Hampton Courthouse

Hampton Courthouse (HMMLV)

Location: Hampton, VA 23669
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Country: United States of America
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N 37° 1.598', W 76° 20.677'

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Inscription

"Roofless and Thoroughly Gutted"

"The courthouse, roofless and thoroughly gutted. ? [Its] chimney served oar cooks well in getting supper. The Telegraph tent was soon up and the operator at work on the newly strung wire to Fort Monroe." - Pvt. Robert Knox Sneden, March 24, 1862

Hampton's courthouse was one of more than five hundred buildings that Capt. Jefferson C. Phillips's Confederate troops burned on August 7, 1861, during the Civil War. The courthouse area was chosen as headquarters for Union Gen. Samuel Heintzelman's III Corps during the Peninsula Campaign. Heintzelman and his staff pitched their tents nearby.

The American Missionary Association soon erected a school and church here amid the ruins of the old courthouse to demonstrate that freedmen could live independently. This school was the most important one that the A.M.A. established. Attended by 250 students, it contained a primary school on the first floor, while more advanced pupils on the second level were taught multiplication, division, penmanship, and elementary reading. The missionary teachers were ecstatic at the progress of their pupils, and they conducted their religious work in concert with their efforts in education. C.P. Day, an A.M.A. teacher, defined the organization's motto as teaching "In order to do justice to the children." Schools such as this one helped escaped slaves define their lives as they adapted to freedom.

The courthouse that stands today dates from 1876. Remodeled in 1910 by C. Taylor Holtzsclaw, it has undergone several subsequent additions.
Details
HM NumberHMMLV
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
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Placed ByVirginia Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, September 8th, 2014 at 12:19am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 380399 N 4098672
Decimal Degrees37.02663333, -76.34461667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 1.598', W 76° 20.677'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 1' 35.88" N, 76° 20' 40.62" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)757
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 29 Kings Way, Hampton VA 23669, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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