Did you know Portsmouth has Virginia state Highway Historical Markers all around town? Below, you will find a list containing 28 of those historic markers, with texts that displays some of the major events and contributions that’s taken place here in Portsmouth. The signs and information on these markers come directly from the Virginia Department of Historical Resources. This information and more Historical Highway Markers from around the state can be found here.
Court Street Baptist Church
Court Street at Queen Street
The Kehukee Association, composed of Baptist churches in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina, established Court Street Baptist Church on 7 Sept. 1789. This is the oldest Baptist church in Portsmouth and Norfolk and became the mother church of several other congregations. Members acquired land here in 1799 and built their first sanctuary. African American members, about a third of the congregation in 1860, withdrew in 1865 and formed two new congregations. Reuben H. Hunt, one of the South’s most prominent architects early in the 20th century, designed the church’s present Romanesque Revival sanctuary, which was completed in 1903.
Cradock Historic District
Afton Pkwy & Prospect Pkwy
Cradock, begun in 1918 to accommodate the rapid influx of workers at the U.S. Navy Yard in Norfolk during World War I, was one of the nation’s earliest federally funded planned communities. Its design, based on innovative planning techniques, included a commercial square, recreational areas, schools, church sites, and access to public transportation. In accordance with the racial segregation of the time, Cradock was designated for white workers while nearby Truxtun, also begun in 1918, was for African Americans. Cradock, the largest project completed by the U.S. Housing Corporation, was named for British Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock and features streets named for U.S. naval heroes.
Fort Nelson
Crawford Pkwy & 200 Ft W of Court St
On the site of Portsmouth Naval Hospital stood Fort Nelson. There, Virginia’s Revolutionary government late in 1776 constructed the fort of timber and rammed earth. Three years later, the British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir George Collier confiscated its artillery and supplies and destroyed most of the parapet. In 1779-1781, both Lord Cornwallis and General Benedict Arnold occupied the fort. It was reconstructed in 1799 of earth lined with brick, following a design by architect B. Henry Latrobe, and abandoned after the War of 1812. The Confederate government strengthened Fort Nelson, but on 10 May 1862 the Union army occupied Norfolk and Fort Nelson.
Craney Island
Duke Dr & High St
Seven miles northeast in the Elizabeth River is Craney Island, a landmark of two wars. During the War of 1812, the British attacked its fortifications on 22 June 1813, but were repulsed by its defenders including the Portsmouth artillery. During the Civil War, while abandoning Norfolk in April 1861, the Union forces scuttled the USS Merrimack. The Confederates refloated it and transformed it into their first ironclad, the CSS Virginia. Famous for its duel to a draw with the USS Monitor, the Virginia was scuttled at Craney Island on 11 May 1862, when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk.
The Battle of Craney Island
Twin Pines Rd & Woodside Ln
On the morning of 22 June 1813, during the War of 1812, British naval and marine forces under the Command of Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren landed here at Hoffler Creek. American armed militia under the command of Gen. Robert B. Taylor blocked the British advance, brought them under heavy artillery fire, and caused them to retreat. Approximately 200 British soldiers were killed, four to five barges were sunk, and the “Centipede” was taken along with 22 prisoners. Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard, now the Norfolk Naval Yard, were saved from capture.
Israel Charles Norcom High School
London Blvd & Schools Marquee
I.C. Norcom (1856-1916) was an African American educator and administrator who served Portsmouth schools for more than 30 years. The first school to bear his name opened in 1920 three quarters of a mile southeast of here. Principal William E. Riddick and vice principal Lavinia M. Weaver led it for decades. The school moved into a new building nearby in 1937 and again relocated to a new facility, about a mile southwest of here, in 1953. The school’s academic, athletic, and cultural programs were central to the community. Students conducted sit-ins to desegregate Portsmouth lunch counters in 1960, and alumni became local, state, and national leaders. Norcom High School moved here in 1998.
