SH Archive 1822: The First Hygeia Hotel at Point Comfort next to Fort Monroe

[KD Archive]

There were several different hotels built in the same area throughout years. I think the first hotel is the most interesting one. There is barely any information on it that I could find. As the story goes, the first Hygeia Hotel was built in 1822, originally to provide housing for the workers constructing Fort Monroe, or to create more space for defenses. The hotel was visited by many famous American notables, including Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, and Edgar Allen Poe.

• Built: 1822
• Demolished: 1862

​

The first fort on Point Comfort was constructed by the settlers of Jamestown in 1609, but the fortification displayed in this 1861 print was completed in 1834 and named in honor of President James Monroe.

• I do not know when they started building this version of Fort Monroe. The date of completion (1834) was easy to find.​

After the first Hygeia hotel was demolished in 1863, there was a whole bunch of various hotels constructed. You can read about those here.

Today this very same area looks like this.

​

Today we have a retirement community in the area. It was formerly known as the Chamberlin Hotel . It is located at a slightly different spot though:

• The Chamberlin - Wikipedia​

​

Links and Sources:

• Fort Monroe - Wikipedia​
• Hotels at Point Comfort/Fort Monroe​
• Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort and Hygeia Hotel, Va​

Goddess Hygieia​

There is no escape from them ancient Roman and Greek Gods. This time we have a hotel named after this Hygieia Goddess. This Goddess's profile suggests that this hotel could have been more of a health resort.

​

In Greek as well as Roman mythology, Hygieia was one of the Asclepiadae; the sons and daughters of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and his wife Epione. Hygieia was the goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene.

• Hygieia was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health. ​
• Her name is the source of the word "hygiene". ​

The below ad pertains to one of the next iterations of this hotel, but the contents are somewhat telling.

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KD: I think we are witnessing some sort of a complex (including the fortress and other structures), on the 1861 image. There is a factory looking building, a possible "church" which could have been just about anything, and a bunch of other structures.

​

IMHO, them cannons on the fortress walls do not really belong there. It does not look like architects had cannons in mind when they designed the fortress.

​

Anyways, if you run into any info on the very first Hygeia hotel, please share your finds. I think there could be some fun details in there.

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[Timeshifter]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: Timeshifter
Date: 2020-07-07 07:15:28
Reaction Score: 1

Survived only 40 years, such a magnificent build? Another Greko Roman beauty bites the dust!

The area certainly looks like a self sufficient complex, waterways, power plants/ factories?

I wonder what secrets this book may hold

Interesting character who owned it briefly too Harrison Phoebus - Wikipedia

Interestingly no wiki entry for the hotel however...

 

[Archive]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: RTP now
Date: 2020-07-07 11:15:16
Reaction Score: 0

There were several different hotels built in the same area throughout years. I think the first hotel is the most interesting one. There is barely any information on it that I could find. As the story goes, the first Hygeia Hotel was built in 1822, originally to provide housing for the workers constructing Fort Monroe, or to create more space for defenses. The hotel was visited by many famous American notables, including Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, and Edgar Allen Poe.

• Built: 1822
• Demolished: 1862

View attachment 48980

The first fort on Point Comfort was constructed by the settlers of Jamestown in 1609, but the fortification displayed in this 1861 print was completed in 1834 and named in honor of President James Monroe.

• I do not know when they started building this version of Fort Monroe. The date of completion (1834) was easy to find.

After the first Hygeia hotel was demolished in 1863, there was a whole bunch of various hotels constructed. You can read about those here.

Today this very same area looks like this.

View attachment 48981

Today we have a retirement community in the area. It was formerly known as the Chamberlin Hotel . It is located at a slightly different spot though:

• The Chamberlin - Wikipedia

View attachment 48985

Links and Sources:

• Fort Monroe - Wikipedia
• Hotels at Point Comfort/Fort Monroe
• Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort and Hygeia Hotel, Va

Goddess Hygieia

There is no escape from them ancient Roman and Greek Gods. This time we have a hotel named after this Hygieia Goddess. This Goddess's profile suggests that this hotel could have been more of a health resort.

View attachment 48982

In Greek as well as Roman mythology, Hygieia was one of the Asclepiadae; the sons and daughters of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and his wife Epione. Hygieia was the goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene.

• Hygieia was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health.
• Her name is the source of the word "hygiene".

The below ad pertains to one of the next iterations of this hotel, but the contents are somewhat telling.

View attachment 48984

---

KD: I think we are witnessing some sort of a complex (including the fortress and other structures), on the 1861 image. There is a factory looking building, a possible "church" which could have been just about anything, and a bunch of other structures.

View attachment 48986

IMHO, them cannons on the fortress walls do not really belong there. It does not look like architects had cannons in mind when they designed the fortress.

View attachment 48987

Anyways, if you run into any info on the very first Hygeia hotel, please share your finds. I think there could be some fun details in there.

Why a 1000 room resort in 1861? I’m always blown away by the size and scale of the buildings/communities given the population numbers at the time. This is what has always puzzled me.

Survived only 40 years, such a magnificent build? Another Greko Roman beauty bites the dust!

The area certainly looks like a self sufficient complex, waterways, power plants/ factories?

I wonder what secrets this book may hold

Interesting chatacter who owned it briefly too Harrison Phoebus - Wikipedia

Interestingly no wiki entry for the hotel however...

The Amazon book link appears to be broken.

There is no escape from them ancient Roman and Greek Gods. This time we have a hotel named after this Hygieia Goddess. This Goddess's profile suggests that this hotel could have been more of a health resort.

There’s no escaping them because they were and are the foundation of this current culture. We’ve been told that this country is modeled on the “Greco/Roman” traditions which is total mythology for there is no such thing... IMHO. I think one reason there’s no easily “available” info on the first “hotel” is that it would further expose the lie that is the given narrative. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know or suspect, I’m just repeating.

This entire Jamestown/Hampton/Point Comfort área is of course important because it is the supposed starting point of the “slavery” narrative. Given the supposed condition of Jamestown as a “plantation” of “slaves” picking cotton and tobacco, no way can we have evidence of a much more advanced society.

 

[Timeshifter]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: Timeshifter
Date: 2020-07-07 13:38:10
Reaction Score: 0

Why a 1000 room resort in 1861? I’m always blown away by the size and scale of the buildings/communities given the population numbers at the time. This is what has always puzzled me.

The Amazon book link appears to be broken.

There’s no escaping them because they were and are the foundation of this current culture. We’ve been told that this country is modeled on the “Greco/Roman” traditions which is total mythology for there is no such thing... IMHO. I think one reason there’s no easily “available” info on the first “hotel” is that it would further expose the lie that is the given narrative. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know or suspect, I’m just repeating.

This entire Jamestown/Hampton/Point Comfort área is of course important because it is the supposed starting point of the “slavery” narrative. Given the supposed condition of Jamestown as a “plantation” of “slaves” picking cotton and tobacco, no way can we have evidence of a much more advanced society.

Strange, the link works for me, on chrome.

 

[igneous]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: igneous
Date: 2020-07-16 16:49:23
Reaction Score: 1

I am on my lunch hour so I am not able to read them currently, but I found two pdfs - one is a thesis on the Hotels of Point Comfort (starting with first Hygeia) and the other is a scan of a book "The History of Old Point Comfort and Fort Monroe" - I will attach both links here.

History of Old Point Comfort & Fort Monroe

Thesis - Hotels of Point Comfort

In a few hours I will be back!