SIA 2026 Conference Norfolk, Virginia - Full Registration

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.

THE SIA ROOM RATE AT THE CONFERENCE HOTEL (HILTON NORFOLK THE MAIN) IS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH MAY 6

Visit the SIA 2026 Conference Web Page for information on how to make reservations at the conference hotel.

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.

Full Conference Registration fee includes Thursday Evening Reception, Friday Tour, Saturday Presentation Sessions, Saturday Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon, but DOES NOT include the optional Thursday Tours, optional Saturday evening banquet or optional Sunday or Monday Tours. Tickets for these activities can be purchased as add-ons during the course of your conference registration. If you wish to attend only the Saturday Paper Sessions, register using the Saturday Paper Sessions Only option. If you would like to add a second person for the Saturday Banquet, you can do that by following this link: Saturday Banquet Only Link.

Please make sure the phone number you give when registering is a cell phone, if possible.

You will receive a summary of your registration, including your confirmed tours via email after your registration is complete.

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