St. John’s Church
Washington St & London Blvd
St. John’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1848; its original Greek Revival sanctuary opened in 1850 near the corner of Court and London Streets. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1855, James Chisholm, the church’s first rector, remained in Portsmouth to minister to the sick. He died of the disease and was later added to the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints. The Gothic Revival sanctuary on this site, designed by architect Charles M. Cassell, opened in 1898. Mary Brown Channel, the first female architect licensed in Virginia, designed several additions. Her father, William A. Brown (rector 1904-1938) was consecrated Bishop of Southern Virginia here in 1938.
Trinity Church
Court St & High St
Built in 1762 as the parish church of Portsmouth parish, established in 1761. Later named Trinity; enlarged in 1829; remodeled in 1893. Colonel William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth in 1752, was a member of the first vestry. Buried here is Commodore James Barron, commander of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake when attacked by H.M.S. Leopard in 1807; the result was his celebrated duel with Stephen Decatur in 1820. The graves of many Revolutionary patriots are here.
Monumental Methodist Church
Dinwiddie St & London Blvd
This church, founded 1772, is one of the oldest Methodist churches in Virginia. The first building was erected, 1775, at South and Effingham streets. The church was moved to Glasgow Street near Court in 1792. It established the first Sunday School in Portsmouth in 1818. Monumental was moved to this site, Dinwiddie Street, in 1831.
Watts House
Dinwiddie St &North St
Built by Colonel Dempsey Watts in 1799 and inherited by his son, Captain Samuel Watts, who lived here until his death in 1878. Here Chief Black Hawk, of the Black Hawk Indian War, was entertained in 1820, and Henry Clay in 1844.
Benedict Arnold at Portsmouth
Bayview Blvd & Maryland Ave
Arnold, after going over to the British, was sent to Virginia to make war on the state. He reached Hampton Roads in December, 1780, raided to Richmond and came to Portsmouth, January 19, 1781. Establishing his headquarters in Patrick Robinson’s house, and using the old sugar house on Crawford Street as a prison and barracks, Arnold remained here until spring. Then again he went up the James to open the fateful campaign of 1781 that won the war for America.
Cornwallis at Portsmouth
Crawford Pkwy & 200 ft W of Court St
Lord Cornwallis, commanding the British troops in the South, reached Portsmouth, July, 1781. He prepared to send a portion of his force to New York. Before the movement was made, orders came for him to take up a position at Old Point. Cornwallis selected Yorktown, however, and Portsmouth was abandoned.
Collier’s Raid
Washington St Crawford Pkwy
A British fleet under Commodore Sir George Collier sailed up the Elizabeth River and shelled Fort Nelson in May 1779, during the Revolutionary War. A landing force of 1,800 infantrymen led by Brig. Gen. Edward Mathew captured the fort on 10 May after a brief resistance. The British occupied Portsmouth, Gosport, and Norfolk, and burned Suffolk and the Gosport shipyard. Collier also captured or burned 137 vessels in Hampton Roads and dismantled Fort Nelson. The British force then embarked and sailed to New York.
Portsmouth Naval Hospital
Rixey Place & Hospital Point Park
This was begun in 1827 and opened in 1830. The hospital was taxed to its capacity in the great yellow fever epidemic of 1855 which decimated Portsmouth and Norfolk. This hospital has cared for the sick and wounded of the Navy in all wars of the United States since its establishment. It is the oldest hospital of the Navy.
City of Portsmouth
Western Branch Blvd & Academy Ave
The site of this city was patented in 1659 by Captain William Carver. Established as a town in 1752 and named by its founder, Lt. Col. William Crawford. Chartered as a city in 1858, it has the country’s oldest naval shipyard, established in 1767, the nation’s oldest naval hospital, commenced in 1827, and is the birthplace of the world’s largest naval installation.
Crawford House
Crawford St & Queen St
Erected 1835 by J. W. Collins, Portsmouth’s first five-story building and for many years a leading hotel. Presidents Van Buren, Tyler, and Fillmore were entertained here.
