Blackbeard's Point is an area of land on the north side of the mouth of the

Hampton River The Hampton River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tidal estuary which empties into Hampton Roads near its mouth. Hampton Roads in turn empties into th ...

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

harbor in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It received its name in the early 18th century, when the pirate Blackbeard was menacing shipping on the American coast. When approached by North Carolina merchants seeking help in breaking up piracy along the Outer Banks, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood sent the Royal Navy, under the command of Lieutenant Robert Maynard, to capture Blackbeard. After the pirate was killed in a battle off the coast of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

on November 22, 1718, Lieutenant Maynard had his head removed and hung from the bowsprit of his sloop. On arrival in Virginia, the lieutenant governor had Blackbeard's head hung from a pole at the mouth of the Hampton River as a warning to others who might be tempted by piracy. The head remained for many years and the site continues to be known as Blackbeard's Point today.

References

*{{cite web , title= George Humphrey Yetter, When Blackbeard Scourged the Seas, Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn 1992), pp. 22-28. , url=http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/blackbea.cfm Hampton, Virginia