History
Rip Raps was originally built in 1817 as part of the harbor defenses to provide a setting on the south side of the navigation channel for Fort Wool (originally named Fort Calhoun), the companion to Fort Monroe (on the northern side of the channel) in protecting access to Hampton Roads and the inland rivers which are tributaries. Fort Wool was decommissioned after World War II.
President Andrew Jackson used it as a retreat, visiting between August 19, 1829 through August 16, 1835.
Rip Raps is located adjacent to one of the unnamed man-made islands of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which was initially completed and opened to traffic in 1957. However, Rip Raps and Fort Wool are accessible to the public only by water via harbor tours.
Note: The availability of public tours of both Fort Wool and Fort Monroe are subject to Homeland Security Alert conditions.
Read more about this topic: Rip Raps
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“The history of reform is always identical; it is the comparison of the idea with the fact. Our modes of living are not agreeable to our imagination. We suspect they are unworthy. We arraign our daily employments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)