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Title: Jamestown, Virginia: The Townsite and Its Story

Author: Jr. Charles E. Hatch

Release date: May 21, 2019 [eBook #59566]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
        Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA: THE TOWNSITE AND ITS STORY ***




Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net






    [Illustration: U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, March 3, 1849]

                UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                     Stewart L. Udall, _Secretary_

                         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                      Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_


                    _HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWO_

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the
historical and archeological areas in the National Park System
administered by the National Park Service of the United States
Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing
Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.




                          Jamestown, Virginia
                       THE TOWNSITE AND ITS STORY


                       _By Charles E. Hatch, Jr._

    [Illustration: _The Seal of “His Majesties Council of Virginia”_]

                       The National Park Service
                            cooperating with
      The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 2
                 Washington, D. C., 1949 (Revised 1957)

  This publication relates to Jamestown Island, Va. A portion of
  Jamestown Island is included in Colonial National Historical Park and
  is administered by the National Park Service of the United States
  Department of the Interior. Jamestown National Historic Site, the
  other portion of the island, is administered by the Association for
  the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. A cooperative agreement
  between the Association and the Department of the Interior has been in
  effect since 1940 providing for a unified program of development for
  the whole Jamestown Island area.

    [Illustration: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR]




                               _Contents_


                                                                  _Page_
  THE STORY OF JAMESTOWN                                               2
  COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK                                   36
  COLONIAL PARKWAY                                                    36
  THE STUDY OF JAMESTOWN                                              36
  THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMESTOWN                                        40
  GUIDE TO THE AREA                                                   42
  HOW TO REACH JAMESTOWN                                              53
  ABOUT YOUR VISIT                                                    53
  ADMINISTRATION                                                      53
  SUGGESTED READINGS                                                  54

    [Illustration: _The Memorial Cross at Cape Henry which marks the
    approximate site of the first landing of the Jamestown colonists on
    American soil, April 26, 1607._]

    [Illustration: Sir Walter Raleigh.]

_Jamestown is the site of the first permanent English settlement in
America {1607}, the point at which the first representative legislative
assembly convened {1619} to set a pattern for self-government in
America, the locale of stirring events in Bacon’s Rebellion {1676-77},
and the capital of the Colony of Virginia for 92 years {1607-99}._


The first permanent settlement in America by the English at Jamestown
was a visible manifestation of the determination of that nation to
establish itself in the New World. The overthrow of Spanish seapower
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth paved the way for English
colonization ventures. Enterprising Britons had already established
their influence in India, the Near East, and Russia. Sir Walter Raleigh
had made several unsuccessful attempts to establish an enduring
settlement along the Carolina coast at Roanoke Island, events now
commemorated by Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Sir Humphrey
Gilbert had tried, to no avail, to make a settlement in Newfoundland.

It remained for the Virginia Company of London, under its charter of
April 10, 1606, to found the first permanent English settlement in
America. This joint stock company, a commercial organization, from its
inception assumed a national character. It was instrumental, under its
charter provisions, in guaranteeing to the settlers in the New World the
rights, freedoms, and privileges enjoyed by Englishmen at home and the
enjoyment of their customary manner of living which they adapted to
their new environment with the passage of years.

Jamestown was the site of the first settlement that grew into the Colony
of Virginia and gave heart to those men who settled the colonies that
came later. The first Virginians landed in May 1607, built houses and a
fort, planted crops, and began the struggle for the conquest of a vast
primitive land. They brought with them their church and respect for God,
maintained trial by jury and their rights as freemen, and soon were
developing representative government. All of these things are a part of
the story of Jamestown.

In the words of James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States at
the time of the Jamestown Tercentenary, the settlement of “Jamestown was
one of the great events in the history of the world—an event to be
compared for its momentous consequences with the overthrow of the
Persian Empire by Alexander; with the destruction of Carthage by Rome;
with the conquest of Gaul by Clovis; with the taking of Constantinople
by the Turks—one might almost say with the discovery of America by
Columbus.” Here was born the great English-speaking nation beyond the
seas, of which Gilbert and Raleigh had dreamed; and here was the cradle
of our Republican institutions and liberties.




                        _The Story of Jamestown_


On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown Island
in Virginia—the _Susan Constant_ of 100 tons commanded by Capt.
Christopher Newport and carrying 71 persons; the _Godspeed_ of 40 tons
commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying 52 persons; and the
_Discovery_, a pinnace, of 20 tons under Capt. John Ratcliffe, carrying
21 persons. During the day (as George Percy, one of the party on board,
relates) they maneuvered the ships so close to the shore that they were
“moored to the Trees in six fathom [of] water.” The next day, May 14, he
continues, “we landed all our men, which were set to worke about the
fortification, others some to watch and ward as it was convenient.”
Thus, the first permanent English settlement in America was begun on the
shores of the James River, in Virginia, about 20 years after the
ill-fated attempts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island and 13 years
before the Pilgrims made their historic landing at Plymouth, in New
England.


THE ENGLISH BACKGROUND.

The settlement at Jamestown, in 1607, was another step, albeit a most
significant step, in England’s quest for a place in the vast New World
first indicated by Columbus in his discovery of 1492 and made known to
Europe through his and other expeditions. King Henry VII of England
early sought to establish a claim in North America and sponsored the now
famous voyage of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497. The Cabots touched
points along the Atlantic coast, and their discoveries were ever
afterward pointed to with pride by Englishmen discussing their rights in
the New World. As William Strachey wrote, in 1612, “... our voyages
hither for a while might seeme to lye slumbering, yet our tytle could
not thereby out sleepe ytself...”. Despite this, England was occupied at
home and in Europe and did not press this advantage. Spain took the lead
in colonial settlement and held it for decades. How many Englishmen set
foot on the North American continent in the first three-quarters of the
16th century may never be known. They were no strangers in the fishing
waters off Newfoundland, and in this region there appear to have been
landings and temporary settlements. Even so, serious attempts at
colonization did not begin until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and then
it was pushed vigorously by men of the mark of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir
Walter Raleigh, and their associates.

Sir Humphrey lost his life in 1583 when returning from his attempted
settlement of St. John’s Port, Newfoundland. Sir Walter Raleigh
diligently sought to establish the English flag to the south. He sent
out two colonial expeditions to found a settlement on Roanoke Island in
present eastern North Carolina. Both failed in their over-all purpose.
It was the expedition of 1587 (the last) which set sail for the
Chesapeake Bay country and landed on Roanoke Island that has come down
to us as the “Lost Colony”—the settlement that saw the birth of Virginia
Dare and that left the baffling inscription suggesting that the members
of the colony moved, willingly or unwillingly, to be with the Croatan
Indians who lived not far from Roanoke. The early men at Jamestown knew
of their countrymen who were lost in America and were under orders to
seek them. This they did, but their search went unrewarded.

By 1600, England was readying herself for a concerted drive to establish
colonies in the New World. The way had been prepared by the far-sighted
Queen Elizabeth and her supporters. Within England there had been
growth; capital had accumulated; industry was taking root; commercial
organization was beginning; and Englishmen were ready for new
adventures. Outwardly, England had grown through its naval successes and
had developed a keen hostility to Spain. Individual Englishmen, each
depending on his own circumstances, were seeking more profitable
employment, personal freedom (particularly religious liberty), land
ownership, personal advancement, adventure, and just plain change. A new
England was in the making and the British Empire was about to rise in
the West and in the Orient as well. With the accession of James I to the
English throne, peace was made with Spain, a peace that was maintained
although it was an uneasy one—from time to time little more than an
armed truce. Yet, because of it, English capital came out of hiding and
sought profitable investment. Business development increased and joint
stock companies began to organize for overseas settlement.

Colonization was expensive, however, and required the pooled resources
of many men. Advertising, which reached a peak early in the 17th
century, was put to work in a manner that would do credit to the present
day. Its use in commerce and government is by no means of recent date.
Spokesmen—speakers, writers, poets, pamphleteers, playwrights, and
preachers—solicited all England to take part in these new endeavors
which, in their words, gave every assurance of profitable return.

The exploits of men such as Raleigh and Gilbert, Martin Frobisher,
Michael Lok, John Davis, Thomas Cavendish, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir
John Hawkins had already made England conscious of the potentialities of
the New World and of the need to seek a part of it. Others followed
these earlier leaders. In 1602 Raleigh sent yet another ship under
Samuel Mace to seek the lost settlers of Roanoke, and in the same year a
vessel went out under Bartholomew Gosnold who attempted a settlement on
Elizabeth’s Island in present Massachusetts. Gosnold and another in this
party, Gabriel Archer, were to become prominent later in the Jamestown
settlement. In 1603, Martin Pring made a voyage along the northern part
of Virginia. In 1605, came the expedition under George Weymouth to the
Kennebec River on the New England coast. He spent some weeks here and
returned to England carrying with him several Indian natives from that
region.

On April 10, 1606, the first Virginia charter received the great seal of
England. This document recognized two groups and two spheres of
influence that would fall between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth
parallels of north latitude along the American coast. One was interested
in North Virginia and was granted to Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert,
William Parker, George Popham, and others of and for Plymouth and other
English places. This group was first in the field with exploration,
dispatching a ship in August 1606 under Henry Challons. In May 1607,
they sent a colony to the mouth of the Kennebec in Maine, but, in the
spring of 1608, after a severe winter, the settlement was given up.

The second group, organized under the charter of 1606, was that
interested in south Virginia. This patent went to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, Edward Maria Wingfield, and others of
and for the city of London. The treasurer of the group was Sir Thomas
Smith, one of the most capable businessmen of the day. Richard Hakluyt,
the foremost authority on travel, foreign regions, and colonization in
general, assembled helpful data and had a large part in the preparation
of instructions and orders for those to be sent out as colonists. It was
this group and their associates that organized, financed, and directed
the expedition that reached Jamestown on May 13, 1607, and saw to it
that supplies came through and reinforcements were procured in the lean
years of the settlement.

The immediate and long-range reasons for the settlement were many and,
perhaps, thoroughly mixed. Profit and exploitation of the country were
expected, for, after all, this was a business enterprise and they were
necessary for long-range activity. A permanent settlement was the
objective. Support, financial and popular, came from a cross section of
English life. It seems obvious from accounts and papers of the period
that it was generally thought that Virginia was being settled for the
glory of God, for the honor of the King, for the welfare of England, and
for the advancement of the Company and its individual members. In
England and in Virginia they expected and did carry the word of God to
the natives, although not with the same verve as the Spanish. They
expected to develop natural resources, to free the mother country from
dependence on European states, to strengthen their navy, and to increase
national wealth and power. They expected to be a thorn in the side of
the Spanish Empire; in fact, they hoped one day to challenge and
overshadow that empire. They sought to find the answer to agricultural
unemployment at home. They sought many things, not the least of them
being gold, silver, and land. As the men stepped ashore on Jamestown
Island, perhaps each had a slightly different view of why he was there,
yet some one or a combination of these motives was probably the reason.


THE FIRST DAYS IN VIRGINIA.

The expedition of 1607 included a cargo of supplies and 144 persons, of
whom 104 or 105 (depending on which of the more detailed contemporary
accounts is accepted) were to remain in Virginia as the first settlers.
The expedition left England late in 1606. The ships sailed down the
Thames River from London on December 20 and, after a slow start, they
proceeded over the long route through the West Indies. There were stops
in the islands, new experiences, and disagreements among the leaders.
Captain Newport was in command, and the identity of the councilors who
were to govern in Virginia lay hidden in a locked box not to be opened
until their destination had been reached. Dissension at one point led to
charges against Capt. John Smith who reached the New World in
confinement. This was suggestive of the later personal and group feuds
and disagreements that plagued the first years of the Virginia Colony.

