What's in a Name? | Mercury Boulevard

When many think of America's forays into space, they often think of Kennedy Space Center in Florida or that trouble-shooter of a spot in Texas (Houston, we have a problem).

But Hampton has a firm and storied place in the history of the United States' desire to explore the universe. Mercury Boulevard, which runs through Hampton and Newport News, is named after Project Mercury, the first man-in-space program.

According to Daily Press articles, the government built what was originally called Military Highway in 1942 to connect the James River Bridge with Fort Monroe and the Chesapeake Ferry Co. docks at Old Point Comfort.

NASA initiated Project Mercury in 1958, and later introduced the world to America's first astronauts - Scott Carpenter, Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Alan B. Shepard Jr., Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr. and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.

Soon after, the group began training at Langley Research Center in Hampton as members of the Langley Space Task Group. Most set up house on the Peninsula, but Shepard preferred Virginia Beach and Glenn kept his main residence in Northern Virginia.

Then, on May 5, 1961, Shepard boarded Mercury capsule "Freedom 7" in Florida and was jettisoned from the Earth into a 15-minute, 28-second suborbital flight that made him the first American in space. The Mercury Project would include six manned flights before it ended in 1963. In 1962, however, the astronauts were moved to Houston, and in Hampton, Military Highway was renamed to honor them. City officials also saw it as a promotional boost for the city.

Denise Watson Batts, (757) 446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com