The use of the Fort Monroe site as a coastal defence position dates back to 1609, when Captain John Smith and the inhabitants of the Jamestown Settlement built Fort Algernourne. Successive hurricanes and battles later, the construction of the largest stone fort ever built in the USA began on top of the original structure. Robert E. Lee was once stationed there, the Confederate President Jefferson Davis was held there and it was offered as a safe-house for escaping slaves by the Union during the Civil War. Today it is the largest naval station in the world, and is used largely for the training of soldiers in preparation for war. Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Chief Black Hawk are some members of the exclusive club of famous names whose ghosts are said to have been seen in the areas of the Fort that they were associated with when alive. The story of Jefferson Davis is perhaps the most famous and widely investigated. It is said that when David was held as a prisoner at Fort Monroe, he was beaten and shackled to the wall of a small, damp stone cell and fed barely enough to keep him from death. His spirit is apparently seen on a regular basis, being cradled by that of his wife, who managed to visit him once just before his death. The unfaithful wife of an army captain, a laughing child and a spirit who hates roses and unfailingly destroys them are also said to manifest themselves in the building.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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