    [Illustration: _The arrival of the settlers at Jamestown in 1607. (A
    painting by Griffith Baily Coale in the State Capitol, Richmond,
    Va.)_]

The “Land of Virginia” was first seen by the lookout on April 26, and
just a little later in the same day a party was sent ashore at Cape
Henry to make sure what was the first landing in the wilderness which
they came to conquer. Having been aboard ship for many weeks, the
settlers found the expanse of land, the green virgin trees, the cool,
fresh water, and the unspoiled landscape a pleasant view to behold. At
Cape Henry they saw Indians and several of the party were wounded by
their arrows, notably Capt. Gabriel Archer, one of the experienced
leaders. They built a “shallop” (a small boat), went exploring into the
country for short distances by land and water, enjoyed the spring
flowers, and tasted roasted oysters and “fine beautiful strawberries.”
On April 29, a cross was set up among the sand dunes. The next day the
ships were moved from Cape Henry into Chesapeake Bay to the site on
Hampton Roads which they named Point Comfort (now Old Point Comfort).

For about 2 weeks, explorations were made along both banks of the James,
below and above Jamestown, from its mouth to a point as far upstream
perhaps as the Appomattox River (Hopewell, Va.). Parties went ashore to
investigate promising areas, and communication was established with the
native tribes. On May 12, a point of land at the mouth of Archer’s Hope
(now College) Creek, a little below Jamestown, was examined in detail.
Capt. Gabriel Archer was particularly impressed with this location and
urged that it be the point of settlement. The soil seemed good, timber
and wildlife were abundant, and it appeared adaptable for defensive
measures if these should become necessary. It was not possible, however,
to bring the ships close to the shore, and consequently Archer’s Hope
was rejected. From this site the ships moved directly to Jamestown,
where they arrived May 13. On May 14, they landed and broke ground for
the fort and the town that ultimately won the distinction of the first
permanent English settlement in America and the capital of the Virginia
Colony for almost a century.

In May 1607, the days were warm, the nights, cool. Life was stirring in
the wilderness and nature had been generous, the colonists thought.
There were fruits, abundant timber, deer and other animals for food, and
a not too numerous native population. The hot, humid weather of
midsummer and the snow, ice, and emptiness of winter were not in
evidence. The choice of a site for settlement was both good and bad. The
anchorage for ships at Jamestown was good. The island had not then
become a true island and had an easily controlled dry land isthmus
connection with the mainland. As the river narrows here, it was one of
the best control points on the James. It was not used by the Indians;
and it was a bit inland, hence somewhat out of range of the Spanish
menace. Arable land on the island was limited by inlets and “guts.” The
swamps were close and bred mosquitoes in abundance and, with
contamination so easy, drinking water was a problem. All of these facts
became evident to these first English Americans as the months went by.

When the orders were opened after arrival in Virginia, it was found that
the governing body in the colony was to be made up of seven councilors.
They were Edward Maria Wingfield, of gallant service in the Low
Countries; Bartholomew Gosnold and Christopher Newport, both seasoned
seamen and captains; John Ratcliffe, who piloted the _Discovery_ to
Virginia; John Martin, an earlier commander under Drake; John Smith,
already an experienced adventurer; and George Kendall, a cousin of Sir
Edwin Sandys who later was to play a dominant role in the Virginia
Company. To this list can be added other prominent names—George Percy,
brother to the Earl of Northumberland and a trained sailor; Gabriel
Archer, a lawyer who had already explored in the New England country;
and Rev. Robert Hunt, the vicar at Jamestown, whose pious and exemplary
living was noted by his associates.


THE FORT.

The work of establishing Jamestown and of exploring the country round
about began almost simultaneously. The several weeks between May 13 and
June 22, when Newport left Virginia for a return to England, were busy
ones. At Jamestown an area was cleared of trees and the fort begun. The
soil was readied and the English wheat brought over for the purpose was
planted. At this point Newport, in one of the small boats, led an
exploring party as far as the falls of the James (near present
Richmond). He was successful in learning a great deal about the country,
but did not succeed in his search for gold or silver. He was absent from
Jamestown about a week and returned to find that the Indians had
launched a fierce attack on the new settlement which had been saved,
perhaps, by the fact that the ships were near at hand. These afforded
safe quarters and carried cannon on their decks that had a frightening
effect on the natives.

The fort was completed about mid-June. It was triangular in shape, with
a “Bulwarke” at each corner which was shaped like a “halfe Moone.”
Within the “Bulwarkes” were mounted 4 or 5 pieces of
artillery—demiculverins which fired balls of about 9 pounds in weight.
The fort enclosed about 1 acre with its river side extending 420 feet
and its other sides measuring 300 feet. The principal gate faced the
river and was in the south side (curtain) of the fort, although there
were other openings, one at each “Bulwarke,” and each was protected by a
piece of ordnance. The church, storehouses, and living quarters were
flimsily built of perishable materials, within the walls of the
palisaded fort, along fixed streets arranged around an open yard. For
the first few years this fort was Jamestown.

Before the fort was completed the wheat had come up and was growing
nicely, as George Percy wrote in what was probably the first essay on
farming along the James River. About June 10, John Smith, partly through
the intercession of Robert Hunt, was released and admitted to his seat
on the council. Relations with the Indians improved. On June 21, the
third Sunday after Trinity, the first recorded Anglican communion at
Jamestown was celebrated. “We had a comunyon. Capt. Newport dyned ashore
with our dyet, and invyted many of us to supper as a farewell.” The next
day, Christopher Newport raised anchor and began the return trip to
England. He took letters from those to remain in Virginia and carried
accounts describing Virginia and the events that had occurred. The
settlement had been made, and the future seemed promising.


SUMMER AND AUTUMN, 1607.

Within the short span of 2 months, conditions changed drastically. The
Indians became cautious and distrustful, and provisions, not
sufficiently augmented from the country, began to run low. Spoilage
destroyed some food, and, with the coming of the hot, humid weather, the
brackish drinking water proved dangerous. In August, death struck often
and quickly, taking among others the stabilizing hand of Captain
Gosnold. Inexperience, unwillingness, or inability to do the hard work
that was necessary and the lack of sufficient information about how to
survive in a primeval wilderness led to bickering, disagreements, and,
to what was more serious still, inaction. They forgot a most important
bit of advice that had been given them by “His Majesties Council for
Virginia”: “... the way to prosper and achieve good success is to make
yourselves all of one mind for the good of your country and your
own...”.

On arrival in Virginia the resident councilors, as outlined in their
orders, met and named one of their number as president. Real power was
with the council, however, and the president was without actual
independent authority. This was a serious defect (corrected in the
second company charter in 1609) which prevented a well-directed and
coordinated program at Jamestown during the first 3 years. As the first
summer wore on it was natural that hostility should develop toward the
titular head of the colony. Had the first president, Edward Maria
Wingfield, been a stronger, more adventurous, and more daring man,
conditions might have been a little better, despite his lack of real
authority. He was not the leader, however, to act and to reason later.
Consequently, opinion was arrayed against him and charges, some unjust
no doubt, were formed that led to his deposition and replacement in one
of the two celebrated jury trials which occurred at Jamestown about
mid-September. His successor, perhaps no more able, was John Ratcliffe
who continued for about a year until deposed and replaced by Matthew
Scrivener, one of those who came over with the first supply. It was a
little later, in 1608, that Capt. John Smith took the helm as chief
councilor, which was what the president really was. It was under the
presidency of Ratcliffe, however, that Smith emerged as an able,
experienced leader, who preferred action to inaction even though it
might be questioned later. His work and his decisions, sometimes wise,
sometimes not so wise, did much to insure the survival of the colony.

When the first cool days of approaching autumn touched Jamestown in
1607, spirits rose and hopefulness supplanted despair. Disease, which
had reduced the number to less than 50 persons, subsided; the oppressive
heat lessened; and Indian crops of peas, corn, and beans began to
mature. Friendlier relations were established with the natives, and
barter trade developed. As the leaves fell, game became easier to get,
ducks multiplied in the ponds and marshes, and life in general seemed
brighter. Work was resumed at Jamestown in preparation for the coming
winter, and exploration was undertaken. It was in December, while
investigating the Chickahominy River area, that Smith was taken by the
Indians. He was eventually carried before Powhatan who released him,
some say through the intercession of the young Pocahontas. This incident
Smith did not mention in his detailed account of the events of the
Colony written several months later. It was not until a number of years
later, in fact, that this romantic story evolved in its present form.

    [Illustration: _Statue of Capt. John Smith, by William Couper. The
    Old Church Tower is in the background._]


THE FIRST SUPPLY.

Upon returning to Jamestown, Smith was caught in the meshes of a feuding
council. All was forgotten early in January, however, when Newport
reached Jamestown with the first supply for the settlers. He brought
food, equipment, instructions, and news from home. His cargo was not
sufficient, but for the moment this was overlooked. The two ships of the
supply had left England together, but the second did not reach Virginia
until April.

Shortly after Newport’s arrival in January, disaster came to Jamestown.
Fire swept through the fort, consuming habitations, provisions,
ammunition, and even some of the palisades. This was a serious blow in
the face of winter weather. With the help of Newport and his sailors,
the church, storehouse, palisades, and cabins were partially rebuilt
before he sailed again for England early in April. Much more could have
been done had he not consumed so many days in a pompous visit and
lengthy negotiations with the wily Powhatan. Then, too, the ships had to
be loaded for the return voyage, for the London backers were loudly
calling for profitable produce. The first of the spring months were
spent in cutting cedar logs and preparing “clapboards” for sale in
England, and a little later there seems to have been a mild “gold rush”
at Jamestown as some hopeful looking golden colored soil was found. This
all delayed early spring clearing and planting, and boded ill for the
coming summer when Ratcliffe wasted precious days building a house
suitable to his position and Smith engaged in important, yet not
particularly pressing, explorations.


THE FIRST MARRIAGE AT JAMESTOWN.

It was in September 1608 that Smith became president in fact and
inaugurated a program of physical improvement at Jamestown. The area
about the fort was enlarged and the standing structures repaired. At
this point, in October, the second supply arrived, including 70
settlers, who, when added to the survivors in Virginia, raised the
over-all population to about 120. Among the new arrivals were two
women—Mistress Forrest and her maid. Several months later, in the church
at Jamestown, the maid, Ann Burras, was married to one of the settlers,
John Laydon, a carpenter by trade. This marriage has been ranked as “the
first recorded English marriage on the soil of the United States.” Their
child, Virginia, born the next year, was the first to be born at
Jamestown. Here was the beginning of family life in the new colony. Soon
other women would arrive to help continue, or to establish, new homes.


THE SECOND SUPPLY AND EARLY INDUSTRY.

With the second supply came workmen sent over to produce glass, pitch,
soap ashes, and other items profitable in England. These men, including
some Poles and Dutchmen, were quickly assigned to specific duties. So
rapidly did they begin that “trials” of at least one product, glass,
were sent home when Newport left Jamestown before the end of the year.
As usual, in addition to settlers and supplies, Newport brought more
instructions from the company officials. The colony was not succeeding
financially, and it was urged that the council spend more time in the
preparation of marketable products. It was urged, too, that gold be
sought more actively; that Powhatan be crowned as a recognition
befitting his position; and that more effort be expended in search of
the Roanoke settlers. These things were all desirable, but, at the
moment, impracticable. No one understood this better than did Smith, who
spoke his mind freely in a letter he wrote for dispatch to the
authorities at home. Nevertheless, these projects were emphasized, and
the more pressing needs of adequate shelter and sufficient food were
neglected.

In the interval from about February to May 1609, Smith reported
considerable material progress in and about Jamestown. Perhaps 40 acres
were cleared and prepared for planting in Indian corn, the new grain
that fast became a staple commodity. A deep well was dug in the fort.
The church was re-covered and 20 cabins built. A second trial was made
at glass manufacture in the furnaces built late in 1608. A blockhouse
was built at the isthmus which connected the island[1] to the mainland
for better control of the Indians, and a new fort was erected on a
little creek across the river from Jamestown. Smith was now in command,
as his fellow councilors either had returned to England or were dead.
About this time there came a new disaster. With all attention centered
on the numerous construction projects, insufficient protection was given
the meager supply of grain. When discovered, rats had consumed almost
all of the corn stores. Faced with this situation, Smith found it
necessary to scatter the settlers, sending some to live with the Indians
and some to eat at the oyster banks where the unbalanced oyster diet is
reported to have caused their skin “to peel off from head to foot as if
they had been fleade.” Only “a small guarde of gentlemen & some others
[were left] about the president at James Towne.”

