Historic Quadrangle: Scott Butler

Jamestown Island and the Yorktown battlefield have history and beautiful outdoor scenery, and Williamsburg has a Disney-like recreation of Colonial Williamsburg plus shops and restaurants. Fort Monroe as a well-managed civilian entity would have the scenery -- seawall walks, natural-dune beaches, live oaks, lovely views of the historic shipping channel and the Bay -- plus shops and restaurants plus actual historic buildings like the lighthouse and the moated fortress, both of which date back to the early 19th century. As the head of the Virginia Tourism Corporation has said, Fort Monroe could become the crown jewel of Virginia tourism -- and therefore of tourism in Hampton Roads, especially if it has a strong national park presence to make it not only a regional but a national and an international destination. Historically speaking, it not only adds to the stories told at the other sites in the Historic Triangle, it goes beyond them in its connection to the Civil War. But even more importantly, it embraces all of our history in its narrative of American slavery, from the very beginning in the early 17th century with the arrival at Old Point Comfort of a ship carrying African captives to the beginning of the end in 1861, with the arrival of three men who had escaped bondage and who became known as the first of many "contrabands." Amazing history, amazing economic opportunity.