Norfolk County Court House, 1845-1962
Court St & High St
Begun 1845, occupied 20 July 1846. The architect, William R. Singleton, a Portsmouth native, also designed the old Norfolk City Court House. This building stands on one of the four corners dedicated for public use in 1752 by Lt. Col. William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth. The site was formerly occupied by the clerk’s office when an earlier courthouse, occupied in 1803, stood on the northeast corner, opposite.
Arnold’s British Defense, 1781
Washington St & King St
This marks a line of British redoubts erected in March 1781 by order of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold who, under Major William Phillips, commanded British troops occupying Portsmouth. The line of fortifications extended in an arc along Washington Street from the northern waterfront to Gosport Creek and defended Portsmouth from American attack from the west.
Arnold’s British Defenses, 1781
Crawford Pkwy & 200 ft W of Court St
A brick windmill near here was close to the southern limit of a line of British redoubts erected in March 1781 by order of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold who, under Major General William Phillips commanded British troops occupying Portsmouth. This line of fortifications extended north in an arc along Washington Street to the waterfront near Court Street.
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Lincoln St & 3rd St
Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the nation’s first government-owned yard, was privately founded here as Gosport Shipyard on 1 Nov. 1767. Virginia seized it in 1776, and it served the state navy during the American Revolution. The U.S. Navy leased it in 1794 and bought it in 1801. Drydock One, started in 1827, opened on 17 June 1833. Construction began in 1837 on the central brick portion of Quarters A, the residence of shipyard commanders. Frame wings were added in 1890 and 1910. Quarters B and C (north) date from 1837 to 1842. All four structures are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
John Luke Porter-(19 Sept. 1813-14 Dec. 1893)
High St & Water St
John Luke Porter, first president of the Portsmouth common council, was born just two blocks south of here. An accomplished naval constructor, commissioned first by the United States and later by the Confederacy, Porter supervised, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the conversion of the frigate Merrimac to the ironclad CSS Virginia. On 8 March 1862, the Virginia rammed and sank USS Cumberland and destroyed USS Congress at Newport News. The next day Virginia fought a historic but inconclusive battle with USS Monitor in nearby Hampton Roads, in the world’s first naval combat between ironclads. Porter later became chief naval constructor for the Confederacy, designing 21 ironclads. He died in Portsmouth.
Emanuel A.M.E. Church
North St & Green St
Emanuel A.M.E. Church is rooted in the African Methodist Society that was formed soon after the founding in 1772 of the Methodist Society in Portsmouth. The African Society met independently until Nat Turner’s Insurrection in 1831, worshiped with white Methodists for three years, then met under white supervision until 1864. The members occupied a Methodist church on Glasgow Street until the building burned in 1856. Slaves and free blacks provided most of the funds and labor to construct North Street Methodist Church in 1857. In 1871, the congregation adopted the name Emanuel (“God with us”) and became part of the African Methodist Episcopal movement.
Ruth Brown (1928-2006)
North St & Green St
Portsmouth native Ruth Brown was the best-selling African American female recording artist early in the 1950s. Her two dozen hits established Atlantic Records as “The House That Ruth Built.” Brown also helped to usher in the rock’n’roll genre during the 1950s when promoter Alan Freed introduced America to her vocal style in 1956. She enjoyed her first crossover hit, “Lucky Lips,” in 1957. Among other honors, she won a Tony Award for her performance in the musical Black and Blue in 1989. Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as “the Queen Mother of the Blues.”
St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church
Washington St & High St
St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church was first built by French and Irish immigrants between 1811 and 1815 and was the first Catholic congregation established in Portsmouth. Increasing membership necessitated the building of new structures in 1831 and 1851. Fire destroyed the third building in 1859; that same year the congregation began constructing a fourth structure, completed in 1868. It burned in 1897. The current Gothic Revival church here, noted for its stained glass windows, was designed by John Kevan Peebles and dedicated in 1905. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones (1869-1933)
North St & Green St
Born Matilda S. Joyner in Portsmouth 1869, Sissieretta Jones was a trailblazing African American pioneer of the concert and theatrical stages during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She studied music at the Providence School of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston. Jones sang for several U.S. presidents and at the Chicago world’s fair in 1893. While performing with the “Black Patti Troubadours” she always closed each show with brilliant renditions of opera and gospel music. Her popularity spanned the globe, and she received medals and lavish gifts from many foreign heads of state.