    [Illustration: _The four glass furnaces located by archeological
    excavation on Glasshouse Point._]

In midsummer of 1609, conditions at Jamestown were not good, although it
is doubtful that they were any worse than during the two previous
summers. The settlers were becoming acclimated, and they were learning
the ways of the new country. Supplies were low, yet the number of
colonists was small, and a good harvest and a good autumn might have
improved matters had not some 400 new, inexperienced settlers sailed
into the James without their leaders, without instructions, and with
damaged supplies. To add to other complications, they brought fever and
plague. In the selection of prospective settlers for the voyage the
standards had been low, and too many ne’er-do-wells, and even renegades,
had been included. This was the third supply, and it reached Jamestown
in August 1609.


THE SECOND COMPANY CHARTER AND THE THIRD SUPPLY.

The company had received a new charter in May 1609 which corrected some
of the defects of the old and made provision for a strong governor to
rule in the Colony. Despite discouraging news from Virginia, the
supporters of the enterprise did not abandon their plans to maintain the
colony. The second charter, as this was called, was subscribed and
incorporated by 56 companies of London and 659 persons, of whom 21 were
peers, 96 knights, 11 doctors, ministers, etc., 53 captains, 28
esquires, 58 gentlemen, 110 merchants, 282 citizens, and others not
classified. Altogether they represented a cross section of English life
in that period.

It was resolved to send a much larger expedition to Virginia than the
three sent prior to this date. It went out in June under Sir Thomas
Gates and with him were Sir George Somers and Captain Newport. There
were 9 ships and about 500 settlers. The voyage was uneventful until
they ran into a stiff hurricane that broke up the fleet and cast ashore
in the Bermuda Islands the flagship with its three commanders. The rest
of the fleet, except one small ship lost at sea, limped into the James
and went on to Jamestown.

Returning to Virginia in the third supply were several men who had been
earlier leaders in the colony and who were now all hostile to
Smith—Archer, Ratcliffe, and Martin. A confusing scene developed over
command. The old leaders, particularly Smith, refused to give way to the
new in the absence of Gates, the appointed governor, and his
instructions. There was considerable bickering which led to an uneasy
settlement, leaving Smith in charge for the duration of his yearly term,
now almost expired.

It was obvious to everyone that there were too many men for all to
remain at Jamestown. John Martin was sent to attempt a settlement at
Nansemond, on the south side of the James below Jamestown, while Capt.
Francis West, brother of Lord Delaware, was sent to settle at the falls
of the James. Returning to Jamestown after an inspection tour at the
falls, Captain Smith was injured by burning gunpowder and incapacitated.
The implication in the documents of the period is that Ratcliffe,
Archer, and Martin used this opportunity to depose him and to compel him
to return to England to face their charges against him. These three men,
failing to agree on a replacement from their own number, persuaded
George Percy to accept the position of president. Percy was in command
during the terrible winter that followed.


THE “STARVING TIME.”

The winter of 1609-10 has been described through the years as the
“starving time”—seemingly, an accurate description. It saw the
population shrink from 500 to about 60 as a result of disease, sickness,
Indian arrows, and malnutrition. It destroyed morale and reduced the men
to scavengers stalking the fort, fields, and woods for anything that
might be used as food. When spring came there was little spirit left in
the settlement. It would seem unjust to attribute the disaster to Percy,
who did what he could to ameliorate conditions by attempting trade and
keeping the men busy. The “starving time” appears to have been caused by
an accumulation of circumstances.

There was the matter of the third supply which arrived in such poor
condition very late in the season. Bickering prevented measures that
could have been taken to prepare for the winter. Dissension continued
even after Smith’s departure. Then, too, the Indians knew of conditions
at Jamestown, for they actually kept scouts in the fort much of the
time. They were learning the ways of the white man and had come to see
that he was most vulnerable in the winter season. Heretofore they had
supplied him corn—by gift, by trade, or unwillingly through seizure. In
the winter of 1609-10, they had a good opportunity to make him suffer,
and throughout this period the Indians were openly hostile. Perhaps the
increasingly heavy use of force and armed persuasion in dealing with
them had resulted in this attitude which, from their point of view,
proved highly effective. In the fall of 1608, they had forced the
settlers in from Nansemond and the falls. Then, in the winter of
1609-10, Powhatan captured and killed Ratcliffe who had gone to trade
with him. All through that winter it was dangerous to be alone far from
the fort.

Not having sufficient stores set aside, not able to deal with the
natives, and without the use of the resources of the countryside, there
is small wonder that conditions became serious, even desperate, for the
settlers. Those few men fortified on Hampton Roads under Capt. James
Davis (after Captain West, perhaps under threat from the crew, left
Virginia for England in the colony’s best ship) fared far better than
did those at Jamestown. Even the coming of spring failed to restore full
hope and vitality to the survivors, yet certainly it must have been good
to know that winter was over.


VIRGINIA ALMOST ABANDONED.

In May 1610, the hearts of the weary settlers were gladdened when Sir
Thomas Gates, their new governor, sailed into the James. For about a
year he and the survivors of the wreck of the _Sea Venture_ had labored
in Bermuda to make possible the continuation of their voyage to
Virginia. The last part of the journey was made in two boats built by
them in Bermuda—the _Patience_ and the _Deliverance_, names suggestive
of their thankfulness for survival. It was not a pleasant sight that
greeted them at Jamestown. Ruin and desolation were everywhere. Gates,
with his Council, on July 7, 1610, wrote that Jamestown seemed

  raither as the ruins of some auntient [for]tification, then that any
  people living might now inhabit it: the pallisadoes he found tourne
  downe, the portes open, the gates from the hinges, the church ruined
  and unfrequented, empty howses (whose owners untimely death had taken
  newly from them) rent up and burnt, the living not hable, as they
  pretended, to step into the woodes to gather other fire-wood; and, it
  is true, the _Indian as fast killing without as the famine and
  pestilence within_.

Gates promptly distributed provisions, such as he had, and introduced a
code of martial law, the code that was strengthened later by Delaware
and made famous by its strict enforcement under the governorship of Sir
Thomas Dale. After surveying the condition of the settlement and
realizing that the supplies he had brought would not last 3 weeks, Gates
took council with the leaders. They decided to abandon the settlement.
On June 7, 1610, the settlers, except some of the Poles and Dutchmen who
were with Powhatan, boarded the ship, left Jamestown, and started down
the James.

The next morning, while still in the river, advance word reached Gates
that Lord Delaware had arrived at Point Comfort on the way to Jamestown
and was bringing 150 settlers and a generous supply. The bad news
carried to England by the returning ships of the third supply, late in
1609, had caused considerable stir in Virginia Company circles and had
resulted in Delaware’s decision to go to Virginia. Learning of the new
supply, Gates hastened back to Jamestown. The new settlement had been
saved in a manner that was recognized at that time as an act of
“Providence.”


LORD DELAWARE REACHES JAMESTOWN.

On June 10, Delaware reached “James Citty” and made his landing. He
entered the fort through the south gate, and, with his colors flying,
went on to the church where Rev. Richard Buck delivered an impressive
sermon. Then his ensign, Anthony Scott, read his commission, and Gates
formally delivered to him his own authority as governor. Delaware’s
speech to the assembled colonists cheered them, advised them, warned
them, and reproached them. Thanks to the pen of William Strachey, we
have a good account of these events, including the best description of
the fort, church, and cabins that is now known to have been preserved.
With the arrival of Delaware, the settlement was given new life and new
hope. Lean times lay ahead, yet the most difficult years lay behind.
Virginia now had a government that made for stability under the
governor, and the old settlers, who, a little later, came to be called
“Ancient Planters,” had learned well by experience.

Gates, after dealing with the Indians, left for England. Delaware, who
continued to live aboard ship for a time, called a Council, reorganized
the colonists, and directed operations to promote the welfare of the
colony, including the construction of two forts near Point Comfort. He
fell sick, however, and, after a long illness, was forced to leave
Jamestown and Virginia in March 1611, leaving the now veteran
administrator, George Percy, as governor in charge. With Delaware went
Dr. Lawrence Bohun, who had experimented extensively with the curative
powers of plants and herbs at Jamestown.


SIR THOMAS DALE AND MILITARY LAW.

In May, Sir Thomas Dale, on military leave from his post in the Low
Countries, arrived as deputy governor of Virginia. He proceeded to give
form and substance to the martial law which had been evoked by his
predecessors. It led to rather complete regimentation, and he was
severely criticized for it later, particularly by those hostile to his
administration. He began by posting proclamations “for the publique
view” at Jamestown. Later, he thoroughly inspected suitable settlement
sites and surveyed conditions generally. He wrote, on May 25, 1611, that
on arrival at Jamestown he found “... no corn sett, some few seeds put
into a private garden or Two; but the cattle, cows, goats, swine,
Poultry &c to be well and carefully on all hands preserved and all in
good plight and likeing.” To get things in order at the seat of
government, one party was designated to repair the church, another to
work on the stable, another to build a wharf. When things were
reasonably well in hand at Jamestown, he made plans to push the decision
to open a new settlement above Jamestown which would become the real
center of the colony. The reasons for such a removal of the seat of
government are well known—not sufficient high land, poor drinking water,
too much marsh, and a location not far enough upstream to be out of
reach of the Spanish.


JAMESTOWN, 1611-16.

Under Dale, from May 1611 to 1616, and under Gates who replaced him for
several years, beginning in August 1611, the emphasis was away from
Jamestown, but the capital was not actually moved.

In 1612, “Master George Percie ... [was busy] with the keeping of
Jamestown” while much of the colony had been “moved up river.” The first
settlement was then looked upon as chiefly a place of safety for hogs
and cattle. In 1614, it was made up of “two faire rowes of howses, all
of framed Timber, two stories, and an vpper Garret or Corne loft high,
besides three large, and substantiall Storehowses ioyned togeather in
length some hundred and twenty foot, and in breadth forty ... this town
hath been lately newly, and strongly impaled, and a faire platforme for
Ordnance in the west Bulworke raised.” Without the town “... in the
Island [were] some very pleasant, and beutifull howses, two Blockhouses
... and certain other farme howses.” In 1616, it was a post of 50 under
the command of Lt. John Sharpe, who was acting in the absence of Capt.
Francis West. Thirty-one of these were “farmors” and all maintained
themselves with “food and rayment.”

The Gates-Dale 5-year administration (1611-16) actually saw Virginia
established as a going concern. The role of Dale in all of this seems to
have been a heavy one. Martial law brought order and uniformity in
operations and compelled the people to go to work. Dale saw to it that
corn was planted and harvested and that the laws were observed. He made
peace with the Indians.

So effective were Dale’s measures that one of his contemporaries, John
Rolfe, wrote “whereupon a peace was concluded, which still continues so
firme, that our people yearlely plant and reape quietly, and travell in
the woods a fowling and a hunting as freely and securely from danger or
treacherie as in England. The great blessings of God have followed this
peace, and it, next under him, hath bredd our plentie....” All this was
accomplished when the fortunes of the Virginia Company were at a low
point and little support was being sent to the colony. John Rolfe then
went on to predict that Dale’s “worth and name ... will out last the
standing of this plantation....”

Martial law, strictly administered at first, was gradually relaxed in
application as conditions stabilized, and within a few years Dale took
the step of granting 3-acre plots to private men for their enjoyment
outside of the common store. This was a big step in the evolution of the
private ownership of land. In the beginning, ownership was communal and
company controlled. In 1609, a future division of both land and profits
was anticipated, but it was about 1619 before individual grants were
made. A part of this evolution was the headright system of acquisition,
whereby persons were rewarded for venturing to Virginia themselves, or
their capital. Dale’s grants of a semiprivate nature, about 1615, were a
step in this evolution as well. The headright system which developed at
Jamestown and on the banks of the James was later adapted in other
colonies and continued in use for generations.

Gates and Dale in their administration had the help of other
enterprising and daring early Virginians. There was Capt. Samuel Argall
whose later work as governor of the colony has sometimes been
criticized, especially his handling of the company finances. This should
not becloud his earlier helpfulness in getting Virginia established. He
pioneered in making a direct crossing of the Atlantic to save time and
to avoid the Spanish, who now were fearful that the Virginia enterprise
might succeed and were sending spies to Virginia. (Some of these spies
were captured and interned at Jamestown.) Argall led in exploration,
both in Virginia waters and northward along the coastline. He was adept
at shipbuilding and in the Indian trade. It was evidently he who
discovered the best fishing seasons and the fact that the fish made
“runs” in the bay and in the rivers. He made an open attack on the
French settlements to the north in New England and Nova Scotia,
returning to Jamestown with his captives.


