SIA 2026 Conference Norfolk, Virginia - Saturday Paper Sessions Only

2026 SIA Conference – Norfolk, Virginia
May 28 - 31, 2026

The Society for Industrial Archeology’s 54th Annual Conference will be held in Norfolk, Virginia.

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.

All registration fees are on a per-person basis. Please submit a separate registration for each participant. Each participant must be a 2026 year paid-up Member (or Second Household Member) of the National SIA.

The Saturday Presentation Session Registration includes ONLY the Saturday Presentation Sessions, and Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon. This registration DOES NOT include attendance to any other Conference event. To attend any conference tours or the opening reception, you must register using the SIA 2026 Conference Full Registration selection.

You will receive a summary of your registration, including your confirmed tours via email before the start of the conference.

Contact siaevents@siahq.org, if you have any registration questions about the conference.