See the Remains of the USS Monitor-- Part 4: About the Museum

Her resting place is now at the  Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia.  This is located only a few miles from where the Monitor fought the CSS Virginia  in that legendary battle (The Battle of Hampton Roads).  The relics of the ship make up the heart of the museum's USS Monitor Center. The exhibit is dedicated to the USS Monitor and the strategies, people, technology and science behind its tale.

VISITING THE MARINER'S MUSEUM

The museum is open every day during normal business hours and admission is a token $1.  For another $6, visitors can upgrade their admission tickets to include a 3D documentary movie at the Explorers' Theater.  The documentaries that they show are not necessarily about the Monitor, but often about the batural world.

OPEN:   Daily

MUSEUM HOURS:   9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESS:  The Mariners' Museum and  Park, 100  Museum Dr., Newport News, Virginia.

PHONE:  (757) 596-2222.

--Old B-Monitor

Big Stage, Big Risk With Fort Fisher Hermit-- Part 2

The play is written by David Anthony Wright "The Hermit of Fort Fisher" explores his story.

Robert Harrill, at the age of 62 in 1955, estranged from his wife and children, moved from Shelby into an old concrete ammunition bunker south of Kure Beach in Fort Fisher.  He continued to live there for years with no amenities and subsisting on what food he could catch, gather or was given.

His mysterious death in 1972 is still believed by many to be an unsolved murder.

The bunker he lived in was left over from World War II when Fort Fisher was once again used by the military, this time for anti-aircraft training.  The bunker can still be seen at the Fort Fisher Aquarium.

--Old Hermit-Runner

Big Stage, Big Risk With the Fort Fisher Hermit-- Part 1

From the July 23, 2015, Wilmington (NC) Star-News by John Staton.

Backers and producers of "The Hermit of Fort Fisher" stage play are taking a huge risk turning it into an outdoor production which is playing from Wednesday to August 2nd at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater.  It has already run inside at Southport and Wilmington and sold well enough to take the risk of the move outside.

Of course, this is about a local character-turned legend named Robert Harrill, the famed "Hermit of Fort Fisher."

His story has inspired books, documentaries and many magazine and newspaper articles.

And the Civil War Navy connection is that he spent his "hermit" years living in an abandoned World War II bunker at Fort Fisher.

--Old B-Runner