Fort Story and Cape Henry

On April 26, 1607, the English colonists anchored at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay and came ashore to the historic piece of land they named Cape Henry. Then, in 1917, a military post was established and fortified to protect the southern portion of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay during World War I; it was named Fort Story. Expanded and heavily fortified to meet the demands of the Second World War, the post served as a principal installation for the Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay. The big guns fell silent after that conflict, and the post became the Home of Army Amphibians with over-the-beach operations. Today Fort Story continues to provide a superb training installation for the Army Transportation Corps and Special Operations.

Photographs in Fort Story and Cape Henry come largely from the author's own collection in addition to the Old Coast Guard Station and the Public Affairs Office at Fort Story. Fielding Lewis Tyler is a native of Virginia Beach and is currently the executive director of the Old Coast Guard Station. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and retired from the United States Army as an Infantry officer. In addition to three combat tours in Vietnam, he has served in a wide variety of duty stations.