George Teamoh
Green St & Queen St
A member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and the Senate of Virginia from 1869 until 1871, George Teamoh was born enslaved in Portsmouth where he spent most of his early life. A skilled laborer, he served as a ship’s carpenter and caulker in the Tidewater area. After his family was sold away from him, he escaped from slavery in 1853 by jumping ship in New York while hired out on a mercantile voyage. He resided in Massachusetts until the end of the Civil War when he returned to Portsmouth and became an important community leader. Teamoh died sometime after 1883.
Cedar Grove Cemetery
Fort Ln & Blair St
The Town of Portsmouth established Cedar Grove Cemetery just outside town limits in 1832. A trove of 19th-century funerary art, the cemetery contains monuments and statues handcrafted in the Victorian, Greek Revival, and Egyptian Revival styles, many bearing symbolic motifs. Buried here are at least 10 veterans of the Revolutionary War and 47 veterans of the War of 1812, including Capt. Arthur Emmerson, a hero of the Battle of Craney Island. Also interred here are John Luke Porter, co-designer of the ironclad C.S.S. Virginia, and many Confederate soldiers and sailors. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mount Calvary Cemetery Complex
Pulaski St & 400 Ft W of Deep Creek Blvd
African Americans purchased land about a quarter mile southwest of here in 1879 to establish Mt. Olive Cemetery. The property adjoins a potter’s field thought to be a burial place for victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1855. Later, Mt. Calvary and Fishers Hill Cemeteries were founded nearby, creating a four-cemetery complex. Buried there are many community leaders, including Baptist minister John M. Armistead, educators Ida Barbour and I. C. Norcom, and journalist Jeffrey T. Wilson. Also interred there are formerly enslaved persons, Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops, late-19th-century elected officials, and veterans of World Wars I and II.
For other historical buildings, signs, and locations, click here.
Portsmouth’s Historical Markers
July 12, 2023
Historical Markers around Portsmouth, VA
Did you know Portsmouth has Virginia state Highway Historical Markers all around town? Below, you will find a list containing 28 of those historic markers, with texts that displays some of the major events and contributions that’s taken place here in Portsmouth. The signs and information on these markers come directly from the Virginia Department of Historical Resources. This information and more Historical Highway Markers from around the state can be found here.
Court Street Baptist Church
Court Street at Queen Street
The Kehukee Association, composed of Baptist churches in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina, established Court Street Baptist Church on 7 Sept. 1789. This is the oldest Baptist church in Portsmouth and Norfolk and became the mother church of several other congregations. Members acquired land here in 1799 and built their first sanctuary. African American members, about a third of the congregation in 1860, withdrew in 1865 and formed two new congregations. Reuben H. Hunt, one of the South’s most prominent architects early in the 20th century, designed the church’s present Romanesque Revival sanctuary, which was completed in 1903.
Cradock Historic District
Afton Pkwy & Prospect Pkwy
Cradock, begun in 1918 to accommodate the rapid influx of workers at the U.S. Navy Yard in Norfolk during World War I, was one of the nation’s earliest federally funded planned communities. Its design, based on innovative planning techniques, included a commercial square, recreational areas, schools, church sites, and access to public transportation. In accordance with the racial segregation of the time, Cradock was designated for white workers while nearby Truxtun, also begun in 1918, was for African Americans. Cradock, the largest project completed by the U.S. Housing Corporation, was named for British Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock and features streets named for U.S. naval heroes.
Fort Nelson
Crawford Pkwy & 200 Ft W of Court St
On the site of Portsmouth Naval Hospital stood Fort Nelson. There, Virginia’s Revolutionary government late in 1776 constructed the fort of timber and rammed earth. Three years later, the British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir George Collier confiscated its artillery and supplies and destroyed most of the parapet. In 1779-1781, both Lord Cornwallis and General Benedict Arnold occupied the fort. It was reconstructed in 1799 of earth lined with brick, following a design by architect B. Henry Latrobe, and abandoned after the War of 1812. The Confederate government strengthened Fort Nelson, but on 10 May 1862 the Union army occupied Norfolk and Fort Nelson.
