SIA’s 54th Annual Conference Norfolk, Virginia, May 28-31, 2026

Download the Call for Papers (PDF Download)

The Society for Industrial Archeology’s 54th Annual Conference will be held in Norfolk, Va., May 28 through 31, 2026.
Located at the mouth of the James River near where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic, the Hampton Roads area offers a uniquely continuous and comprehensive narrative of American maritime industrial development. From the founding of the Gosport Yard in 1767 (now the Norfolk Naval Shipyard) to today’s fully automated container terminals, the region remains a major transshipment center from the Lambert’s Point coal piers and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in Newport News.

The region’s industrial landscape showcases every major phase of maritime technology and parallel advancements in civil engineering. The SIA Norfolk conference plans to explore a wide range of sites. The tour of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard will include Dry Dock No. 1, the oldest continuously used dry dock in the United States. The Mariner’s Museum interprets the turret of the Monitor from the Battle of the Ironclads during the Civil War. Langley, VA, includes NASA Langley Research Center’s wind tunnels and fighter jets at Joint Base Langley-Eustis. The historic city of Portsmouth, with its shipyard museum, Lightship Portsmouth and Olde Towne architecture, is a short ferry ride away. An excursion across the 3.5-mile-long Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel from Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore of Virginia will explore the historic watermen and seafood processing industries and the ongoing efforts to sustainably Save the Bay. Other sites, from state-of-the-art shipyards to chain saw manufacturing, are also being investigated. The weekend will conclude with a Sunday harbor cruise with views of the Port of Norfolk, Lambert’s Point, Norfolk Terminal and Portsmouth Terminal container ports and more aboard the Victory Rover.

The conference hotel is the Hilton Norfolk The Main, located in the heart of downtown near the busy Elizabeth River harbor with views of active boats and shipyards repairing aircraft carriers and other vessels. The Nauticus and Battleship Wisconsin and Granby Street restaurants are only a block or two away. The hotel’s location is a short walk to the Waterside ferry stop, and the MacArthur Square light-rail station (which is a short ride to the Norfolk Amtrak station), and a fifteen-minute ride to Norfolk International Airport (ORF). We look forward to seeing you at next year’s SIA conference in Norfolk!

Caption for image at top: Dry Dock No. 1 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard is the oldest continuously used dry dock in the United States. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/124-0029/

Norfolk & Western coal piers at Lambert’s Point. Detroit Publishing Co., ca. 1905.   https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016804696/

Ocean liner docked at Norfolk. C.M. Best postcard, 1916. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2024693583/

Iceman transferring a block of ice in Norfolk. John Vachon, 1941. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017811970/

Container shipyard and its loading/unloading apparatuses in the busy port of Norfolk, Virginia. Carol Highsmith, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2020724326/

Battleship Wisconsin is berthed a short walk from the Hilton Norfolk The Main. Carol Highsmith, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2020724196/

The Tide light rail transit car (with direct service to the Norfolk Amtrak station), arrives at the MacArthur Square station in downtown Norfolk, just a couple blocks from the conference hotel. Carol Highsmith, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/highsm.61087/