Rip Raps

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Rip Raps is a small 15 acre (60,000 m²) artificial island at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. It was originally built in 1817 as part of the harbor defenses for to provide a setting for Fort Wool (originally named Fort Calhoun), the companion to Fort Monroe in protecting Hampton Roads.

Rip Raps is located adjacent to one of the unnamed man-made islands of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. However, Rip Raps and Fort Wool are accessible to the public only by water via harbor tours.

Note: The availability of public tours of both Fort Wool and Fort Monroe are subject to Homeland Security Alert conditions.

The Rip Rap shoals in Hampton Roads were likely the source of the name of the Rip Raps, a notorious Baltimore gang during the Know-Nothing movement. The Baltimore Rips Raps included several sailors familiar with the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. They were affiliated with the American Party and specifically the Plug Uglies, another American gang. The Rip Raps fought several street battles with their sharpest rivals--the Democratic rowdies associated with the New Market Fire Company. At the October 1856 municipal election, the Rip Raps attacked the New Market engine house, leading to two deaths and the wounding of several prominent fighting men. The battle was one of a series of confrontations in the Know-Nothing Riot of 1856 that day and at the ensuing presidential election. The confrontations left seventeen dead. Prominent Rip Raps included Gregory Barrett Jr., William "Kitty" Chambers, Elijah "Boney" Lee, and Marion "Mal" Cropp.