Cheatham Annex Cheatham Annex is a Naval Base , located near Williamsburg , Virginia on the York River approximately 35 miles northwest of Norfolk in the heart of the famous Jamestown - Williamsburg - Yorktown Historic Triangle . Although Cheatham Annex was not commissioned until June 1943 , the land on which the base is located can claim the unique distinction of having been associated with every conflict involving the United States freedom and independence . The mission of Cheatham Annex includes supplying Atlantic Fleet ships and providing recreational opportunities to military and civilian personnel . Location . Cheatham Annex facility is located outside of Williamsburg in York County , Virginia . The annex is adjacent to the York River , between Queen Creek and King Creek , approximately 15 miles upstream from the Chesapeake Bay . Located in York County , Virginia at latitude 37 . 284 and longitude - 76 . 591 . or Latitude : 37°17 ’ 2 ” N Longitude : 76°35 ’ 25 ” W . The average elevation is 26 feet . 5 ” The eastern section of Cheatham Annex is a 1 , 579 acre federal facility bounded by the entrance of Queen Creek into the York River to the north , the York River to the east , ane King Creek to the south , the western boundaries are with Department of Interior ( DOI ) property . The former Virginia Fuel Farm is across the Colonial Parkway , southwest of this section of the annex . This former part of Cheatham Annex , 262 acres of contamintated soil , is being turned into a golf course . The western section of Cheatham Annex is bounded to the north by the Colonial Parkway , and half of the eastern boundary is adjacent to the Virginia Fuel Farm . The remaining western , southern , and lower eastern boundary is adjacent to non - federal government land . There are several ponds on , or adjacent to the annex , including Penniman Lake , Youth Pond , Jones Pond , and Cheatham Pond . Overland drainage from the sources at the annex may flow into these ponds or the York River History . Positioned in the center of the Jamestown - Williamsburg - Yorktown historic triangle , CAX was once the location of a native Indian village . Before 1607 , and 1607 to 1624 . Old maps and artifacts indicate an Indian village existed in the area of Penniman Spit , located on base . Historians believe that a Spanish Jesuit Mission occupied the area and was annihilated in an Indian massacre in 1572 . Beginning in the 1700s colonial settlers gradually displaced the Indians . The initial settlement of Virginia was the task of the Virginia Company , a private English corporation . From the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to dissolution of the company in 1624 , colonization activity was confined to the James River , and practically everyone in the Colony lived on the banks of this one river . 1625 to 1700 . A census taken when the crown assumed administration of the fledgling Colony lists a total of 1 , 232 individuals alive in Virginia in January 1625 . Included among the 1 , 232 were Ensign John Utie , his wife Anne , their son John , and three servants living on a plantation of 100 acres called Utopia , on the James River below Jamestown . In 1630 , the Governor decided to settle the lands along the lower York River , and Captain John Utie was awarded 600 acres on the south side of the river . Captain Utie named his new plantation Ultimaria and lived there until November 1638 , by which time he died . His son John Utie acquired Ultimaria and possessed it until it was sold to William Taylor in 1640 . Colonel William Taylor ' s widow , Elizabeth Kingsmill , married Colonel Nathaniel Bacon and they used King ' s Creek ( as it was then called ) as their residence , though they owned other property . This Colonel Bacon , who rose to the president of the Council of the State , was first cousin once removed of Nathaniel Bacon , Jr . , who led Bacon ' s Rebellion . Another resident of King ' s Creek was Colonel Bacon ' s young niece , Abigail Smith . Sometime before 1675 , Abigail Smith married Lewis Burwell I , a prosperous planter . 1700 to 1800 . At a cemetery onsite , there is a 1718 grave of this 29 - year - old son of a Virginia planter and Major . The brick - walled cemetery sits adjacent to a tee on the golf course . James Burwell was one of the justices for York County and a burgess from 1715 to 1718 . On Lewis Burwell ' s death in 1710 . King ' s Creek Plantation passed to his son James Burwell . In the 1780s Cornwallis ' British troops and General Washington ' s Continental Army used a site on what is now Cheatham . 1850s to 1900 . In April 1862 all of Yorktown , including this site , was caught under a thirty - day siege which included the largest concentration of artillery in one place at one time in history . 