Evening star., 1920-03-18
HAMPTON ROADS,
HISTORY GLORIOUS
Discovered by John Smith,
Has Ever Been Rendezvous
of American Navy.

Hampton roads. of vital importan'
in war operations. bat unnentioned
in that connection because of Voluu-
tary press censorship. again is a cen
ter of interest because of the burning
of the Hotel Chamberlin. y bulletin
of the National Geographic Society
gives the history of this region as
follows:
There is but one entrance by sea
into this country. and that is at the
mouth of a very goodly bay, Capt
John Smith wrote in his Map of Eir-
ginia. with Description of the Coun-
trey concerning Chesapeake bay with
it's attendant harbor, Hampton roads.
which he describes as bounded on the
south by Florida. on the norm ny New
France, and whose western limits are
unknown.
a few bustling ports like New
oril and Boston might disagree
with the redouhtablc captain con-
cerning the facilities their harbors
now offer. but certainly no harbor can
claim a much more romantic history
not only in colonial times, but IN the
world war as well.
Cargo Port for France.
Hampton roads has been the rem
6czN Gus of the American Navy ever
since there was one. w hen. during
ih,. early part of 1917. newspaper re-
ports We're saying that the fleet was
swallowed up somewhere in the miSi''
of the Atlantic II had secretly slid
out Of the harhor st Hampton roads
and was resting quietly at Yorktown,
a few miles up the bay. awaiting or
ders from Washington. At a moment s
notice these huge battleshins coua'
here signal to each other with their
multihued flags and steam out to sea.
Through the waters of Hampton roads
thousands of men. tons or SuppleS
and cargoes of horses glided out dur
ing the night to play their parts on
fields of France.
Formed by Three Rivers.
'aThe harbor is splendid sheet of
water 500 feet in width with mini
mum depth of 80 feet. safe from gales
and large enough TO float great
navy 1t is formed by the James.
Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers as
they pass into Chesapeake bay. The
thriving cities Of Norfolk. Newport
News and Portsmouth give it com
mercial Importance.
The first land in this vicinity that
the sea-weary Capt. John Smith and
his men caught sight of was the
eastern end of a sandy spit OF land'
which they named Cape Henry. Here
they opened the sealed orders of the
London company and learned that
thew were TO SSlIie 1HucH tiSi III
land. But, for a few days, they rest
ed and explored the neighborlng Wa
ters They erected cross on this
spot of their first landing, in graft
tude for a safe ending of their jour
ney. Later in 1881 lighthouse was
erected on this same spot. IL is
standing today and bears tablet
commemorating the landing. though
a larger and much more pretentlous
structure has been built for lighting
the shipping.
ed a point at the entrance to the har-
bor they called Point Comfort. be-
cause of the good channel and the
safe anchorage 1t afforded When
later similar places were tound. the
one first touched was dubbed old.
and this name has clung to 1T ever
since 1t was here that Jefferson
Davis was confined for a time at the
close of the civil war.
Named for Sir William Newee.
Newport News. settled in 1921 by
Master Gookin out of ireland. was
named by him in honor of his 1rlend;
chronicler tells us that at Newport
News the cotton trees in yeere grow
so thicke as ones arme and so hlgn
as a man; here anything that Is plant
ed doth prosper so well as in no place
better Today this town contains one
of the largest drydocks in the world
and ships much of the product that
once grew so abundantly on the trees
that the chronicler mentions.
Norfolk, the largest city on Hamp-
ton roads, has a history that dates
back farther even than that Of James
town. The first white men who Wis
tied the site constituted small ex-
ploring party from Sir Walter Raj
eigh's colony at Roanoke Island about
1886. Almost century later Ports
Setfled Since infancy
it has been famous for it's navy yard.
the first one having been built by
the English. Seven miles east of New
port News lies the ancient borough