Information Panel: A World War I Shipyard Transforms Jones Point

Info panel: A Shipyard Transforms Jones Point

NPS / Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

During World War I (1914-1918), the U.S. government targeted Jones Point as the site for a private shipyard, one of 111 built to aid the war effort. The Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation yard, constructed just before the war's end, was designed to build standardized steel cargo ships. The shipyard included two craneways servicing four shipways - Shipway #1 is before you - a 215' x 450' fabricating shop with upper mold loft, blacksmith shop, boiler shop, an extensive network of rail lines, an 850'-long fitting-out dock, an administration building, and a nearby commissary and restaurant with seating capacity for 2,500.