1900 to 1942 . The area land was used primarily for farming until World War I when the E . I . Dupont Company built a large powder and shell loading plant . The Dupont plant loaded explosives into large - caliber shell . Founded during the early 1900s the town was named Penniman , in honor of Russell S . Penniman , inventor of ammonia dynamite . Penniman , VA eventually grew to a city of over 15 , 000 residents . During World War I , prior to Navy ownership and activity , a portion of the current Navy property was the location of a large powder and shell - loading plant , the duPont de Nemours Company ' s U . S . Penniman Shell Loading Plant . The Penniman Shell Loading Plant operated under contract to the U . S . government loading shells from 1917 to 1918 . The facility consisted of approximately 3 , 300 acres and included what is now the Cheatham Annex , the United States Department on the Interior National Park Service ( National Colonial Park ) , and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services fuel farm ( no longer active ) . During this time the area included a city of 10 , 000 people and was named Penniman . The Penniman Shell Loading Plant , which was a large powder - and shell - loading facility operated during World War I . The Penniman facility closed in 1918 . By May 1919 , less than 100 people remained in the city of Penniman and by 1920 the land had reverted to farmland . Following the end of WWI in 1918 , through 1926 , the U . S . government operated the Penniman General Ordnance Depot to prepare manufactured ordnance and explosives for long - term storage and shipment to permanent U . S . ordnance depots . At the same time , E . I . duPont de Nemours Engineering Company was decommissioning military ordnance and dismantling the former Shell Loading Plant and TNT plant structures . From 1926 to 1942 , the land was in private ownership and was used for farming or left idle . 1942 and WWII . With the outbreak of World War 2 , the US government construction began on August 27 , 1942 at Cheatham with the erection of a supply pier . The pier consisted of an approach , 2 , 850 feet long by 28 feet wide , with an L - head at the extreme outboard end , 1 , 215 feet long by 42 feet wide , parallel to the river channel . Early in September , 1942 , work began on the construction at Cheatham of 10 storehouses , an administration building , and all the appurtenant buildings and services needed to make the annex a secure and independent naval installation . The warehouses were of temporary construction , without heat or sprinklers , 120 feet by 828 feet , one - story , affording approximately 1 , 000 , 000 square feet of covered storage space . This area of land located in the Jamestown , Williamsburg , Yorktown historical triangle was seized by the Navy on June 21 , 1943 . When commissioned and annexed to the Naval Supply Depot at Norfolk , the facility was renamed FISC Cheatham Annex in honor of RADM Joseph Johnston Cheatham , the 1929 Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts , the forerunner of today ' s Naval Supply Systems Command . He was also the fifth and eighth commanding officer of Naval Supply Depot Norfolk . The first ten storehouses at Cheatham Annex were built in 1943 . They were one - story cinder - block and timber - frame structures , 835 feet by 120 feet , with concrete ground - level floors . The second group of warehouses , built in 1945 , were six storehouses , doubled the station ' s general storage capacity , by virtue of the buildings ' 200 - foot width on the 835 - foot length . Steel - frame construction was used . The transit shed was of bolted - steel construction , 1 , 500 feet long by 240 feet wide . The cold storage building , originally built 677 feet by 200 feet , was later extended to 877 feet in length . It had concrete foundations , brick and cinder - block walls , wood frame , and concrete floors at car - door height . The Fleet Industrial Supply Center , Cheatham Annex , officially opened in 1943 as a storage depot , built on the site of a munitions plant . The 1 , 572 - acre property included 7 archaeological sites , Colonial grave sites , DuPont Company buildings built in 1910 , and several World War II buildings . At inception , CAX occupied approximately 3 , 349 acres . In March 1943 , construction began of a sizable tank farm at Cheatham Annex , near the fuel depot at Yorktown . Fifteen tanks , of 50 , 000 - barrel capacity each , were installed underground for the storage of fuel oil . Three more of these tanks were provided for diesel oil . A timber T - shaped fueling pier was constructed into the York River , with an approach 2 , 625 feet long and a head 910 feet long . Several portions of the original base have since been declared surplus and transferred to other government jurisdictions , including the National Park Service , the Commonwealth of Virginia , and York County . As a satellite unit of the Naval Supply Depot , Cheatham Annex provided bulk storage facilities and served as an assembly and overseas shipping point throughout World War II . 