Craney Island
Duke Dr & High St
Seven miles northeast in the Elizabeth River is Craney Island, a landmark of two wars. During the War of 1812, the British attacked its fortifications on 22 June 1813, but were repulsed by its defenders including the Portsmouth artillery. During the Civil War, while abandoning Norfolk in April 1861, the Union forces scuttled the USS Merrimack. The Confederates refloated it and transformed it into their first ironclad, the CSS Virginia. Famous for its duel to a draw with the USS Monitor, the Virginia was scuttled at Craney Island on 11 May 1862, when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk.
Twin Pines Rd & Woodside Ln
On the morning of 22 June 1813, during the War of 1812, British naval and marine forces under the Command of Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren landed here at Hoffler Creek. American armed militia under the command of Gen. Robert B. Taylor blocked the British advance, brought them under heavy artillery fire, and caused them to retreat. Approximately 200 British soldiers were killed, four to five barges were sunk, and the “Centipede” was taken along with 22 prisoners. Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard, now the Norfolk Naval Yard, were saved from capture.
Israel Charles Norcom High School
London Blvd & Schools Marquee
I.C. Norcom (1856-1916) was an African American educator and administrator who served Portsmouth schools for more than 30 years. The first school to bear his name opened in 1920 three quarters of a mile southeast of here. Principal William E. Riddick and vice principal Lavinia M. Weaver led it for decades. The school moved into a new building nearby in 1937 and again relocated to a new facility, about a mile southwest of here, in 1953. The school’s academic, athletic, and cultural programs were central to the community. Students conducted sit-ins to desegregate Portsmouth lunch counters in 1960, and alumni became local, state, and national leaders. Norcom High School moved here in 1998.
Washington St & London Blvd
St. John’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1848; its original Greek Revival sanctuary opened in 1850 near the corner of Court and London Streets. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1855, James Chisholm, the church’s first rector, remained in Portsmouth to minister to the sick. He died of the disease and was later added to the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints. The Gothic Revival sanctuary on this site, designed by architect Charles M. Cassell, opened in 1898. Mary Brown Channel, the first female architect licensed in Virginia, designed several additions. Her father, William A. Brown (rector 1904-1938) was consecrated Bishop of Southern Virginia here in 1938.
Trinity Church
Court St & High St
Built in 1762 as the parish church of Portsmouth parish, established in 1761. Later named Trinity; enlarged in 1829; remodeled in 1893. Colonel William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth in 1752, was a member of the first vestry. Buried here is Commodore James Barron, commander of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake when attacked by H.M.S. Leopard in 1807; the result was his celebrated duel with Stephen Decatur in 1820. The graves of many Revolutionary patriots are here.
Monumental Methodist Church
Dinwiddie St & London Blvd
This church, founded 1772, is one of the oldest Methodist churches in Virginia. The first building was erected, 1775, at South and Effingham streets. The church was moved to Glasgow Street near Court in 1792. It established the first Sunday School in Portsmouth in 1818. Monumental was moved to this site, Dinwiddie Street, in 1831.
Dinwiddie St &North St
Built by Colonel Dempsey Watts in 1799 and inherited by his son, Captain Samuel Watts, who lived here until his death in 1878. Here Chief Black Hawk, of the Black Hawk Indian War, was entertained in 1820, and Henry Clay in 1844.
Benedict Arnold at Portsmouth
Bayview Blvd & Maryland Ave
Arnold, after going over to the British, was sent to Virginia to make war on the state. He reached Hampton Roads in December, 1780, raided to Richmond and came to Portsmouth, January 19, 1781. Establishing his headquarters in Patrick Robinson’s house, and using the old sugar house on Crawford Street as a prison and barracks, Arnold remained here until spring. Then again he went up the James to open the fateful campaign of 1781 that won the war for America.
