Fort Norfolk
Main Gate of Fort Norfolk, ca. 1810
Norfolk, Virginia
On March 20, 1794 Congress authorized then President George Washington to build fortifications to protect the major sea ports along the coast of the United States. French born John Jacob Ulrich Rivardi was appointed by Henry Knox, then Secretary of War under President Washington, to build forts to protect both Nofolk, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. Rivardi was instructed to place the highest priority on Norfolk as the threat from foreign attack was greater there. This threat came from the first war between the new French Republic and Great Britain. Rivardi arrived in late April, 1794 and proceeded directly to work.
Prior to this time Fort Norfolk had existed as a earthen work fort and did serve poorly in the Revolutionary war. Rivardi decided to construct the fort where the previous fort stood on the eastern shore of the Elizabeth River. Fort Nelson was rebuilt from it's Revolutionary War configuration to conform to the Second System of Fortifications directly south of Fort Norfolk on the western shore of the Elizabeth River. The land for Fort Norfolk was purchased from Edward and Sarah Poole for two hundred pounds sterling in 1795 after the work had begun.
In 1802, Secretary of War Henry Dearborn ordered the dismounting ( removal of the armanent ) of Fort Norfolk leaving Fort Nelson as the only defense for both Norfolk and Portsmouth. Fort Nelson was maintained and manned by the federal government until it's destruction in the 1850s by the Navy to make way for a hospital.
Fort Norfolk during the War of 1812
Fort Norfolk in 1853