POCAHONTAS.

While on a trading expedition on the Potomac, Argall captured Pocahontas
and brought her as a prisoner to Jamestown in an attempt to deal with
her father, Powhatan. Pocahontas was no stranger at Jamestown. She had
often visited there before, once in the spring of 1608 to seek some of
her countrymen held as hostages in the fort.

In 1613, Pocahontas was well received at Jamestown, where she had not
been for some time; and when her father refused to pay the price asked
for her ransom, she was detained. Later, she preferred life with the
English and did not wish to return to her native village. She was placed
under the tutelage of Rev. Alexander Whitaker who instructed her in the
Christian faith. Eventually Pocahontas was baptized. In April 1614, in
the church at Jamestown, she married John Rolfe, one of the settlers.
This was a celebrated marriage that did much to improve relations with
the Indians. About 1616, the couple went to England where Pocahontas was
entertained at court. She died there as she was about to return to
Virginia, in 1617, and her body rests at Gravesend. She had one son,
Thomas Rolfe, who later came to Virginia. Through him many today can
trace their ancestry to Pocahontas.


TOBACCO.

After the death of Pocahontas, John Rolfe came back to Virginia alone to
resume the work which he had begun there as early as 1610. Perhaps he
continued his work with tobacco which had already resulted in a plant
that could compete in taste and quality with that which had given the
Spanish a monopoly of the tobacco market.

    [Illustration: _Monument to Pocahontas, by William Ordway Partridge,
    near the entrance to Jamestown National Historic Site._]

In the first years of the settlement every effort had been made to find
products in the New World that would assure financial success for the
settlers and the company. Pitch, tar, timber, sassafras, cedar, and
other natural products were sent in the returning ships. Attempts to
produce glass on a paying scale proved futile, as did early efforts to
make silk, using the native mulberry trees growing in abundance. The
glass furnaces fell into disuse, and rats ate the silkworms. The native
tobacco plant, found growing wild was “... not of the best kind ... [but
was] poore and weake, and of a byting tast ...” and held little promise.

About 1610-11, the seed of a different species of the plant was imported
from Trinidad, then famous for the quality of its tobacco. Later some
came from Venezuela. These were planted and a process of selection and
crossbreeding began which resulted in the commercially valuable Virginia
leaf. John Rolfe, a smoker himself, has been credited as the pioneer
English colonist in this experimentation.

In addition to the improvement of the plant, Rolfe was one of the first
regularly to grow tobacco for export and as such was the father of the
Virginia tobacco trade and industry. The first experimental shipment of
the newly developed Virginia leaf came about 1613, and because of its
pleasant taste it was well received in some quarters. Production was
slow for several years. Dale restricted its cultivation until basic
commodities, such as corn, were well advanced. In the 1615-16 period
only 2,300 pounds reached London from Virginia. Capt. George Yeardley,
the next to govern, gave the new crop his whole-hearted support, with
the result that in 1617 exports reached the 20,000 pound total, and by
1619 this had been more than doubled. Thus, a new trade and industry
were born in the colony, which proved to be the economic salvation of
Virginia, and provided a means for making slavery profitable. Tobacco
and slavery together led to the development of important characteristics
of the whole social, political, and economic structure of the Old South.
One of the immediate effects of tobacco culture in Virginia was the
impetus it gave to the expansion of the area of settlement and to the
number of settlers coming to Virginia.

    [Illustration: _Tobacco cultivation as practiced at Jamestown. (A
    conjectural painting by Sidney E. King.)_]


THE SPREAD OF SETTLEMENT.

Jamestown was planned as the first permanent English settlement in
Virginia. The fixed intention was to establish other seats as soon as
possible. As the limitations of Jamestown became obvious, the desire for
other townsites was intensified. Soon after the settlement was made at
Jamestown, temporary garrisons were placed at outlying points for
protective and administrative reasons—at Kecoughtan (Hampton-Newport
News), Cape Henry, and at the falls of the James. The first efforts in
this direction, except at Kecoughtan, ended in the autumn of 1609 under
pressure from the Indians. With the arrival of Delaware, Kecoughtan
(renamed Elizabeth City in 1619) was established as a permanent
settlement. Dale and Gates went on to establish the city of Henricus
(Henrico) well up the James near the falls. Then came Charles City (the
earlier Bermuda Nether Hundred) which developed into the last of the
four settlements established by the company, each of which had the
designation “city.” These four settlements were the only towns
specifically set up by the company and consequently under its complete
control. These later came to be mentioned in the records as the “Four
Ancient Boroughs” or “four ancient Incorporations.” As one of these,
Jamestown became the center of the political subdivision that developed
into one of the original Virginia shires in 1634. Within the next decade
the term county replaced that of shire, and today, although Jamestown
has ceased to exist as a corporate organization, James City County
continues to function as the oldest governing unit in English America.

Although the four “cities” constituted the first settlements in Virginia
and were the only ones established directly under company control, they
were but the beginning. About 1616, a new plan gave rise to the creation
of settlements known as “particular plantations,” sometimes called
“hundreds” as a result of the practice of awarding land on the basis of
100 acres or of sending settlers in groups of the same number. These
were established with company permission, which included a grant of land
made to individual groups of stockholders organized for the purpose of
setting up a specific settlement. The first of these was Martin’s
Hundred, in 1617, and others followed rapidly. By the summer of 1619,
there were seven particular plantations already functioning, in addition
to the original “cities,” a term sometimes thought to derive from the
form of government being used by the “City of Geneva” in Switzerland
which was held in high esteem by some of the company officials,
particularly by Sir Edwin Sandys who became Treasurer of the Virginia
Company in 1618.

With the spread of settlement east and west along the James and outward
along its rivers and creeks as well, Jamestown lay approximately in the
center of an expanding and growing colony. It was the capital town and
the principal center of the colony’s social and political life. In size
it remained small, yet it was intimately and directly related to all of
the significant developments of the 17th century. Its physical aspects
changed with the evolution of 17th century architectural patterns and
designs. Life in the town was varied and perhaps representative of the
best in the colony for almost a century. As wealth accumulated, the
manner of living broadened and improved. There is strong evidence that
Jamestown was the first to feel the impact of the advantages and efforts
that this produced, particularly in the first half century of its
existence. Material progress is evident as early as 1619 in the letter
of John Pory, secretary of the colony, written from Virginia late in
that year:

  Nowe that your lordship may knowe, that we are not the variest beggars
  in the worlde, our cowekeeper here of James citty on Sunday goes
  accowtered all in freshe flaming silke; and a wife of one that in
  England had professed the black arte, not of a schollar, but of a
  collier of Croydon, weares her rough bever hatt with a faire perle
  hatband, and a silken suite thereto correspondent.


THE BEGINNING OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.

In 1618, there were internal changes in the Virginia Company that led to
the resignation of Sir Thomas Smith as treasurer, and to the election of
Sir Edwin Sandys as his successor. This roughly corresponded to changes
in company policy toward the administration of the colony and to
intensified efforts to develop Virginia. It led to the abolition of
martial law, to the establishment of individual property ownership, and
greater freedom and participation in matters of government. Virginia
already enjoyed a high degree of religious freedom due, perhaps, to the
fact that a number of company officers were strongly under the influence
of the puritan element within the Church of England. This, together with
the fact that Virginia was not settled purely for religious reasons,
caused less stress to be put on absolute uniformity in church matters.
Sir George Yeardley, recently knighted, returned to Virginia as governor
in April 1619, and was the first spokesman in the colony for the new
policy toward Virginia. In England it had been ably advanced on behalf
of the colony by Sir Edwin Sandys, the Earl of Southampton, and John and
Nicholas Ferrar.

Soon after his arrival, Yeardley issued a call for a representative
legislative assembly which convened at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, and
remained in session until August 4. This was the earliest example of our
present system of representative government in America. The full
intentions behind the moves that led to this historic meeting may never
be known. It seems to have been an attempt to give to the Englishmen in
America those rights and privileges of Englishmen that had been
guaranteed to them in the original company charter, rather than a
planned attempt to establish self-government in the New World on a scale
that might have been in violation of English law and custom at the time.
Whatever the motive, the significance of this meeting in the church at
Jamestown remains the same. This body of duly chosen representatives of
the people has continued in existence and its evolution leads directly
to our State legislatures and to the Congress of the United States.


DEVELOPMENTS, 1619-24.

Another significant development of 1619 was the sending by the company
of maidens to Virginia to be wives of the settlers. Although many women
were already established with their families in the Jamestown colony,
the company recognized that homes and children for all the men would be
conducive to established family life and permanent residence. Under this
new project, the first maidens arrived in May and June 1620. Others
followed, as ships brought more and more young women seeking their
fortunes in Virginia.

The third momentous event in 1619 was the arrival of Negroes in a Dutch
warship. They remained in Virginia, some finding homes, and some as
indentured servants even as some white men were at that time.
Nevertheless, this first arrival of Negroes was to lead to the
introduction of slavery into the colony. It was more than a generation
before the institution of slavery began to be entrenched as the backbone
of the economic life in Virginia, yet this event of 1619 was the first
move in that direction.

    [Illustration: _A typical view of the landscape on Jamestown Island.
    The high ground is principally along low ridges, sometimes called
    “fingers,” divided by marshes or very low ground._]

Under Dale, the emphasis on colonization was away from Jamestown, yet
later governors found the original seat desirable. Capt. Samuel Argall,
who succeeded Yeardley as deputy governor in 1617, wrote that he
advanced physical improvements prior to his hasty withdrawal from
Virginia in the spring of 1619 to avoid arrest under charges of
mismanagement of company affairs. Argall had been the first to prescribe
limits for Jamestown. Yeardley followed him as governor, and for the
next few years Jamestown, at this time most often called “James City,”
witnessed considerable growth and activity. The town, long before, had
expanded outside of the fort and spread along the shore on the extreme
west end of the island. The borough or incorporation, of which it was
the center, extended west to the Chickahominy River and downriver beyond
Hog Island. Its territory was along the north side of the river and
included the south side as well—the area that later became Surry County.
West toward the Chickahominy the area adjacent to Jamestown Island
became rather heavily developed and was referred to as the “Suburbs of
James City.”

The period from 1619 to 1624 was one of considerable activity for
Virginia in general and Jamestown in particular. The reorganized
Virginia Company, following its political changes, renewed its efforts
to expand the colony and to stimulate profitable employment. Heavy
emphasis was placed on new industries, particularly iron and glass, the
latter evidently attempted a second time on Glasshouse Point. The
planting of mulberry trees and the growing of silkworms were advanced by
the dispatch of treatises on silk culture and silkworm eggs in a project
in which King James I himself had a personal interest. Immigration to
the colony was increased, and measures were taken to meet the religious
and educational needs of the settlers. This was the period that saw the
attempt to establish a college at Henrico.

The industrial and manufacturing efforts of these years, however, were
not destined to succeed. This condition was not due to any laxity on the
part of George Sandys, resident treasurer in Virginia, who was something
of an economic on-the-spot supervisor for the company. Virginia could
not yet support these projects profitably, and interest was lacking on
the part of the planters who found in tobacco a source of wealth
superior to anything else that had been tried. Tobacco was profitable,
and it was grown, at times, even in the streets of Jamestown. It was the
profit from tobacco that supported the improved living conditions that
came throughout the colony.