Cornwallis at Portsmouth
Crawford Pkwy & 200 ft W of Court St
Lord Cornwallis, commanding the British troops in the South, reached Portsmouth, July, 1781. He prepared to send a portion of his force to New York. Before the movement was made, orders came for him to take up a position at Old Point. Cornwallis selected Yorktown, however, and Portsmouth was abandoned.
Collier’s Raid
Washington St Crawford Pkwy
A British fleet under Commodore Sir George Collier sailed up the Elizabeth River and shelled Fort Nelson in May 1779, during the Revolutionary War. A landing force of 1,800 infantrymen led by Brig. Gen. Edward Mathew captured the fort on 10 May after a brief resistance. The British occupied Portsmouth, Gosport, and Norfolk, and burned Suffolk and the Gosport shipyard. Collier also captured or burned 137 vessels in Hampton Roads and dismantled Fort Nelson. The British force then embarked and sailed to New York.
Portsmouth Naval Hospital
Rixey Place & Hospital Point Park
This was begun in 1827 and opened in 1830. The hospital was taxed to its capacity in the great yellow fever epidemic of 1855 which decimated Portsmouth and Norfolk. This hospital has cared for the sick and wounded of the Navy in all wars of the United States since its establishment. It is the oldest hospital of the Navy.
City of Portsmouth
Western Branch Blvd & Academy Ave
The site of this city was patented in 1659 by Captain William Carver. Established as a town in 1752 and named by its founder, Lt. Col. William Crawford. Chartered as a city in 1858, it has the country’s oldest naval shipyard, established in 1767, the nation’s oldest naval hospital, commenced in 1827, and is the birthplace of the world’s largest naval installation.
Crawford House
Crawford St & Queen St
Erected 1835 by J. W. Collins, Portsmouth’s first five-story building and for many years a leading hotel. Presidents Van Buren, Tyler, and Fillmore were entertained here.
Norfolk County Court House, 1845-1962
Court St & High St
Begun 1845, occupied 20 July 1846. The architect, William R. Singleton, a Portsmouth native, also designed the old Norfolk City Court House. This building stands on one of the four corners dedicated for public use in 1752 by Lt. Col. William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth. The site was formerly occupied by the clerk’s office when an earlier courthouse, occupied in 1803, stood on the northeast corner, opposite.
Washington St & King St
This marks a line of British redoubts erected in March 1781 by order of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold who, under Major William Phillips, commanded British troops occupying Portsmouth. The line of fortifications extended in an arc along Washington Street from the northern waterfront to Gosport Creek and defended Portsmouth from American attack from the west.
Arnold’s British Defenses, 1781
Crawford Pkwy & 200 ft W of Court St
A brick windmill near here was close to the southern limit of a line of British redoubts erected in March 1781 by order of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold who, under Major General William Phillips commanded British troops occupying Portsmouth. This line of fortifications extended north in an arc along Washington Street to the waterfront near Court Street.
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Lincoln St & 3rd St
Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the nation’s first government-owned yard, was privately founded here as Gosport Shipyard on 1 Nov. 1767. Virginia seized it in 1776, and it served the state navy during the American Revolution. The U.S. Navy leased it in 1794 and bought it in 1801. Drydock One, started in 1827, opened on 17 June 1833. Construction began in 1837 on the central brick portion of Quarters A, the residence of shipyard commanders. Frame wings were added in 1890 and 1910. Quarters B and C (north) date from 1837 to 1842. All four structures are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
John Luke Porter-(19 Sept. 1813-14 Dec. 1893)
High St & Water St
John Luke Porter, first president of the Portsmouth common council, was born just two blocks south of here. An accomplished naval constructor, commissioned first by the United States and later by the Confederacy, Porter supervised, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the conversion of the frigate Merrimac to the ironclad CSS Virginia. On 8 March 1862, the Virginia rammed and sank USS Cumberland and destroyed USS Congress at Newport News. The next day Virginia fought a historic but inconclusive battle with USS Monitor in nearby Hampton Roads, in the world’s first naval combat between ironclads. Porter later became chief naval constructor for the Confederacy, designing 21 ironclads. He died in Portsmouth.
