinity (Portsmouth)
Community Hampton, Lee Hall, Little England, Newport News (Downtown), Newport News (Deer Park), Newsome House, Old Isle of Wight Courthouse, Richneck Plantation, Seashore State Park, Smithfield, Warwick County Consolidation, Warwick Courthouse, Windmill Point, Young's Mill
History Benedict Arnold's Defenses, Littletown, Nansemond Indians, Quarterpath Road, Kingsmill, James River, Susan Constant Shrine
Military Camp Morrison, Camp Patrick Henry, Camp Stuart, Capture of the Patriot, Craney Island, Curtiss Flying School, Ferguson Park, Ironclads, Lee's Mill, Lee's Mill Earthworks, Major Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, Monitor-Merrimack, Naval Aviation, Operation Torch, Peninsula Campaign, Peninsula Campaign-first Line of defense, Peninsula Campaign at Warwick River, Skirmish at Waters Creek, Victory Arch and Port of Embarkation
Miscellaneous
Neighborhoods Aberdeen Gardens, Hidenwood, Hilton Village, Phoebus
Schools Emancipation Oak, John Baptist Pierce (Educator)
Hampton Roads history tours
BACK
Home | Postcards | History Markers | Site Information | Regional Links | Search | Our Mission
Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Historic Hampton Roads, Inc. All rights are reserved. Our privacy policy is here.
Visit our site information page for photograph and postcard use information.
Direct all web site questions, comments, suggestions or other thoughts to our site manager. Thanks for visiting.
This page was last updated on 02.06.2008 --- today's date is