Visit Hampton Roads Virginia: Hampton Roads / History & Heritage / African American

A B C D E F H I J L M N P S T V Y » Filter By City

African American Heritage Sites in Hampton
Hampton Visitor Center
120 Old Hampton Lane
Hampton, VA 23669
Phone1: (800) 800-2202 Hampton Visitor Center
Phone2: (757) 727-1102 Hampton Visitor Center
Fax: (757) 896-4600
Email: hct@hamptoncvb.com
Opens: 9:00:00 AM
Closes: 5:00:00 PM

Explore Hampton's rich African American heritage at sites throughout the 400-year-old city. See Old Point Comfort,where the first Africans arrived in Virginia and Fort Monroe or "Freedom's Fortress," where runaway slaves were protected during the Civil War. Visit Emancipation Oak where President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was read to Hampton residents. The tree is one of six national historic landmarks on the Hampton University campus. The university museum is the oldest and largest African American museum in the nation and features artifacts and contemporary art from countries and cultures worldwide. All sites are featured in Family Tree and in the annually published Hampton Visitors Guide, both available for free through the Hampton Visitor Center.

Berkeley Plantation
12602 Harrison Landing Road
Charles City, VA 23030
Phone1: (804) 829-6018 Main Number
Phone2: (888) 466-6018 Toll Free
Fax: (804) 829-6757
Opens: 9:00:00 AM
Closes: 5:00:00 PM
Admission Fee
Children Welcome

Berkeley is Virginia's most historic plantation. Visit the site of the first official Thanksgiving (1619). See the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President William Henry Harrison, our nation's ninth president, whose grandson Benjamin became the 23rd president. Envision Lincoln reviewing 140,000 Union troops. Hear "Taps" (composed here in 1862). We invite you to experience Berkeley's famous hospitality, as did the first ten presidents. An architectual gem, the elegant 1726 Georgian mansion is furnished with rare period antiques. Five terraces of restored boxwood and flower gardens overlook farmlands and offer breathtaking vistas of the James River. Audio-visual program. Museum. Gift Shop. Costumed guides.

Charles City County Visitor Center
10760 Courthouse Road
Charles City, VA 23030
Phone: (804) 652-4701 County Administrator
Email: info@charlescity.org
Opens: 9:00:00 AM
Closes: 5:00:00 PM
Children Welcome
Pets Welcome

The Visitor Center is located in the county’s historic 1901 Clerk’s Office adjacent to Charles City Courthouse, the 3rd oldest courthouse in the country. Visitor Center exhibits invite guests to experience “the story of America in one small county” and acquaint visitors with things to see and do. Four outdoor interpretive exhibits provide visitors with information about Charles City’s historic courthouse and engagements at the courthouse during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Civil War Trails Site.

Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
1 Visitor Center Drive
Williamsburg, VA 23185
Phone: (800) 447-8679 General reservation number

Colonial Williamsburg consists of 301 acres encompassing 88 original buildings and hundreds of other homes, shops and public buildings. Colonial Williamsburg operates the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and Bassett Hall. Visitors can enjoy 18th-century style dining Colonial Williamsburg's four dining taverns -- Chowning's, Christiana Campbell's, Shields and King's Arms Tavern. Guest accommodations are available in Colonial Williamsburg's Hotels -- the world-class Williamsburg Inn, the Colonial Houses, the Williamsburg Lodge and Woodlands Hotel & Suites and the Governor's Inn. Call for a copy of our Vacation Planner.

Downtown Hampton
Downtown Hampton
756 Settlers Landing Rd
Hampton, VA 23669
Phone1: (757) 727-1271 Downtown Hampton Development Partnership
Phone2: (757) 727-1570 Hampton EventMakers
Phone3: (800) 800-2202 Hampton Visitor Center
Fax: (757) 727-1255
Email: info@downtownhampton.com

In the 17th and 18th centuries, cargo ships sailing to Virginia from England stopped first in Hampton, site of the colony's Royal Customs House. Here the vessels unloaded tea, spices, dressmaking material, tools, furnishings and other items. Colonists from the surrounding areas flocked to Hampton to purchase the latest imports and to hear news of their homeland from the ships' crews. Today, nearly 300 years later, Hampton is still a great place to shop, dine and gather with friends. The city's renovated downtown waterfront district, which encompasses the site of the original 17th century seaport, is dotted with restaurants, pubs, art galleries, attractions, shops, marinas and a waterfront park. Lending a colonial flavor to much of this restored district are cobblestone streets lined with red brick sidewalks and crepe myrtle trees.

Next