21st century . CAX currently occupies 2 , 300 acres . CAX is divided into two parcels , with the larger parcel situated along the banks of the York River . Almost all of the activities at CAX ( administration , training , maintenance , support , and housing ) take place in this portion of the Installation . The smaller parcel is located south of the Colonial National Historic Parkway . This area contains Jones Pond and is used mainly as a watershed protection area . In July 1987 , CAX was designated the Hampton Roads Navy Recreational Complex . Today , the mission of CAX includes supplying Atlantic Fleet ships and providing recreational opportunities to military and civilian personnel . As part of the Navy ’ s Mid - Atlantic installation claimant consolidation , Cheatham Annex , formerly an annex of the Fleet Industrial Supply Center , Norfolk , was incorporated with the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station on October 1 , 1998 . Current status . The facility provides complete retail supply support services for approximately 40 tenant activities between Cheatham Annex , Williamsburg and Naval Weapons Station , Yorktown . Included as part of this support service is custody asset storage for large , bulky and unique Navy material and programs . At the 50th anniversary of the installation , in 1993 , the base employed 128 civilians and housed 627 tenants from other military commands and 307 reservists . Cheatham Annex has also been called the “ Capital of Navy Expeditionary Logistics ” as the U . S . Navy reserve command , Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group . There are eighteen warehouses , providing approximately 2 . 3 million square feet of unheated space and 300 , 000 square feet of controlled humidity space . The command ’ s new headquarters and training building was designated as a 2009 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) Silver certified building . The The 38 , 960 square foot building joins the command element , administrative , operations and training departments under one roof – providing significantly enhanced capabilities for garrison operations . Cheatham Annex is headquarters and home for the Navy ’ s “ Combat Stevedores ” the predominately Reserve cargo handling command with one active duty battalion , and home away from home for 10 Reserve battalions , and four regiments . The Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command ( NEMSCOM ) is a tenant command on Cheatham Annex . Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command is Navy Medicine ' s lead agent for the deployable medical systems . This was originally the Fleet Hospital Support Office , providing medical and surgical support to the needs of all sailors , marines , soldiers and airmen deployed . In 1997 , the Chief of Naval Operations , as part of the Base Realignment Act , moved the FHSO from Naval Air Station , Alameda , CA to Cheatham , VA . In April 1998 , the mammoth relocation process was successfully completed as more than 100 Naval Reserve men and women from Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 5 , home - ported in Tacoma , Washington , offloaded hundreds of containers , civil engineering support equipment , and military vehicles to warehouses at Cheatham Annex . For government usage , the outdoor range at Cheatham Annex ( CAX ) is capable of handling all pistols , shotguns and rifles up to and including 7 . 62 mm . The surface danger zone ( SDZ ) of the outdoor range extends over portions of the York River . Utilization of the range may be affected at times due the transit of boats through the SDZ . An increase of boat traffic occurs mainly during the summer months and through the commercial fishing season . Since October 18 , 2002 , Cheatham Annex purchases its drinking water from the Newport News Waterworks , operated by the City of Newport News . In 2009 , Cheatham Annex was named “ Tree City USA ” community . The Arbor Day Foundation recognized the facility for its community forestry . On base recreation . Morale , welfare and recreation . The Navy Morale Welfare and Recreation ( NMWR ) runs a cabin and recreation facility on Cheatham Annex . Cheatham Annex ( CAX ) outdoors reservation hours are Monday – Friday 0800 - 1600 . The store is open for check in / out , retail , rental gear , and information , 7 days a week 0700 - 1700 . The Cheatham Annex published a brochure that outlined most of the recreational opportunities . Cottages and camping . All Cottages are a two night minimum from Labor Day to Memorial Day . During peak season ( Memorial Day to Labor Day ) there is a set six night stay from Monday to Sunday ( with the exception of 5 BDRM cottages ; which are a two night minimum year round ) . There is also a $ 75 cancellation fee for all cottages . In 2012 , as part of a $ 6 . 