A few years ago, J had an enthusiastic colleague tell him about the Casemate Museum, a relatively small but highly-interesting museum located inside the fort structure at Fort Monroe. On our tenth anniversary trip to the Williamsburg area, we made it to this truly intriguing site.
Intrigue begins when you drive into the fort over a one-lane bridge, crossing through its walls. It may sound cliche, but you really do feel that you have driven back in time. We visited the Casemate Museum first (check its hours--they are not as long as some), walking through the fort interior walls to view displays about activity in the area in the early years of the US, during the US Civil War, and into the 1900s before its decommissioning in the early 2000s. Significantly, the site held POW Jefferson Davis during the US Civil War. There is no cost to tour the museum.
Visitors should take time to walk around the grounds, and a self-guided walking tour is available. For this reason, you may want to visit in the temperate spring or fall, but it was doable for us as determined adults in the summer. We walked to the "top" of the fort, finding a pet cemetery, cannon placements, and interesting views. There's a pretty chapel, a very large gun known as the Lincoln Gun, a house in which Lee stayed, and an attractive nearby lighthouse. A Virginia Historical Marker also denotes the landing of the first African people to reach the shores of the colonies. The site is being re-developed as a National Park Service site, so watch for enhancements in the next few years.
If you go, consider combining your trip with a visit to The Mariners' Museum as we did. We drove back in to Williamsburg for dinner, but the area is full of good picnic sites, including some along the waterfront. There are beaches! If you are a teacher, consider adding professional development offered at this site to your summer lineup--the museum has a history of being included in the Virginia War Memorial Teacher Institutes.
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