The Cape Henry Memorial commemorates the first landfall at

Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...

, in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

, of colonists bound for the

Jamestown settlement Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614 ...

. After landing on April 26, 1607, they explored the area, named the cape, and set up a cross before proceeding up the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

. A stone cross, set up in 1935 by the Daughters of the American Colonists, stands in the quarter-acre site. The memorial marks the First Landing, the very beginning of what would become British North America and subsequently Anglo Canada and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The Memorial also overlooks the scene of the

Battle of the Virginia Capes The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 17 ...

, in which the French navy prevented the British from reinforcing General Cornwallis, and led to the Franco-American victory at Yorktown. A statue of Admiral Comte de Grasse and a granite memorial honor those who fought in the battle. Although not memorialized at the park, this was also the location of the earlier smaller naval

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral ...

in which British and French naval squadrons fought in 1781. The Cape Henry Memorial is within

Joint Expeditionary Base East Joint Expeditionary Base-Fort Story, commonly called simply Fort Story is a sub-installation of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, which is operated by the United States Navy. Located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Vir ...

, but is an isolated unit of

Colonial National Historical Park Colonial National Historical Park is located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is operated by the National Park Service of the United States government. The park protects and interprets several sites relating to the Colony of Virginia ...

. A

national park passport stamp Passport to Your National Parks is a program through which ink stamps can be acquired at no cost at park visitor centers and ranger stations at nearly List of areas in the United States National Park System, all of the units of the United States ...

for the Memorial can be obtained at the adjacent Old Cape Henry Light (not formally part of the Memorial).

External links

* Official NPS website
Cape Henry Memorial

{{authority control American Revolutionary War monuments and memorials American Revolutionary War sites History of the Thirteen Colonies History of Virginia Beach, Virginia Protected areas established in 1935 Monuments and memorials in Virginia National Park Service areas in Virginia Buildings and structures in Virginia Beach, Virginia Tourist attractions in Virginia Beach, Virginia 1935 sculptures Stone sculptures in Virginia Colonial National Historical Park Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia