Here & Then WHRO

"Even though seafood has always been one of this region's natural resources, it would not be until after the Civil War that it became a commercial enterprise in Hampton. Northerners came South and brought Yankee ingenuity, enterprise, and capital to invest in the seafood industry.
Oysters were always plentiful in the waters surrounding Hampton. This industry really began in 1881 when J.S. Darling founded his oystering farm that eventually became the largest in the world and made the Hampton Bar oyster famous.

One of the most notorious pirates to haunt Virginia waters was William Teach, better known as Blackbeard.  Teach, like many other pirates, was attracted to the lower Chesapeake Bay by the lucrative Virginia-England tobacco trade.  We're here at the sight in Hampton, Virginia, where Blackbeard's head had its final resting place. 

When Virginia left the Union on April, 17th 1861, the control of Hampton Roads- with its ports, shipyards and forts- became an important strategic goal for both North and South.  Fort Monroe became a major Union base while the Confederates sought to build a navy at Gosport Navy Yard. 

Welcome to Endview Plantation where Tidewater Virginia’s agrarian past still lingers across the historic landscape.  While now serene, in 1781 and 1862 Endview witnessed the passing of armies as wars were fought to achieve and define the meaning of freedom and equality.

The first Elizabeth River ferry services began in 1636 when Captain Adam Thoroughgood offered passage across the river in a hand-rowed skiff.  Regular service started in 1821 when a teamboat was available, however, the first steam ferry was the Gosport which initiated operation in 1832. 

We are here at the James A Fields House.  Fields was born a slave, became a contraband in 1861 and was in the first class to graduate from Hampton Institute in 1871.  After graduating with a law degree from Howard University in 1881, he became Commonwealth Attorney for Warwick County in 1887 and served one term as a member of the General Assembly.  He built this elegant Queen Anne style house in the 1890’s.    By the time of his death in 1903, Field’s was a shining example of a man who would overcome slavery’s legacy.