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Officers Quarters/Shell House
Click on link to visit that area of the fort.
This 1810 building was described in 1824 as "a substantial two story bulding for officers quarters, containing four ground and four upper rooms with cellars and outhouse." The Navy had the structure renovated for ordnance purposes in the mid 1800s, using it to fill cannon shells with powder and to store empty shells. The filled shells were stored in the vauted room in its northern end. The original windows and doorway locations can still be seen. A second-floor room still contains graffiti inscribed by Confederate blockade runners kept there during the Civil War. It is believed to be the oldest existing graffiti in the country.
The Norfolk Historical Society completed restoration and renovation of the Officers Quarters in 2000, thanks to the support of the society's membership and major grants from Norfolk Southern Corporation and the Beazley Foundation.
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