These Englishmen who came to settle in the wilderness retained their
desire for the advantages of life in England. Books, for example, were
highly valued, and with the passage of the years were no uncommon
commodity in Virginia. As early as 1608, Rev. Robert Hunt had a library
at Jamestown, which was consumed by fire in January of that year. Each
new group of colonists seemingly added to the store on hand—Bibles,
Books of Common Prayer, other religious works, medical and scientific
treatises, legal publications, accounts of gardening, and such. In 1621,
the company wrote to the colonial officials regarding works for a new
minister being sent to the colony that: “As for bookes we doubt not but
you wilbe able to supplie him out of the lybraries of so many that have
died.” By this date there was local literary effort, too, such as that
by Treasurer George Sandys who continued his celebrated translation of
Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_ in the house of William Pierce at Jamestown.
Then, too, in March 1623, a gentleman of the colony sent from “_Iames_
his Towne” the ballad “Good Newes from Virginia” in which, among other
things, he describes the arrival of the governor’s wife at Jamestown and
uses this to prod others to support the colony and to settle in
Virginia.

  _But last of all that Lady faire,
  that woman worth renoune:
  That left her Country and her friends,
  to grace braue_ Iames _his towne_.

  _The wife unto our Gouernour,
  did safely here ariue:
  With many gallants following her,
  whom God preserue aliue.
  What man would stay when Ladies gay,
  both liues and fortunes leaues:
  To taste what we haue truely sowne,
  truth never man deceaues._

             (From _The William and Mary Quarterly_, 3rd Ser., V, 357-8)


“NEW TOWNE.”

It is in the 1619 to 1624 period that the first clear picture of
Jamestown emerges, for this period corresponds with the earliest known
property records that exist. The town had outgrown the original fort in
some years past and now appeared as a fairly flourishing settlement. The
records reveal that many of the property owners were yeomen, merchants,
carpenters, hog-raisers, farmers, joiners, shopkeepers, and ordinary
“fellows,” as well as governors and colonial officials. The “New Towne”
section of James City developed in this period as the old section proved
too small and the residents began to build more substantial houses,
principally frame on brick foundations. The Indian massacre of 1622,
that wrought such heavy devastation in the colony, did not reach
Jamestown which was warned through the efforts of the Indian, Chanco. It
did temporarily cause congestion in the Jamestown area, however, as the
survivors from the more distant settlements fell back for safety and to
regroup. The punitive Indian campaigns that followed were directed from
Jamestown by the governor, who resided there.

The population figures taken in these years give a good idea of the size
of Jamestown in this period. In February 1624, it is recorded that 183
persons were living in Jamestown and 35 others on the island outside of
the town. These are listed by name, as are the 87 who died between April
1623 and the following February. The death toll suggests that the
mortality rate was continuing high and that it was still difficult for
newcomers to adapt themselves to the Virginia environment. In the
“census” of January 1625, a total of 124 residents are listed for “James
Citty” and an additional 51 for the island. In the over-all total of
173, 122 were males and 53, females. At that time, Governor Sir Francis
Wyatt and former Governor Yeardley had two of the largest musters for
the town, which included women, children, indentured servants, and
Negroes. Nine Negroes were listed for Jamestown and the island,
evidently some of those brought there in 1619.

Aside from the population statistics, the musters of January 1625 give
much more information. Jamestown had a church, a court-of-guard
(guardhouse), 3 stores, a merchant’s store, and 33 houses. Ten of the
colony’s 40 boats were here, including a skiff, a “shallop” of 4 tons,
and a “barque” of 40 tons. There were stores of fish (24,880 pounds to
be exact), corn, peas, and meal. There were four pieces of ordnance,
supplies of powder, shot and lead, and, for individual use, “fixt
peeces,” snaphances, pistols, swords (to the number of 70), coats of
mail, quilted coats, and suits of armor (35 of them complete). The bulk
of the colony’s livestock seems to have been localized in the Jamestown
area—about half (183) of the cattle, a little more than half (265) of
the hogs, and well over half (126) of the goats. The one horse listed
for the colony was at Jamestown.

The “census” clearly indicates that the population of Jamestown was not
keeping pace with that of the colony. The needs of tobacco culture—open
fields and new soil—and the abundance of navigable waters in the rivers,
bays, and creeks of tidewater Virginia led to a scattered population,
based on the plantation system. These factors prevented the rise of
trade centers and large towns for almost a century, despite the best
efforts of both home and colonial officials. The idea was to make
Jamestown the center of social, political, and economic life and to
develop it into a city of some proportions. In size, it never attained
that of a city and it failed to dominate trade and commerce. It was,
however, the hub of political and social life for as long as it was the
capital of Virginia—92 years. Hence, its story is vital to an
understanding of American beginnings. Its citizens, in their daily life
and work, developed the origins of many of our institutions, styles, and
customs in speech, in architecture, in dress, and in government
organization.


VIRGINIA MADE A ROYAL COLONY.

The Virginia Company established the first permanent English settlement
in America, but did not reap the profits that it had expected. Despite
reorganization and large expenditures, it never achieved its full
objective and was increasingly subject to criticism. Matters reached a
head in 1624 when James I dissolved the company, thereby removing the
hand that had guided Virginia affairs for 17 years. With this act
Virginia became a royal colony and continued as such until the American
Revolution made it free and independent. From the point of view of
operations in the colony the change was almost painless although there
was concern over land titles and a continuance of the assembly which had
already voiced its feeling on taxation without representation. The
company governor gave way to the royal appointee, but most institutions
were left intact.

    [Illustration: _The remains of a brick and tile kiln (c. 1650) found
    at Jamestown. This is the best preserved and most complete of
    several kilns that have been uncovered, showing that the Jamestown
    residents manufactured many of their bricks and roofing tiles._]

Sir Francis Wyatt was the last company governor, and he continued in
office for a while as royal governor. When he left for England, in 1626,
Yeardley again became governor and served until he died at Jamestown the
next year. Capt. Francis West was named to the post as deputy. Another
deputy, Dr. John Pott, followed next in turn, and he was replaced by the
royal appointee, Sir John Harvey.


GOVERNOR HARVEY DEPOSED.

Sir John Harvey first came to Virginia in 1624 as a member of a
committee to report on conditions in the colony. It was in 1630 that he
returned as royal governor and settled himself at “James cittie, the
seate of the Governor.” In 1632, he had a commodious house here and was
complaining of the expense of the entertainment that he had to finance
in “the Governors owne house.” Whether because of his personal nature,
his own view or interpretation of government, or because of the severe
opposition that confronted him, he managed to become thoroughly disliked
throughout the colony. His high-handed and autocratic methods arrayed
even his council against him.

In the end, his council, in meetings at Jamestown, moved to depose him,
naming another to act in his stead—a bold measure, indeed. The assembly,
in May 1635, approved this action, and Harvey was returned to England to
answer the charges placed against him there. The King, it is true,
returned Harvey to his post as royal governor in 1637, but undoubtedly
both he and Harvey were impressed by the action that the colonists had
taken to redress their grievances—they had deposed a royal governor.


BRICK ARCHITECTURE.

When Governor Harvey reached Jamestown in January 1637 he made a special
effort to promote the growth of the town. The assembly passed an act
offering a “portion of land for a house and garden” to every person who
would undertake to build on it within 2 years. This was the beginning of
considerable activity at Jamestown. A number of new patents were issued,
and, in January 1639, the governor and his council could report that 12
houses and stores had been constructed and others had been begun. One of
those already built was the house of Richard Kemp, secretary of the
colony. His house was described as “one of brick” and “the fairest ever
known in this country for substance and uniformity.” Kemp’s house is the
earliest all-brick house in Virginia that it has been possible to date
conclusively up to the present time. It was in 1639, too, that the first
brick church was begun, and a levy was collected for the acquisition of
a statehouse. Among the new land holders at Jamestown in this period of
activity were Capt. Thomas Hill, Rev. Thomas Hampton, and Alexander
Stoner, a “brickmaker.” As the area along the river was occupied,
additional patentees obtained holdings just outside of the town proper
and others settled in the few lots that were not in use. Sir William
Berkeley, who became governor in 1641, continued the emphasis on the
construction of substantial houses. In that same year, the colony
acquired its first statehouse, formerly the property of Harvey and a
building in which public business had been transacted for, perhaps, as
much as 10 years.

In March 1646, measures were taken to discourage the sale of liquors on
the island, and a system of licensed ordinary keepers was adopted. Later
in the year, houses for the encouragement of linen manufacture were
projected for Jamestown. In 1649, the General Assembly established a
market and near the market area was the landing for the ferry that ran
across the James to Surry County. Even this new action, however, failed
to develop a town of any great extent. The same was true of the Act of
1662 which attempted to encourage a substantial building program for the
capital town. Only a few houses were erected before the new impetus had
spent itself, and, in 1676, it is known that the town was still little
more than a large village. One of the more detailed descriptions at this
time relates that “The Towne ... [extended] east and west, about 3
quarters of a mile ... [and] comprehended som[e] 16 or 18 houses, most
as is the church built of brick, faire and large; and in them about a
dozen families (for all the howses are not inhabited) getting their
liveings by keeping of ordnaries, at extreordnary rates.”


THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD.

The decade of 1650-60 corresponds to the period of the Commonwealth
Government in England. Virginia, for the most part, appeared loyal to
the crown, yet in 1652 the colony submitted to the new government when
it demonstrated its power before Jamestown. Governor Berkeley withdrew
to his home at Green Spring, just above Jamestown, and the General
Assembly assumed the governing role, acting under the Parliament of
England. Virginia was given liberal treatment, with considerable freedom
in taxation and matters of government. The governors in this interval,
elected by the assembly, were Richard Bennett, Edward Digges (an active
supporter of the production of silk in Virginia), and Samuel Mathews. In
1660, on the death of Mathews, the assembly recalled Berkeley to the
governor’s office, an act that was approved by Charles II, who was
restored to the English throne in that year. The decade passed quietly
for the colony, although, in the years that followed, it had occasion to
remember the liberal control that it had enjoyed. It had witnessed an
increased wave of immigration that brought some of those who were
fleeing from England, and this more than offset the loss of the Puritans
whom Berkeley had forced out of the colony prior to 1650.

In matters of religion, Virginia continued loyal to the Church of
England, although there was considerable freedom for the individual. The
Puritans found it uncomfortable to remain, however, and two Quaker
preachers, William Cole and George Wilson, soon found themselves in
prison at Jamestown. Writing “From that dirty dungeon in Jamestown,” in
1662, they described the prison as a place “... where we have not the
benefit to do what nature requireth, nor so much as air, to blow in at a
window, but close made up with brick and lime....” Lord Baltimore
(George Calvert) did not find the colony hospitable when he visited
Jamestown with his family in 1629, for, being a Roman Catholic, he could
not take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy which denied the authority
of the Pope.


BACON’S REBELLION, 1676-77.

Bacon’s Rebellion, one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of
the English colonies, stands out as a highlight in 17th-century
Virginia. It broke in spectacular fashion and is often hailed as a
forerunner of the Revolution. It constituted the only serious civil
disturbance experienced by Virginia during its entire life as a British
colony. It occupies a prominent spot in the annals of the times, and in
any chronicle of Jamestown its significance can be multiplied many
times, for a number of its stirring events took place at the seat of
government and resulted in excessive physical destruction in the town.

The rebellion had its origin in Indian frontier difficulties and a royal
Governor (Sir William Berkeley) who, possibly as a result of his
involvement in the Indian trade, had become somewhat dictatorial,
tyrannical, and a firm advocate of the _status quo_. The leader for the
exposed frontiersmen and the generally disgruntled Virginians came in
the person of Nathaniel Bacon, a young man of good birth, training, and
education who had come to Virginia in 1674. A distant kinsman of Lord
Chancellor Francis Bacon and a relative of another Nathaniel Bacon, who
was a leading citizen of Virginia, he soon became established as a
first-rate planter at Curles, in Henrico County, and was admitted to the
Governor’s Council not long after his arrival.

Considerable underlying discontent had been aroused in Virginia by the
low prices for tobacco, the cumulative effects of the Navigation Acts,
high taxes, and autocratic rule by Berkeley, whose loyal supporters
permeated the government structure and had not allowed an election of
burgesses for 15 years. The spark came from the depredations of the
Susquehanna Indians who were being forced south by the powerful
Iroquois. They made attacks all along the Virginia frontier. Berkeley
ordered a counterattack, but cancelled it in favor of maintaining a
system of forts along the edge of the western settlements. In March
1676, the Assembly at Jamestown made plans for new forts; this measure,
however, was both time-consuming and ineffective. Among the leaders who
assembled at the falls of the James for consultation regarding the
Indian menace was the young Nathaniel Bacon. William Byrd I was there,
too, and, even though he was the officer who had been named to guard the
frontier, Bacon was placed in command of the men sent to attack the
enemy Indians. A messenger left to request a commission for him from the
governor. Berkeley replied that he would discuss the matter with his
Council. Bacon then set out with his men to collect allies from among
the friendly Indians. While Bacon was on the march he received word from
Berkeley ordering him to return or be declared a rebel. Bacon did not
turn back but continued into the wilderness in search of the enemy.
Action came at Occaneechee Island. Bacon returned with captives and was
hailed as a hero by those who had heard of his exploits.