5 million expansion , augmented existing facilities with the following expansion A new “ comfort facility ” to support the area with new campsites , RV sites and cottages includes showers , laundry facilities and a lounge . The new 2012 recreational project is expected to get a LEED Silver Certificate . Recreational amenities on CAX include : equipment rental ( boats / canoes / bicycles ) , camping and full RV hookup sites . Recreational opportunities include : boating , camping , fishing , hiking , and golfing . Golf course . Deer Cove Golf Course is an 18 - hole course with a par 65 measuring 4 , 439 yards . The original course was built shortly after the Cheatham Annex Depot was opened during WWII . Golfing " regulars " consider the short course a fun and exciting experience . Postal facilities . There is a US postal mailbox on the base , located at 108 Sanda Ave , with pickup times on Monday through Friday at 10 : 00 am . Running route . There is a 10K unpaved running circuit path on Cheatham Annex which is a loop around the perimeter of the facility and mixed flat and hilly areas . The elevation throughout the route , however , varies by no more than 508 feet . Recreational warnings . For Cheatham Annex , the Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry , from the Centers for Disease Control , recommend the following : York River Firing Range . Starting late 2013 , a triangle shaped area of the York River , off of Cheatham Annex , will be designated as a live fire range . Care should be taken to determine if the range has been declared open . Area recreation . Colonial Williamsburg , Yorktown , Jamestown , Busch Gardens , Water Country USA , ngsmill PGA Golf Course , Kingsmill Resort and Spa , President ' s Park ( closed September 2010 ) , Williamsburg Pottery Factory Ecological footprint . Endangered animals . The globally rare interstitial amphipod , " Stygobromus araeus " , is closely associated with the groundwater in shell marl or limestone deposits . Identified in 1969 by Dr . John R . Holsinger , the 2002 DoD report on Species at Risk on DoD Installation describes this animal as ' A small , unpigmented , blind amphipod . The species is sexually dimorphic , with males ranging up to 0 . 70 cm in length , and females to 0 . 55 cm . ' This extremely rare species is only found on the coast of southeastern Virginia . Environmental sites . There are several sites designated on the Cheatham Annex grounds that illustrate the legacy and usage of the site over the years . The overhead view of the facility shows the sites either clustered around naval storage areas or abandoned manufacturing sites . Active sites . The following are considered sites requiring active environmental actions . Recent news . The senior enlisted chief at Cheatham Annex , Command Master Chief Richard Ward , was relieved by the Expeditionary Support Group Command in February , 2012 . CMC Ward committed fraternization , willfully disobeyed a commissioned officer , misused a government cell phone , and made a false official statement . The command master chief of Navy Cargo Handling Battalion ( NCHB ) 4 was relieved of duty March 14 , 2012 by the commodore of 2nd Navy Expeditionary Logistics Regiment ( NELR ) , at Cheatham Annex , VA . Capt . Charles Rink relieved Master Chief Logistics Specialist Scott Splitgerber , U . S . Navy Reserve , due to misconduct he committed while assigned as the command master chief of NCHB 4 . Marines and sailors of 2nd Marine Logistics Group participated in a large - scale training operation designed to prepare the nation ’ s amphibious - logistics warfighters for an actual humanitarian aid and disaster relief operation , spanning the East Coast from Camp Lejeune , NC to Norfolk , Va . , June 11 – 16 , 2012 . Elements of the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group based at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown - Cheatham Annex , Williamsburg , Va . , teamed with 2nd MLG ’ s Combat Logistics Regiment 27 , Combat Logistics Battalion 8 , and CLB - 6 to provide support for the Expeditionary Logistics Wargame . A new Navy Ordnance Cargo Logistics Training Complex was completed in September 2013 . The training facility consists of two buildings , with a 600 - square - foot chemical test chamber and a new mock pier , warehouse and cargo hold for training with luffing cranes