1955 Map of Hampton

About this map

Langley Air Force Base and the historic Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort anchor this coastal landscape, illustrating the heavy military and maritime influence on the Virginia Peninsula in the mid-1950s. The map captures the dense urban core of Hampton and the adjacent community of Phoebus, connected by the Chesapeake and Ohio RR and a complex street grid featuring Kecoughtan Road and Armistead Ave. Local landmarks like the Hampton Institute and the National Cemetery stand near the Hampton River, while the shoreline is dotted with leisure destinations like Buckroe Beach. To the north, the terrain transitions into the tidal marshes of Plumtree Island and the Plum Tree Island Bombing Range, where numerous small guts and creeks like Bells Oyster Gut and Back River define the marshy interface with the Chesapeake Bay.