The Superintendent’s House

The Superintendent's House can be found along the Dismal Swamp canal. The original structure, and the land it's on, were owned by the Dismal Swamp Canal Company. The house itself is interesting in that it represents an early example of prefabricated housing. The building would have constructed by the company designing the house, then dismantled with each section and piece labeled with Roman numerals so it could easily be reconstructed at its destination. Then the materials, and instructions, would have been shipped and ultimately delivered by one of the barges that trafficked goods and materials along the canal. Any other materials needed - like the cedar shingles - would have been created using local resources, of which there were plenty.

The canal also has a history of being one of the resources used by the Underground Railroad. Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, in her book "Virginia Waterways and the Underground Railroad," writes, "Slaves in Virginia in the 1850s secured transit on small trading boats coming from Portsmouth and Norfolk, either secretly or with the consent of captains. While the majority of fugitives departing aboard ships come from the cities and counties of Hampton Roads, some did not. The area around Norfolk County (the Dismal Swamp), linked regions as far away as Florida and as close as eastern North Carolina through a continuous line of swamps offering a refuge for those seeking liberty and freedom. With an average of 1,000 to 1,500 ships sailing annually into Hampton Roads harbors throughout the 1850s, it was difficult to monitor activities."

The irony of this is that much of the digging and work done to make the canal a viable waterway for traffic was done by slaves, who later would find it a route to freedom.

Traffic on the canal would have diminished when the railroads became a major means of transportation.

And it seems that at one time it served as a tea room.