About Hampton VA
Hampton is a city in the state of Virginia, which has the distinction of being one of the 7 cities in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan region. The City of Hampton is situated on the Southeast direction of the Virginia Peninsula. Its origins go back to the days of the Old Point Comfort that was home to Fort Monroe, and was named by 1607 explorers from Britain. These explorers, who were led by Captain Christopher Newport, founded the English settlement of Jamestown. Ever since its consolidation in the mid 20th century, Hampton has included the previous Elizabeth City County and the Town of Phoebus.
After the culmination of the United States Civil War, the historic Hampton University was founded in this Virginia city. It went on to offer higher education to numerous freed slaves and the region’s native Amerindian population. Over the course of the 20th century, the City of Hampton became home to the Langley Air Force Base, the NASA Langley Research Center and the Virginia Air & Space Center. Hampton is highly renowned for its many miles of waterfront and beaches. It as well boasts of numerous businesses, industrial enterprises, retail and residential areas and a treasure trove of historic sites. Some of the most popular attractions in this Virginia city include the Air Power Park, Downtown Hampton Historic District, the Emancipation Oak, the Buckroe Beach and Park, Fort Monroe, the National Institute of Aerospace, the Old Point Comfort, Fort Wool, Chapel of the Centurion, the Langley Air Force Base, the Hampton Coliseum to mention just but a few.
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Buckroe Beach and Park
The Buckroe Beach and Park provides a grand total of 8 acres of family friendly attractions, and almost one mile of a sandy beach on Chesapeake Bay. During the stretch of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day, this City of Hampton Beach features certified lifeguards on the shore. Not to forget Saturday night concerts for Groovin’ By the Bay and even Tuesday night outdoor movies. The park, on the other hand, offers more than sufficient parking space, a children’s playground, a hiking/biking trail, kayak and paddleboat rentals. There are also 2 picnic pavilions that may be reserved for a small charge, and even a stage for hosting a wide variety of community events.
Fort Monroe National Monument
Fort Monroe has protected the waters in between Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay ever since the early 17th century. It as well has the distinction of been the biggest stone fortress in the country, and a site teeming with history. Fort Monroe served as a Union Fort within Confederate Virginia all through the course of the United States Civil War. During this period of time, this City of Hampton fort also served as a safe retreat for slaves under the Contraband Act. Nowadays, Fort Monroe is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hampton. It features a historical museum, miles upon miles of nature trails, splendid fishing opportunities, a number of picnic areas, a marina and miles of beaches.
Virginia Air & Space Center
The Virginia Air & Space Center has liaised with NASA to house an intriguing collection of hands-on science exhibits. For instance, visitors can get the chance to land on the moon in a lunar simulator, review the Apollo 12 Command Module and even revel in the wonder of its 5 story IMAX theatre. Visitors to the Virginia Air & Space Center may as well get up close views of the sun and its breathtaking waves in its solarium, which is also crammed to the gills with fascinating photos shot by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Young visitors, on the flipside, can get to work and play at ‘Engineer-It,’ a playground where assembling larger than life structures is the order of the day. The Virginia Air & Space Center also provides day camps that expound on core scientific subjects, facilities for finishing scouting badges and curriculum materials for teachers and homeschool parents. This City of Hampton science center offers guided tours for school children and community groups.
Casement Museum of Fort Monroe
The Casement Museum of Fort Monroe is well noted for narrating on the eventful history of this Hampton fortress, which was constructed to repulse enemy attacks from the ocean. It also went down in history for being the prison where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was briefly held after the end of the United States Civil War. The Casement Museum of Fort Monroe as well showcases a variety of artifacts and educational displays, and a replica of an officer’s 2 room family quarters. Visitors can take self guided tours of the museum, the moat and the defensive walls. The defensive walls are between 6 to 8 feet thick, and were designed to resist cannon fire.
Hampton History Museum
The Hampton History Museum chronicles the tale of the City of Hampton that has the distinction of been one of the oldest English speaking cities in America. Visitors get the golden opportunity to chronically review at their leisure Hampton’s 400 year history. This includes delving deep into its African American history, its native Amerindian history, the War of 1812, the United States Civil War and the city’s current rebirth as a key military and aerospace technology hub in the nation. The Hampton History Museum comes complete with fine collections of old maps, photos and other breathtaking artifacts of the years gone by. Among other objects, the latter of which includes a 9,000 year old arrowhead.
Sandy Bottom Nature Park
The Sandy Bottom Nature Park is sprawled on a 456 acre property, which houses a pond, 12 miles worth of nature trails and a big nature interpretative center. This City of Hampton land was reclaimed, and now boasts of wetlands, woodlands, all teeming with diverse wildlife species. This can include white tailed deer, turtle, Mabee’s salamander, the endangered canebrake rattlesnake to name just but a few. The various trails in the Sandy Bottom Nature Park are well maintained, and can be ideal for hiking and biking. This City of Hampton park also has a children’s playground, 2 sets of restrooms, 5 picnic shelters and picnic tables set in shaded grounds. Visitors can as well fish off its pier or hire boats to fish largemouth bass, catfish, crappie or even bluegill.
Hampton Coliseum
The Hampton Coliseum is the go to entertainment venue in the City of Hampton. Essentially, it is a multiuse venue with a capacity of 9,777, and a favorite for hosting music performers, comedians, and recently the Cirque de Soleil. This Hampton attraction is also used as the primary venue to host 3 of this Virginia city’s yearly festivals, which are the Hampton Jazz Festival, the Hampton Roads Soul Music Festival and the Hampton Funk Festival. Over the course of the year, the Hampton Coliseum hosts diverse live performances including Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circuses, Disney on Ice, monster truck rallies, WWE events, professional bull riding to mention just but a few.
Air Power Park
The Air Power Park is devoted to showcase the critical role played by aircraft and rockets in early United States’ space expeditions. As such, it comes complete with both indoor and outdoor exhibits of missiles, rockets and fighter aircraft. Some of the most prominent fighter aircraft on display here include a Hawker Kestrel, a Phantom, a Voodoo and a Mercury capsule. Other interesting exhibits in the Air Power Park include those that concentrate on different military branches of service along with a sizeable collection of Balsa wood aircraft models. Most of the exhibits on show here are associated with the close by Langley Air Force Base and the NASA Langley Research Center.