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1902. "Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia." Home to the gaudily attired News Depot. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
For a second there, I thought that was a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant! Colonel Sanders would've only been about 12 years old in 1902, so he was probably a little too young anyway!
When Hubby and I were living in Virginia Beach, I would make the drive to the Commissary at Fort Monroe, because it was MUCH less crowded and had a good selection of merchandise. The area didn't look like this any more, but the basic design of the Fort was still the same. It was an interesting place to drive around.
The News Depot may not have been there yet, but during the Civil War Fort Monroe generated a lot of news. Lincoln spent four days there in 1861 working toward implementing the "Anaconda Plan" to blockade the Southern coastline. It was where Benjamin Butler came up with the "Fort Monroe Doctrine" that provided a legal rationale for escaped slaves to join the Union effort. In 1862, the Monitor and Merrimack fought their battle within sight of the Fort. In February 1865, Lincoln met with high Confederate officials but wouldn't trade compromises for peace. Four months later, Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at the Fort.
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