Last updated: August 6, 2024
Place
Building #1, Quarters No.1
NPS Photo / Emily Crawford
Quick Facts
Location:
Fort Monroe Virginia
Significance:
Part of Fort Monroe National Monument
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Amenities
2 listed
Cellular Signal, Wheelchair Accessible
Located at the entrance of the East Gate, Quarters No. 1 is the oldest building constructed at Fort Monroe. Built in 1819, this “large three-story, central block, double pile residence with flanking, two-story winged residence,” predates the fort itself. Prevalent of Quarters No. 1 is the federal-style architecture – symmetrical sides and exterior columns – but within the structure, the home is presented with southern grandeur. The entrance hall is 10-foot by 20-foot with a grand spiral staircase that leads up to the second floor. Painted on the entrance ceiling is a blue oval pinned with 27 gold stars. Off either ends of the main entrance are two symmetrical multi-purposed rooms.
Originally Quarters No. 1 housed the chief engineer of Fort Monroe, Charles Gratiot until 1831 when the Quartermaster General divided the space into a multiple dwelling residence. However, Quarters No. 1 was reserved for the highest-ranking officer on post or the commander of Fort Monroe and served as the fort headquarters.
In 1861, Quarters No. 1 Major General Benjamin Butler was assigned to the Department of Virginia by President Abraham Lincoln. Butler arriving at Fort Monroe on May 22. The next day the Commonwealth of Virginia ratified their vote to secede from the United States. That night three enslaved men, known today as Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, bravely fled from their labors constructing gun positions for the Confederate forces at Sewell’s Point across the waters of Hampton Roads and sought freedom at Fort Monroe. On the 24th Butler interviewed Baker, Mallory, and Townsend in his office here located to the left of the front door on the second floor. Hearing their testimony and request for freedom Butler made a landmark decision. Instead of returning them to enslavement he exploited the facts of their forced labor to support the ongoing rebellion to consider and declare Baker, Mallory, and Townsend “Contraband of War” granting these men a protection and a sense of freedom. As a result of Butler’s actions, Congress passed the Confiscation Act in August 1861 legalizing Butler’s policy. Further, Butler’s decision allowed untold thousands of enslaved Africans to shed their chains of bondage and grasp their freedom; not only here in Hampton Roads, but everywhere the Union forces were found.
Other notable figures who visited or lived in Quarters No. 1 include Marquis de Lafayette who visited Fort Monroe on October 24-25, 1824, touring the nation he helped form; George B. McClellan as he began his Peninsula Campaign in 1862; John Wool who took over command of Fort Monroe in 1862; Abraham Lincoln who visited the post May 6-11, 1862, and helped plan attacks on Norfolk; Ulysses S. Grant who met with Butler in April 1864 at Fort Monroe to plan his Overland Campaign and Butler’s role in the larger military movement and Nelson Miles who supervised the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis; King Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawai'i on his world tour in 1881.
The building is currently closed to the public as it undergoes exterior stabilization with the intention of supporting public access in the future.
Originally Quarters No. 1 housed the chief engineer of Fort Monroe, Charles Gratiot until 1831 when the Quartermaster General divided the space into a multiple dwelling residence. However, Quarters No. 1 was reserved for the highest-ranking officer on post or the commander of Fort Monroe and served as the fort headquarters.
In 1861, Quarters No. 1 Major General Benjamin Butler was assigned to the Department of Virginia by President Abraham Lincoln. Butler arriving at Fort Monroe on May 22. The next day the Commonwealth of Virginia ratified their vote to secede from the United States. That night three enslaved men, known today as Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, bravely fled from their labors constructing gun positions for the Confederate forces at Sewell’s Point across the waters of Hampton Roads and sought freedom at Fort Monroe. On the 24th Butler interviewed Baker, Mallory, and Townsend in his office here located to the left of the front door on the second floor. Hearing their testimony and request for freedom Butler made a landmark decision. Instead of returning them to enslavement he exploited the facts of their forced labor to support the ongoing rebellion to consider and declare Baker, Mallory, and Townsend “Contraband of War” granting these men a protection and a sense of freedom. As a result of Butler’s actions, Congress passed the Confiscation Act in August 1861 legalizing Butler’s policy. Further, Butler’s decision allowed untold thousands of enslaved Africans to shed their chains of bondage and grasp their freedom; not only here in Hampton Roads, but everywhere the Union forces were found.
Other notable figures who visited or lived in Quarters No. 1 include Marquis de Lafayette who visited Fort Monroe on October 24-25, 1824, touring the nation he helped form; George B. McClellan as he began his Peninsula Campaign in 1862; John Wool who took over command of Fort Monroe in 1862; Abraham Lincoln who visited the post May 6-11, 1862, and helped plan attacks on Norfolk; Ulysses S. Grant who met with Butler in April 1864 at Fort Monroe to plan his Overland Campaign and Butler’s role in the larger military movement and Nelson Miles who supervised the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis; King Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawai'i on his world tour in 1881.
The building is currently closed to the public as it undergoes exterior stabilization with the intention of supporting public access in the future.