North St & Green St
Emanuel A.M.E. Church is rooted in the African Methodist Society that was formed soon after the founding in 1772 of the Methodist Society in Portsmouth. The African Society met independently until Nat Turner’s Insurrection in 1831, worshiped with white Methodists for three years, then met under white supervision until 1864. The members occupied a Methodist church on Glasgow Street until the building burned in 1856. Slaves and free blacks provided most of the funds and labor to construct North Street Methodist Church in 1857. In 1871, the congregation adopted the name Emanuel (“God with us”) and became part of the African Methodist Episcopal movement.
Ruth Brown (1928-2006)
North St & Green St
Portsmouth native Ruth Brown was the best-selling African American female recording artist early in the 1950s. Her two dozen hits established Atlantic Records as “The House That Ruth Built.” Brown also helped to usher in the rock’n’roll genre during the 1950s when promoter Alan Freed introduced America to her vocal style in 1956. She enjoyed her first crossover hit, “Lucky Lips,” in 1957. Among other honors, she won a Tony Award for her performance in the musical Black and Blue in 1989. Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as “the Queen Mother of the Blues.”
St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church
Washington St & High St
St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church was first built by French and Irish immigrants between 1811 and 1815 and was the first Catholic congregation established in Portsmouth. Increasing membership necessitated the building of new structures in 1831 and 1851. Fire destroyed the third building in 1859; that same year the congregation began constructing a fourth structure, completed in 1868. It burned in 1897. The current Gothic Revival church here, noted for its stained glass windows, was designed by John Kevan Peebles and dedicated in 1905. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
North St & Green St
Born Matilda S. Joyner in Portsmouth 1869, Sissieretta Jones was a trailblazing African American pioneer of the concert and theatrical stages during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She studied music at the Providence School of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston. Jones sang for several U.S. presidents and at the Chicago world’s fair in 1893. While performing with the “Black Patti Troubadours” she always closed each show with brilliant renditions of opera and gospel music. Her popularity spanned the globe, and she received medals and lavish gifts from many foreign heads of state.
George Teamoh
Green St & Queen St
A member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and the Senate of Virginia from 1869 until 1871, George Teamoh was born enslaved in Portsmouth where he spent most of his early life. A skilled laborer, he served as a ship’s carpenter and caulker in the Tidewater area. After his family was sold away from him, he escaped from slavery in 1853 by jumping ship in New York while hired out on a mercantile voyage. He resided in Massachusetts until the end of the Civil War when he returned to Portsmouth and became an important community leader. Teamoh died sometime after 1883.
Cedar Grove Cemetery
Fort Ln & Blair St
The Town of Portsmouth established Cedar Grove Cemetery just outside town limits in 1832. A trove of 19th-century funerary art, the cemetery contains monuments and statues handcrafted in the Victorian, Greek Revival, and Egyptian Revival styles, many bearing symbolic motifs. Buried here are at least 10 veterans of the Revolutionary War and 47 veterans of the War of 1812, including Capt. Arthur Emmerson, a hero of the Battle of Craney Island. Also interred here are John Luke Porter, co-designer of the ironclad C.S.S. Virginia, and many Confederate soldiers and sailors. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pulaski St & 400 Ft W of Deep Creek Blvd
African Americans purchased land about a quarter mile southwest of here in 1879 to establish Mt. Olive Cemetery. The property adjoins a potter’s field thought to be a burial place for victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1855. Later, Mt. Calvary and Fishers Hill Cemeteries were founded nearby, creating a four-cemetery complex. Buried there are many community leaders, including Baptist minister John M. Armistead, educators Ida Barbour and I. C. Norcom, and journalist Jeffrey T. Wilson. Also interred there are formerly enslaved persons, Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops, late-19th-century elected officials, and veterans of World Wars I and II.
For other historical buildings, signs, and locations, click here.