Governor Berkeley realized that the situation was becoming critical and
that he could lose control of his government. Prompt action was
necessary. He dissolved the House of Burgesses and ordered a new
election. The result was that many of his loyal adherents were replaced
by representatives, some of whom were unfriendly, even hostile, to him.
The new assembly convened in the Statehouse at “James Citty” on June 5,
1676, and among the burgesses was the defiant Bacon who had been
returned by the voters of Henrico. An announced rebel and not yet
formally removed from the council, it is doubtful that he was eligible
for his seat, yet he determined to go to Jamestown and present his
credentials.

He boarded his sloop, accompanied by about 40 supporters, and sailed
down the James. When near Jamestown he sent ahead to inquire whether he
would be allowed to enter the town in peace. A shot from a cannon in the
fort gave the negative answer. Despite this, Bacon secretly went ashore
at night to confer with two of his friends then living in
Jamestown—William Drummond, a former governor in Carolina, and Richard
Lawrence, a former Oxford student. Later that night he returned to his
boat and started back up the James, but was taken by an officer whom
Berkeley had sent out to apprehend him. A dramatic scene followed at
Jamestown.

Bacon was brought before the governor, paroled, and restored to the
council. Berkeley knew that his opponent had the upper hand and that the
House of Burgesses, then in session, was against him. Bacon seemingly
could have remained in the capital and personally directed a full
program of economic and political reform. This evidently was not his
aim. He demanded a commission to go against the Indians, and, when
Berkeley delayed, he disappeared from Jamestown, later saying that his
person was in danger, although this appears unlikely. Bacon now entered
a course from which he could not turn back. With a sizable group of
supporters, on June 23, he returned again to Jamestown. He crossed the
isthmus “... there le[a]veing a party to secure the passage, then
marched into Towne, ... [sent] partyes to the ferry, River & fort, & ...
[drew] his forces against the state house.” In the face of this show of
force, the governor gave him a commission, and the burgesses passed
measures designed to correct many old abuses. Among the new laws was one
establishing the bounds of Jamestown to include the entire island and
giving the residents within these bounds the right, for the first time,
to make their own local ordinances.

By this time Bacon and his men were arrayed solidly against both
governor and royal government. The issue was defeat or independence for
Virginia, but Virginia was not yet ready and did not elect to face the
issue. Bacon, it seems, wanted extreme measures, and there is evidence
to indicate that he visualized the formation of an American Republic.
Yet when Bacon established himself as the opponent of royal government
in Virginia and subordinated his role as supporter of the frontier
settlers against misrule, he lost popular support. Had he lived and
succeeded in arms, it is questionable that the people would have backed
him, for they had not shown much disposition to defy royal authority.
The discontent at this time was not so much against that authority as
against the misuse of it by Sir William Berkeley.

The issues having been drawn, Bacon pursued his course to the bitter
end. He returned to Henrico. When about to move a second time against
the Indians, news came that Berkeley was attempting to raise troops in
Gloucester County. Consequently, it was to Gloucester that Bacon first
moved, only to find that his opponent had withdrawn to Accomac, on the
Eastern Shore of Virginia. On August 1, at Middle Plantation (later
Williamsburg), Bacon sought to administer his oath of loyalty and to
announce his “Declaration of the People” to those assembled there at his
summons. His next move was against the Pamunkey Indians. Then it seemed
necessary that he move again on Berkeley who now had returned to
Jamestown.

    [Illustration: _A prepared drawing of the plat of a survey made for
    William Sherwood at Jamestown in 1680. “Roades” indicates the course
    of the “Greate Road” that connected the town with the mainland. On
    the left the isthmus that joined the “Island” to Glasshouse Point is
    shown._]

On September 13, 1676, he drew up his “few weake and Tyr’d [tired]” men
in the “Green Spring Old Field,” just above Jamestown, and posted
lookouts on Glasshouse Point. Then he ordered the construction of a
trench across the island end of the isthmus. A raiding party advanced as
far as the palisade, near the edge of Jamestown proper. Berkeley ordered
several ships brought up as close to the shore as possible. Their guns
and the small arms of the men along the palisades opened fire against
Bacon, but proved ineffective in routing him from his entrenchments. On
September 15, Berkeley organized a sally, “with horse and foote in the
Van,” which retreated under hot fire from Bacon’s entrenchments. At this
point Berkeley’s force lost heart, while his opponent’s spirit reached a
new high. In any event, after a week of siege, the governor felt
compelled to withdraw from Jamestown. This he did, by boat, with many of
his supporters. This was the high point of Bacon’s fortune in arms, and
a costly one. Seemingly, it was during the fatiguing siege, which came
“in a wett Season,” that he contracted the illness that caused his death
and brought an abrupt end to the rebellion.

Following Berkeley’s withdrawal, Bacon and his tired force marched into
Jamestown for rest. Wholesale destruction followed. As a contemporary
put it, “Here resting a few daies they concerted the burning of the
town, wherein Mr. Laurence [Richard Lawrence] and Mr. [William] Drummond
owning the two best houses save one, set fire each to his own house,
which example the souldiers following laid the whole town (with church
and State house) in ashes....” It is known from the records that the
destruction was systematic and that the town suffered heavily from the
burning. Among those losing homes and possessions of high value were
Col. Thomas Swann, Maj. Theophilus Hone “high sheriff of Jamestown,”
William Sherwood, and Mr. James’ “orphan,” the last to the value of
£1,000. It was estimated that total losses reached a value of 1,500,000
pounds of tobacco. Again the idea was advanced to move the seat of
government from Jamestown to some more desirable location. A little
later, Tindall’s (now Gloucester) Point, on the York, was given
preferential consideration by the assembly as a fit location. The move
was not made, however, and the capital remained at Jamestown for another
quarter of a century.

From Jamestown, Berkeley moved once more to the Eastern Shore. Bacon,
whose men pillaged Green Spring (Berkeley’s home on the mainland, just
above Jamestown) on the way, marched to Gloucester, where he became ill
and died on October 26, 1676. The rebellion, now without a real leader,
quickly collapsed. Joseph Ingram, successor to Bacon, and Gregory
Wakelett, cavalry leader in Gloucester County, surrendered in January
1677; Lawrence disappeared in the Chickahominy marshes; and Drummond was
promptly hanged. Berkeley moved with haste to silence his opponents,
making ready use of the death sentence.

Accommodations for the conduct of government were now wholly inadequate
at Jamestown. Consequently, Berkeley called the assembly to meet at
Green Spring, which functioned for a time almost as the temporary
capital. In February 1677, the commissioners who were sent to
investigate Bacon’s Rebellion arrived in Virginia. With them came about
1,000 troops who encamped at Jamestown for the remainder of the winter
and ensuing spring. The commissioners, among them Col. Herbert Jeffreys,
the next governor, finding so much ruin and desolation at Jamestown,
made their headquarters in the home of Col. Thomas Swann across the
James from the capital town. Berkeley left for England in May, and
Jeffreys took control in Virginia. It was not until March 1679, however,
that definite action (following a recommendation of the investigating
commissioners) was taken for the restoration of Jamestown. Then it was
ordered, in England, that the town be rebuilt and made the metropolis of
Virginia “as the most ancient and convenient place.”

    [Illustration: _A section from the “Plan du Terrein a la Rive Gauche
    de la Riviere de James vis-a-vis James-Town en Virginie ...” done by
    Colonel Desandrouins, of the French Army, in 1781._]


JAMESTOWN REBUILT.

Lord Culpeper reached Virginia in May 1680, with instructions to rebuild
Jamestown and to develop it into an urban center. In 1683, he was able
to report that he had given all possible encouragement to this
enterprise and that, although he himself was living at Green Spring,
considerable activity had begun. He mentioned specifically that
Nathaniel Bacon (the kinsman of the rebel), Joseph Bridger, and William
Sherwood had substantial work under way. A little later the fourth
statehouse was completed, as was the church. By 1697 the town had been
rebuilt and boasted of a statehouse, country house, church, fort, powder
magazine, and 20 or 30 houses. In this period William Sherwood, for a
time attorney general for the colony, was a major landholder on the
island and in the town. Others included Robert Beverley, author of one
of the early histories of Virginia; William Edwards, clerk of the
Council; Henry Hartwell; and John Page. It was in 1686 that John
Clayton, minister at Jamestown, offered proposals for draining the
marshes nearby to improve the healthfulness of the spot, a project that
never materialized.


STATEHOUSE BURNED AND CAPITAL MOVED.

On October 31, 1698, a fire consumed the Statehouse, prison, and
probably other buildings at Jamestown, although the records and papers
were saved. This fire led to the removal of the seat of government to
Middle Plantation (Williamsburg)—a spot favored by the Governor, Sir
Francis Nicholson. Thus, Jamestown was abandoned as the seat of
government after 92 years. Its mission had been accomplished, and it had
seen Virginia grow from the small settlement of 1607 into a colony of
great extent, with a population of perhaps 80,000.


LATER YEARS AT JAMESTOWN.

The removal of the capital ultimately proved the death blow for
Jamestown, for this eliminated the primary reason for its existence.
Decline set in immediately, but Jamestown retained a seat in the
assembly for another three-quarters of a century. Its end as a town,
legally and physically, may be given as the period of the American
Revolution. There was a military post here early in that struggle.
Later, it became a point of exchange for American and British prisoners
of war, and it featured in the maneuvers leading to the Siege of
Yorktown. It witnessed the movement of Cornwallis’ army across the James
and was a landing and resting point for American and French soldiers
being sent to join Washington’s allied army.

    [Illustration: _A watercolor by Robert M. Sully showing the
    shoreline at Jamestown in 1854 at a point just above the Old Church
    Tower. In this period erosion was slowly destroying the west end of
    the site of “Old James Towne.” (Original in the collection of the
    late Miss Julia Sully, Richmond, Va.)_]

Even before 1700, property on Jamestown Island was being consolidated
into a few hands. The consolidation continued unabated after this date,
and before the middle of the 18th century the major part of the island
was in the hands of two families—Ambler and Travis—each of which had its
own “mansion.” The Travis family estate at Jamestown had grown slowly
since before 1650, and Richard Ambler, of Yorktown, acquired, through
marriage, the extensive Jaquelin, formerly Sherwood, holdings. After
1830, the island came under a single ownership. Under the Amblers and
Travises and later owners of the island, even parts of the townsite
itself became farm land and functioned as an integral part of the
plantation system which earlier events at Jamestown had helped so
materially to create.

The fields, and woods, and marshes lay quietly on the James for
generations, contributing in a small, but important, manner to a growing
country. Americans often remembered the early years of the colony and
the momentous events that had taken place on the island, and joined here
to commemorate the deeds of their forefathers. There was the
Bicentennial of 1807, the Virginiad of 1822, the 250th anniversary in
1857, and the Tercentennial of 1907. In the years between these events
there were thousands who came individually and in small groups, the
famous and those now unknown. It was this remembrance and loyalty to one
of its great landmarks that led to the establishment of Jamestown Island
as a national historic shrine.




                   _Jamestown National Historic Site_


The first organized effort toward saving the Jamestown area came in 1893
when the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
acquired 22.5 acres of the old townsite. This land, donated for
preservation by Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Barney, embraced the Old Church
Tower, the graveyard, and the west end of the townsite.

The Association which was chartered in 1889 is better known, perhaps, as
the APVA. It is a non-profit organization interested in the acquisition,
preservation, and restoration of “ancient historic grounds, buildings,
monuments, and tombs in the Commonwealth of Virginia” and in the
collection and care of relics associated with them or with the history
of the State. Its Jamestown property is one of a number of holdings
which it administers. Another is the 17th-century Warren House on the
Rolfe property in Surry County just across the James River from
Jamestown.

