Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum

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Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum Located within the fort walls, the museum highlights a topical history of Point Comfort and Fort Monroe. There is also a Gift Shop inside the museum.
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The museum showcases the unique purposes of the casemates and the important role Fort Monroe played during the Civil War through the 21st century. The Casemate Museum is located within the walls of the largest masonry fort constructed in the United States. The museum chronicles over 400 years of history of Point Comfort and Fort Monroe where many decisions were made that impact the foundation and

future of the United States. Housed inside the original casemates where several of the fort’s large guns remain in place, exhibits and dioramas explain the construction of the fort, what daily life was like through the ages and tell the stories of the many famous, and infamous, people who were here. You MUST pick up a ticket at the Visitor prior to going to the museum. Both the Visitor Center and the Casemate Museum are FREE of charge. There is ample parking in front of and behind the Visitor Center. Accessible parking and entrances are behind the building. All visits begin at the Visitor Center, 30 Ingalls Road, Fort Monroe, VA. Explore the exhibits and take in the view from the rooftop terrace. Our visitor service associates can give you a FREE timed-entry ticket to the museum and direct you to the entrance. The Visitor Center is open Tuesday- Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm. The Casemate Museum is open from Tuesday- Sunday, 10:00am to 4:30pm, with last timed entry at 3:30pm. For GROUP TOURS and visits of 10 or more people please contact staff at the Visitor Center to make arrangements. For more information and details call 757-690-8181 or email [email protected]

While U.S. Congress first authorized black military service in the summer of 1862, it was not until May 22, 1863, that t...
22/05/2026

While U.S. Congress first authorized black military service in the summer of 1862, it was not until May 22, 1863, that the War Department issued General Order 143 creating the Bureau of Colored Troops to organize the U.S. Colored Troop (U.S.C.T.) units during the Civil War. Units organized in Virginia include the First Colored Cavalry, Second Colored Cavalry, and the 2nd U.S. Colored Artillery, Battery B, mustered at Camp Hamilton and Fort Monroe. The 36th and 37th U.S.C.T. activated in Portsmouth and Norfolk (respectively). By the end of the war, over 202,000 African American soldiers served in 175 regiments of the U.S.C.T. and fought in 400 engagements.

Attend the Emerging History of the American Contrabands Symposium tomorrow starting at 9:00 am on Contraband Historical Society YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/-VA/streams to learn more about self-emancipators and the U.S. Colored Troops at Fort Monroe.

Want a sneak peek of the Emerging History of American Contrabands Symposium sessions? Click here to access the digital p...
21/05/2026

Want a sneak peek of the Emerging History of American Contrabands Symposium sessions? Click here to access the digital program, available all weekend and accessible for anyone with online registration.

All sessions will be livestreamed on Contraband Historical Society YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/-VA/streams. Subscribe to their channel and you will receive alerts to remind you of the livestream throughout the event.

This interactive flipbook is created with FlippingBook, a service for streaming PDFs online. No download, no waiting. Open and start reading right away!

While onsite registration has closed, you can still attend the Emerging History of American Contrabands Symposium virtua...
20/05/2026

While onsite registration has closed, you can still attend the Emerging History of American Contrabands Symposium virtually via livestream on CHS’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/-VA/streams. Subscribe to their channel and you will receive alerts to remind you of the livestream throughout the event. Contraband Historical Society

Today is International Museum Day. Celebrated for over 45 years, this year’s theme is “Museums Uniting a Divided World” ...
18/05/2026

Today is International Museum Day. Celebrated for over 45 years, this year’s theme is “Museums Uniting a Divided World” highlighting a museum’s ability to bridge social, cultural, and political divides through discussion, understanding, and inclusion on a global scale. Museums are trusted public spaces and places of learning, the Casemate Museum and Fort Monroe Visitor Center are no exception. Fort Monroe is the largest masonry fort built in the United States in the third system of forts. Its strategic location played a large part in its planned size. Fort Monroe has many similar characteristics of the great forts built by the French military strategist Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban. One of his most famous is La Citadelle de Besançon. Within the fortress are several museums, including the Museum of Resistance and Deportation - a history museum that addresses totalitarian regimes rise to power, collapse of democracy, systems of repression and extermination, and those who resist and fight for human values. Visit https://www.citadelle.com/en/informations-pratiques/plan-interactif/ for an interactive map of the fortress to explore.

Today only, visit the Casemate Museum for an Open House from 10:00am-1:00pm! This is a public engagement session for the...
16/05/2026

Today only, visit the Casemate Museum for an Open House from 10:00am-1:00pm! This is a public engagement session for the Fort Monroe Forward Landscape Action Plan with Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort. It will be an opportunity to engage with project representatives, view project maps, and share your thoughts on how we help shape the future of Fort Monroe.

Can't attend in person? The online survey is available online until June 30, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GS5KZSC.

We welcome your insights and encourage your attendance. Learn more: fortmonroe.org/forward.

Fort Monroe's 400+ years of rich history have made the national monument a unique a diverse place to explore. Learn about "Freedom's Fortress" today.

15/05/2026

Opening Day is here for Paradise Ocean Club at Fort Monroe!

95 years ago, Building 185 opened as a clubhouse for soldiers and their families to enjoy all the amenities Fort Monroe had to offer, most specifically its beaches.

Originally built as a log cabin with borrowed National Park Service plans, the club used pine logs from Fort Eustis to protect it from the firing guns of Battery Ruggles next door. While it stood strong through the storms of 1933, the first Beach Club was destroyed by a fire in 1944 and rebuilt the following year. Upon the closure of the Officer’s Club inside the fort, the Beach Club became the Officer’s Beach Club in 1960.

Images are Building 185 and aerials of the Beach Club in 1933 and 1973.

Source: Fort Monroe Authority Archives.

13/05/2026

Lending a helping hand!

Donors and descendants of Private Reuben Lee, the U.S. Colored Troop (U.S.C.T.) soldier featured in February, attended t...
08/05/2026

Donors and descendants of Private Reuben Lee, the U.S. Colored Troop (U.S.C.T.) soldier featured in February, attended the opening of our newest updated exhibit. On display is Private Reuben Lee’s Springfield Model 1864 with Second Allin Conversion M1866 (“trapdoor”) rifle and a reproduction Butler Medal. In attendance were direct descendants, who were also donors, a representative from Lynnhaven Shores-Girl Scouts who help maintain Private Lee's grave site, and the President and board members of Contraband Historical Society who shared the mission of the Society and research on the Lee family in the Civil War-era.

Visit the Casemate Museum to take a closer look at the exhibit and learn more about the storied history of U.S. Colored Troops in the Hampton Roads area.

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