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Fort Boykin, Smithfield, VA

Photo: Nat Webb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sightseeing

Fort Boykin

Earthen fort ruins on the James River, begun after a 1622 attack, now an 18-acre public park with self-guided exploring.

7410 Fort Boykin Trail, Smithfield, VA · Smithfield, VA

About Fort Boykin

Colonists built this triangular earthen fort after a deadly 1622 assault on Virginia settlements, as a lookout against future raids. Its steep banks and deep ditches above the James River earned it an early nickname. The fort was strengthened again during the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, and most surviving remains date from that last conflict. Today the site is an 18-acre park where visitors can walk through the fort on a self-guided tour, enjoy its natural habitat, and reach the beach.

  • #historic fort
  • #civil war
  • #colonial history
  • #james river
  • #self-guided

What's around here?

The closest stops to Fort Boykin, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

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    Isle of Wight County Museum

    Under $25

    Smithfield, Virginia museum covering county history, from colonial times through the Cold War, with a famous preserved ham.

    3.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing

    Fort Huger

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    A Civil War earthwork fort on a bluff above the James River, now a restored historic park in Isle of Wight County.

    5.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions

    Virginia Living Museum

    $25–$50

    An open-air museum in Newport News showing living animals and plants native to Virginia, with aquarium, science, aviary, and planetarium elements.

    7.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Museums
    History Buff

    The Mariners' Museum and Park

    Under $25

    See the recovered turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, then walk the five-mile Noland Trail around Mariners' Lake.

    7.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing

    Yorktown National Cemetery

    Check prices

    Burial ground on the Yorktown Battlefield, selected in 1866, holding mostly Union soldiers.

    15 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Historic Jamestowne

    $25–$50

    Walk the site of the 1607 James Fort, see the 17th-century church tower and watch archaeologists at work.

    15 mi awayMore like this

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