Until 1934 the Association was the sole active agency working at
Jamestown to conserve and interpret the site for the American people. As
the custodian of a significant part of the site of old “James Towne,” it
continues working to promote measures insuring the protection of the
site and making it available for your use and inspiration. Landscaping,
limited reconstruction, some restoration, and the stabilization of the
remains of the Old Church Tower, the tombs, and foundations have all
been a part of its program, together with the acquisition and display of
Jamestown relics. In its work, it has solicited and received aid from
various organizations, particularly patriotic societies, in the
placement of memorials, and related activities. The Memorial Church was
constructed by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
The Association was especially active in preparation for the Jamestown
Exposition in 1907.

The Association was successful in its efforts to encourage the United
States Government to construct the seawall which was built by Col.
Samuel H. Yonge in 1900-1901 to halt bank erosion by the James River
along the Association grounds. Colonel Yonge became a serious student of
Jamestown history and wrote _The Site of Old “James Towne,” 1607-1698_,
a work still available through purchase from the Association. In 1907,
the Association made available the grounds on which the Tercentenary
Monument was erected, and again in 1956 it provided land on which to
place the Jamestown Visitor Center.

In 1940 the Association entered into agreement with the United States of
America, through the Secretary of the Interior, to provide for a unified
program of development and administration for the island. It was at this
time that the APVA grounds were designated as Jamestown National
Historic Site. The joint cooperative agreement continues in force and
the Association and the National Park Service are working together to
preserve, maintain, and interpret this historic area.

In 1956 it became possible to present the townsite as a single unit when
the ferry to the island and the State highway crossing the island were
moved upriver above Jamestown. The APVA and the Service then combined
their separate museum exhibits to form the displays now seen in the
Visitor Center, and consolidated other operations at the center where
both are hosts to Jamestown visitors.

    [Illustration: _Early ceramic types found in the excavations._]




                  _Colonial National Historical Park_


In 1930, by Presidential proclamation, all of Jamestown Island’s 1,559.5
acres (equally divided between marsh and dry land) were included within
the boundaries of Colonial National Monument. The monument designation
was changed to that of a national historical park by act of Congress in
1936. Actual Federal ownership of the island (other than the 22-acre
Association tract) was obtained in 1934, and some years later, a bit of
the mainland opposite the western tip of Jamestown was added because of
its close ties to the site.

Colonial National Historical Park is made up of several areas of which
Jamestown is one. It includes, as well, the Cape Henry Memorial, at the
mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, where the first settlers who established
Jamestown first stopped in Virginia; the Yorktown Battlefield; and the
Colonial Parkway.




                           _Colonial Parkway_


This 23-mile scenic motor road connects historic Jamestown,
Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Along its course are descriptive markers
that give bits of history which often show the interrelation of
Jamestown (where the Nation began), Williamsburg (the 18th-century
capital of Virginia where important elements of our Revolutionary
leadership were nourished), and Yorktown (where the climatic battle in
our struggle for independence was fought).




                        _The Study of Jamestown_


When the major part of Jamestown Island, including much of the townsite,
was placed in its custody in 1934, the National Park Service, working
with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities,
assumed responsibility for preservation of the historic remains on the
island and for interpreting the site. This posed many problems, for the
Jamestown story is a vital segment of our national history, involving
the origins and growth of the culture of this formative period of
English colonization. The first pressing concern was the accumulation of
data on which to base a more complete understanding of life and
conditions as they existed at that time, specifically at Jamestown. This
was needed in order to plan for the preservation, development, and
interpretation of the area.

A program was drawn up which combined the various types of research that
the conditions and problems at Jamestown required. The overall objective
was to secure and preserve all possible data on Jamestown history
(giving history its broadest interpretation), and to gain a well-rounded
picture of the growth of agriculture, industry, commerce, and society
during the period Jamestown was inhabited.

Trained historians began to search in the leading libraries of the
country. At Jamestown, engineers and archeologists, assisted by
historians, architects, and museum technicians, began to survey the
island. Little of the old town existed aboveground, yet it was known
that there were, in all probability, extensive remains underground.
Systematic excavation was begun on the townsite on July 11, 1934.

In the beginning, it was recognized that the program would be of long
duration. Initially, in the years prior to World War II, the support of
the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) and the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) proved invaluable. Work all but ceased during the war years
and went on at a very slow rate in the years just after the war. The
program was renewed with vigor in 1954 as plans for Jamestown’s 350th
anniversary began to materialize.

On June 1, 1938, a field laboratory and storage building to house the
Jamestown activities was completed, giving the project an adequate
physical plant. It soon came to house thousands of cultural objects and
included offices as well as facilities for cleaning, sorting, storing,
and cataloguing excavated materials. This temporary building served the
need for study, and later for interpretation, until it was removed early
in 1957. It was replaced, although on a different site, by the Jamestown
Visitor Center early in 1957.

    [Illustration: _Excavation in progress at Jamestown in 1955._]

    [Illustration: _Lighting equipment as used at Jamestown. (These
    objects were excavated on the site.)_]

The findings of the program have been extensive. Documentary Study has
gleaned data which, when carefully examined, yields a more complete
picture of 17th-century Jamestown than was thought possible. However,
the picture is sketchy and needs the details filled in. For this reason,
research continues in anticipation of bridging the gaps.

Archeological work proved more fruitful than the most optimistic had
anticipated during the initial phases of the work. The materials and
information found beneath the ground at Jamestown have been astonishing
in both quantity and type. Architectural and constructural findings are
of various types. More than a hundred building-remains have been
excavated. Some are only the footings for a frame structure, some are
brick foundations in full outline, and others are well-preserved cellars
with interesting structural detail. Associated with the sites are
fragments of hardware, glass, roofing tile, and related building
materials. Some of the building remains are those of the most prominent
structures at Jamestown, such as statehouses and governors’ houses.
Brick kilns have been found, one being the well-preserved ruins in the
Association grounds, showing clearly that 17th-century Virginians made
much of their own brick and roofing tile. Pottery manufacture has been
documented as well as other such activities. Several types of early
wells, often brick-lined, have yielded many objects dropped in
accidentally, or by design, while they were still in use.

Even road traces still exist. Some of them, considered in the light of
documentary references, have made it possible to reestablish the route
of the “Greate Road” formerly connecting the island and the mainland.
The reopening of old property line ditches and the rediscovery of fence
lines (by identifying old post holes) have aided immeasurably in
locating property tracts. This information, added to that of the old
land grants and survey plats, has made possible the location of many
early landholdings and has helped in the study of the physical layout of
the town. Other features uncovered include lime kilns, where the early
Jamestown builders burned their own lime for plaster—occasionally found
still clinging to basement walls—and brick drains.

The number and variety of objects found in the excavations can only be
indicated in general terms. The great bulk of thousands of items now
collected is made up of pieces of iron, copper, brass, bronze, pewter,
clay, and earth. Occasionally some more perishable materials, such as
wool, leather, and wood, are found. Among the more interesting finds are
clay tobacco pipes, glass wine bottles, pottery vessels, Delft tiles,
gun and sword fragments, bullets, cannon balls, spurs, bits of armor,
stirrups and bridles, locks, keys, nails, spoons, forks, shears, pins,
thimbles, axes, hoes, window glass, buckles, combs, and rings. A
complete list would be much longer. Often only fragments remain, yet in
many cases it is possible to make a full restoration of the original
piece, such as has been done with a clay baking oven. A special
illustrated publication is available, in popular style, describing the
archeological work and the collection.

    [Illustration: _In early Jamestown, water came from shallow wells
    which often had a barrel at the bottom such as this found still in
    place._]

Individually and collectively, these objects give us an insight into the
manner in which 17th-century Jamestown men and their families lived.
These objects will help you get a more complete picture of the first
Virginians—how they dressed, worked, built and equipped their homes, and
satisfied their daily needs.

    [Illustration: _Sgraffito—often called “scratch” ware since the
    design was scratched into the upper layer of pliable clay before it
    was baked—is one of the most common 17th-century ceramic types found
    at Jamestown._]




                     _The Development of Jamestown_


No attempt will be made to restore Jamestown as it was in 1607 or at any
other period. The town was always small and always changing. Jamestown,
it might be said, was never a city in the modern concept. It was more a
village, a small community. The town of 1607, or 1610, was unlike that
of 1623, and that of 1623 was far different from that of 1675.
Architecture went all the way from timber and thatch structures to
substantial all-brick houses. Even if the town had had a reasonable
continuity of building types and plan, known information would be
entirely insufficient to allow a restoration. Major discoveries of new
material are still expected, yet the detail necessary for an authentic
restoration may always be too meager.

The site of old “James Towne” has, however, retained much of the spirit
of its antiquity. Its serene and peaceful atmosphere seems to take one
back through the years. You may be able, for a moment, to disassociate
yourself from the swift pace of present living as you wander past the
old foundations and look upon the Old Church Tower.

The National Park Service, following the precedent established by the
Association, is endeavoring to preserve this unbroken link with the
past. The emphasis is on the presentation of the townsite itself and the
island wilderness as the real exhibit. There are “streets” and winding
paths, exposed and marked foundations, existing remains, paintings of
buildings and scenes, property markings (old ditches, fences of period
design, and hedges), and natural planting. Shaded vistas and secluded
points for quiet reflection are provided as much as possible. Some use
is being made of period-type buildings (but not specific
reconstructions) as in the “glasshouse” with its thatch, wattle and
daub, and “cruck” design.

Physical features of the 17th century have not survived at Jamestown in
sufficient number to illustrate the complete story, and the townsite
will not adapt itself to a full coverage. However, there are extensive
supplementary exhibits in the Jamestown Visitor Center, which are
designed to help you understand and “experience” Jamestown.

    [Illustration: _The Old Church Tower, standing on the grounds of the
    Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, was
    probably built about 1639._]

    [Illustration: BUILDING HARDWARE
    UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN]

  HINGES
  NAILS
  DOOR LOCKS
  RIVET
  PADLOCKS
  STRAP HINGE
  STRAP HINGE WITH PINTLE
  KEYS




                          _Guide to the Area_


  (Numbers correspond to numbers on the map on page 43.)

“James Towne” developed on the west end of Jamestown Island. At its
maximum extent it lay along the river for approximately three-quarters
of a mile. It was a thin strip of a town between the James River and the
marsh that came to be called Pitch and Tar Swamp. At first there was
only the fort, then an enlarged palisaded area. Gradually the town grew
with the building of houses, a church, a market place, shops,
storehouses, forts, statehouses, and other public buildings grouped
along streets and paths. The entire townsite is an exhibit area. The
_Visitor Center_ (1), at its edge, is a short distance from the parking
area across a trestle bridge spanning Pitch and Tar Swamp.

In the Visitor Center, sponsored jointly by the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and the National Park Service, an
orientation program of movies and slides, an information desk, an
extensive series of exhibits, and literature and souvenirs are
available. The exhibits include many irreplaceable objects, such as
earrings of Pocahontas, and many objects recovered from the ground.
There are dioramas, a large model of James Fort, illustrated panels, and
other displays telling about early Jamestown and explaining the points
of interest on the townsite and along the island tour or drive.

    [Illustration: “JAMES TOWNE”
    JAMESTOWN ISLAND
    VIRGINIA]

The adjacent townsite is easily reached from the Visitor Center, and a
good general view of it may be had from the observation terrace around
the _Tercentenary Monument_ (2). This shaft of New Hampshire granite
rising 103 feet above its base was erected in 1907 to commemorate the
300th anniversary of the settlement.

A footpath leads from the monument terrace to the church area, crossing
the trace of the “Greate Road,” which served the town’s residents some
300 years ago. It passes close to the site of a 17th-century brick kiln
just inside the entrance to the APVA grounds.

The _Church Area_ (3), the most inspiring spot at Jamestown today,
embraces the Old Tower, the Memorial Church, and the Churchyard. The
ivy-covered _Old Church Tower_ is the only standing ruin of the
17th-century town. It is believed to have been a part of the first brick
church built about 1639. Its 3-foot-thick walls of handmade brick laid
in English bond have been standing for more than 300 years. The
_Memorial Church_, directly behind the tower, was erected in 1907 by the
National Society of the Colonial Dames of America over the foundations
of the early brick church. Within the church are memorials and burials,
including the “Knight’s” tomb and that of Rev. John Clough.

