Lee Hall is a community located in the extreme northern portion of the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Newport News in the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the

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History

Lee Hall, located in the former Warwick County, was named for nearby Lee Hall Mansion which was built in 1859 as the home of Richard Decatur Lee, a prominent local farmer who was not directly related to the famous Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. The mansion was used as headquarters for Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston and John B. Magruder during the

Peninsula Campaign The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The oper ...

of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in 1862. Nearby is Endview Plantation, a 238-year-old house. Endview was used as a hospital during the Civil War and as a campground during the Revolutionary War, the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and the Civil War. Lee Hall Depot was a

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

on the Peninsula Extension of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

(C&O), which was built through the area of Warwick County in 1881 to reach the new

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

export facilities at Newport News on the port of

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is 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 Point near whe ...

. On October 19, 1881, the first passenger train from Newport News took local residents and national officials to the Cornwallis Surrender Centennial Celebration at Yorktown on temporary tracks which were laid from Lee Hall Depot. The Boxwood Inn was built in 1897. Lee Hall Depot became a very busy railroad station after the establishment nearby of Fort Eustis (originally named Camp Abraham Eustis) in 1918, with freight and heavy troop movements. the busy activity resumed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was expanded to accommodate this role. East of Lee Hall, a rail spur leads to the base, where the Fort Eustis Military Railroad operated. With the coming of the automobile as a common form of travel in the early 20th century, attention was directed to improving roads. As part of the Good Roads Movement, the new road which became U.S. Route 60 was routed from Williamsburg through Grove, bridging Skiffe's Creek as it entered Warwick County to reach Lee Hall. This routing was chosen rather than following a competing route via Halstead's Point in York County (now on the base of the US

Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It provided a weapons and ammunition storage and loading facility for ships of the Unit ...

just northeast of the gate on VA-143). Earlier, the east–west road which became U.S. 60 was State Route 9. SR 9 was renumbered as State Route 39 in 1923, and became U.S. 60 in the mid-1920s when it was routed through Grove. A large ceremony hosted by Warwick County treasurer and civic leader Simon Curtis was held at the Lee Hall Depot in 1924 to celebrate the completion of first hard-surfaced roadway (concrete) between Newport News and Williamsburg. Two-laned U.S. 60 continues to form the main thoroughfare through the largely residential and neighborhood business section of Grove and Lee Hall, paralleling four-laned State Route 143 and

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

. The village portion of Lee Hall is connected to I-64 via State Route 238 (Yorktown Road). Although Warwick County became a city in 1952 and then was consolidated with Newport News in 1958, in the half century since, the Lee Hall area has retained a rural atmosphere, partially due to the proximity of the expansive Newport News Park and Newport News Reservoir along the former Warwick River and nearby Skiffe's Creek. The 26th Balloon Company of the US Army Air Corps had a training school at Lee Hall at least during the summer of 1920 training soldiers for deployment to central and South America service.1920 United States census

Lee Hall preservation

In the 21st century, Lee Hall Depot (no longer in use) is the only surviving C&O structure of its type on the Lower Peninsula. It is the only survivor among five stations which were located in Warwick County, the others formerly located at Oriana, Oyster Point,

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

, and Newport News. The historic 2-story depot was relocated 165 feet to the north of the busy

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

railroad tracks in 2009, and reopened as a museum in 2021. The adjacent historic area as has been restored and developed as Lee Hall Village. Across the street from the Depot, the Boxwood Inn, a

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

establishment in an 1896 house, is open and available for overnight visitors and some meals. The city's tourism agency operates several other attractions at Lee Hall Mansion and Endview Plantation, as well as nearby civil war historical sites.

Transportation

The Lee Hall community is served by exit 247 of

. About 1 block from the historic railroad station, U.S. Route 60 and State Route 238 intersect. Lee Hall is served by both Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) and Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA). *HRT operates Route 108 and Route 116 between Patrick Henry Mall and Warwick Blvd (

US 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

) @ Elmhurst St about every 60 minute

*WATA operates the Grey Line into Lee Hall hourly, with 30 minute service during peak weekday hours

File:Lee Hall.jpg, Lee Hall Mansion. File:Lee Hall Mansion.jpg, Lee Hall Mansion. File:Lee Hall Station, Newport News, VA.JPG, C&O Depot at Lee Hall, VA.

References

External links

Lee Hall DepotLee Hall MansionEndview PlantationNewport News TourismBoxwood Inn Bed and BreakfastHampton Roads TransitWilliamsburg Area Transport
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Virginia Lee Hall Populated places on the James River (Virginia) 1881 establishments in Virginia

History

Lee Hall preservation

Transportation

See also

References

External links