Of particular note, inside the church, are the exposed _cobblestone
foundations of an earlier church_ said to have housed the first
representative legislative assembly in America which convened at
Jamestown on July 30, 1619. In the _Churchyard_ many dead are buried,
and the few gravestones that have survived the wear of time and weather
are a witness to the antiquity of the spot. These carry the names of
Berkeley, Blair, Harrison, Ludwell, Bevereley, Lee, Sherwood, and
others. Even the extent of the burial ground is unknown. It is more
extensive than either the iron grill fence or the old wall (built of
bricks from the ruins of one of the 17th-century Jamestown churches)
suggests.

    [Illustration: _The foundations of the Last (fourth) Statehouse
    Group as it extends toward the James River. It was the burning of
    this statehouse in 1698 that was the immediate reason for moving the
    capital of the colony from Jamestown to Williamsburg._]

Adjacent to the church are a number of memorials and monuments erected
through the years, particularly in 1907, to commemorate important events
at Jamestown and to honor some of those outstanding in Virginia history.
These include the _House of Burgesses Monument_ (4) listing the members
of America’s first representative legislative assembly in 1619, the
_Pocahontas Monument_ (5), by William Ordway Partridge; and the _Capt.
John Smith Statue_ (6), designed by William Couper.

    [Illustration: _The graveyard near the Memorial Church. The sycamore
    (center) now separates the graves of Rev. James Blair, a founder of
    William and Mary College, from that of his wife, Sarah Harrison
    Blair._]

The footpath leads to the concrete walkway on the edge of the seawall.
This seawall (built in 1900-1901) along the shoreline of the Association
grounds and the later riprap extension of it now protect the site from
further erosion. Walk to the right (upriver) along the concrete walkway.
It passes near, but outside, the _Confederate_ earthwork thrown up in
1861 when the James River approach to Richmond was being fortified. At
one point a bit of history can be read from the ground in a _Site Use
Exhibit_ (7). The earth in the side of the embankment has been carefully
sliced and various levels are identified—undisturbed ground, the level
of Indian use, the zone with evidences of 17th-century use, and, topping
all, the earthwork built by Confederate troops in 1861.

Just beyond, but at a point now in the river, due to the erosion of the
last three centuries, is the site of “_James Fort_” (8), which was built
in May and June 1607, and constituted the Jamestown settlement in the
first few years. There is a large model of “James Fort” in the Visitor
Center and a full scale reconstruction of it has been built in Festival
Park above Glasshouse Point and adjacent to the Jamestown terminus of
the Colonial Parkway.

In the words of William Strachey, recorder for the colony, the fort, as
built in 1607, and standing in 1610, was “cast almost into the forme of
a Triangle, and so Pallizadoed. The South side next the River ... by
reason the advantage of the ground doth so require, contains one hundred
and forty yards: the West and East sides a hundred onely. At every Angle
or corner, where the lines meete, a Bulwarke or Watchtower is raised,
and in each Bulwarke a peece of Ordnance or two well mounted. To every
side, a proportioned distance from the Pallisado, is a setled streete of
houses, that run along, so as each line of the Angle hath his streete.
In the middest is a market place, a Store house, and a Corps du guard,
as likewise a pretty Chappel ... [all] inclosed ... round with a
Pallizado of Planckes and strong Posts, foure foote deepe in the ground,
of yong Oakes, Walnuts, &c ... the principall Gate from the Towne,
through the Pallizado, opens to the River ... at each Bulwarke there is
a Gate likewise to goe forth, and at every Gate a Demi-Culverin and so
in the Market Place....”

Just beyond the fort site, approximately 125 feet from the present
seawall, at a point where it makes a pronounced turn to the right, is
the _First Landing Site_ (9) which the colonists reached on May 13,
1607. Here the next day, all came ashore and landed supplies. This spot,
like the fort site, is now in the river. The _Old Cypress_ (10),
standing several hundred feet from the shore above the landing site, is
said to have stood at one time on the edge of the island. This is
visible evidence of the erosion that has taken at least 25 acres of the
western part of the townsite.

    [Illustration: _The Tercentenary Monument erected by the United
    States in 1907, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the landing
    of the first permanent English settlers at Jamestown._]

    [Illustration: _The Hunt Memorial erected to the memory of Rev.
    Robert Hunt, first minister at Jamestown, by the Colonial Dames of
    America in the State of Virginia._]

Inshore, at this point, the _Memorial Cross_ (11) occupies a position of
prominence. This marks the burial ground that extended along the ridge
behind it. This is the earliest known burial ground at Jamestown and is
thought to have preceded that around the church. It was along this
ridge, first used as a cemetery, that Jamestown’s third statehouse
(burned by Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., in 1676) was constructed. A decade
later the fourth (and last) statehouse was built on the same site. It
was the accidental burning of the last statehouse and the structures
associated with it, in 1698, that was the immediate reason for moving
the seat of government from Jamestown. This group of houses—the _Last
Statehouse Group_ (12)—consisted of the last country house, three houses
of Philip Ludwell, and the fourth statehouse. The foundations are marked
and the footpath, leaving the concrete walkway, follows along these
foundations and passes near the Memorial Cross.

The walkway now returns to the Church area. The path follows across a
low area, known in the old days as the “Vale,” and into the Confederate
earthwork. Here is the bronze relief memorial to _The Rev. Robert Hunt_
(13). He was the chaplain to the first settlers. On the third Sunday
after Trinity, in June 1607, he administered the first recorded Holy
Communion according to the rites of the Church of England.

    [Illustration: _One of the larger of the Jamestown foundations,
    located in the “New Towne” section. It has been identified as the
    “Country House.” As the foundations indicate, several houses
    occupied this site._]

The tour route emerges from the Confederate earthworks near the entrance
to the church and passes again near the Smith, Pocahontas, and House of
Burgesses markers and other memorials. Just beyond, the tour leaves the
Association grounds (the west end of the site of old “James Towne”) and
follows a walk close to the bank of the river. Beyond, stretches the
eastern section of “James Towne.”

    [Illustration: _The foundation ruins of the First Statehouse at
    Jamestown, where the House of Burgesses met in the period 1640-55.
    Believed to have been used earlier by Sir John Harvey._]

It has become possible to define on the ground the pattern of Jamestown
as it existed in at least a part of the early period. Utilizing the
route of the “Greate Road,” “Back Streete,” “the highway close to the
river,” and various connecting ways, a plan now lays on the ground east
from the Visitor Center. Exposed original foundations, other ruins
marked aboveground in brick and wood (these in dull white), reopened old
ditches (which often mark property lines), fences of period type, and
replanted hedges are all used. Paintings help in visualizing the houses
that once stood on some of the foundations while recorded descriptions,
narrative markers, and other aids give information on owners, events,
and happenings.

The extreme east end of Jamestown is that area developed after 1619,
first actually surveyed by William Claiborne in 1623, and known to its
first residents as _New Towne_. Here it is possible to locate, plot, and
identify, with some assurance, a number of the early property holdings.

There is the plot taken up by Capt. John Harvey in 1624, on which he had
houses and where he kept a garden and cultivated fruit trees. Across
“Back Streete” from the Harvey site was the holding of Dr. John Pott who
was sent from England in 1621 accompanied by two surgeons and a chest of
medicine. He had a house here by 1622, although it was not until after
this date that he obtained his land patent.

West of the Harvey site was the home and lot of George Menefie, an
attorney, administrator, and member of the council. Near the home of
Menefie was the tract of Ralph Hamor, Dale’s secretary of state, who
died in 1626. Farther west were the holdings of John Chew, a merchant
(1624), and of Richard Stephens (1623), who had personal difficulties
with John Harvey, and who later appears to have been a party to the
first duel fought in an English colony. North of the “Back Streete” and
west of Pott’s holdings were those of Edward Blaney (a merchant), Capt.
Roger Smith, and Capt. William Pierce, whose house George Sandys, in
1623, pronounced “the fairest in Virginia.”

Near the river, in the “New Towne” section, stood the _First Statehouse_
(14) in Virginia. Foundations here (now partly exposed and partly
marked) are thought to be those of this significant structure. It served
the colony from 1641 to 1656. In it, during the early governorship of
Sir William Berkeley, were discussed the measures needful for the
government of the growing colony. Here, too, the colony gave its
submission to the commonwealth government of Oliver Cromwell in England
in 1652, and Richard Bennett was chosen as governor by the assembly to
succeed Berkeley.

Even the designation “New Towne” was forgotten in the years after 1650
when the area, including street alinement, changed considerably. Those
living in houses here or owning property in Jamestown’s east end then
included Sherwood, Thomas Rabley, James Alsop, Richard Holder, William
Edwards, and Henry Hartwell, one of the founders of the College of
William and Mary. The scanty remains of _Hartwell’s Frame_ _House_ (15)
are believed to have been identified and they are marked. In this
instance the discovery of a preponderance of “H-H” initialed wine bottle
seals furnished a helpful identity clue.

    [Illustration: _An early baking oven of clay reconstructed from
    fragments found in the excavations at Jamestown._]

The “_Country House_” (16) in this early period lay in the “New Towne”
section. Perhaps a number of houses stood here on the same site prior to
the first brick structure that bears this designation. In excavations on
the site, the foundations of the brick building were found, including
excellent specimens of ornamental plaster which may have adorned this
structure or that of a later private residence of William Sherwood,
which was found to have occupied the same site. Its foundations are
visible.

Dominating the scene today in this area are the ruined walls of the
_Jaquelin-Ambler House_ (17). These are a testimony of the late colonial
period (18th century) when Jamestown Island was no longer the seat of
government and when, as the town declined, the island became the private
estate of two families—Ambler and Travis. The present walls of the
Ambler House constitute the center portion of a rather impressive
residence that was flanked by two wings. It was begun about 1710 and
when fully established, had formal gardens, the brick walls of which
were partly uncovered during archeological work on the townsite. Its
construction is thought to have obliterated all trace of Richard Kemp’s
house, the first recorded all-brick house in Virginia.

Between the Ambler House ruins and the Visitor Center stood a “_long
house_” (18), one made of several sections with common connecting walls.
Its long walls have been outlined on the ground as it stood some three
centuries ago. Behind this site are the original ruins (displayed under
cover) of an early building that appears from its fireboxes and other
features to have served some, but as yet unidentified, “manufacturing”
purpose. Near it, unmistakeable evidences of pottery manufacturing have
been found. This particular locality has evidences, too, of other types
of workmanship. Perhaps, for a time, it was a kind of “_Production
Center_” (19) in Jamestown.

The story of Jamestown is not all concerned with the townsite itself.
Much of it deals with farming and other activities on the island
surrounding the town except on the river front, and especially to the
east. The _Island Drive_ is a motor road that gives access to this
island area. Starting from the central parking area, it traverses the
island’s 1,559.5 acres of marsh and woodland. The full drive is about 5
miles although it has a shorter 3-mile loop. Natural features are named
and markers carry legends about the land and the people. Large
_paintings_ here and there picture the life of the times in daily
activities such as winemaking, tobacco-growing, and lumbering. After
passing the _Confederate Fort_ (20), you come to _Black Point_ (21) at
the east end of the island where there is an excellent view of the lower
reaches of the James River. Then the loop takes you past the _Travis
Graveyard_ (22) and _The Pond_ (23), where Lawrence Bohun collected
herbs for medical experiment in 1610.

    [Illustration: _Winemaking as it may have been practiced at
    Jamestown three centuries ago. (A painting by Sidney E. King.)_]

The one-way tour road loops back to the parking area and to the isthmus
connecting the island and _Glasshouse Point_ on the mainland, so named
because the colonists, in 1608, undertook to produce glass at this
location. Here are exhibited the _Original Glass Furnace Ruins_ (24) the
remains of the first attempt to produce glass in America. Nearby is a
_Working Furnace_ (25) of the same type housed in a thatch-covered
building constructed in the manner of those used in Virginia and England
three and a half centuries ago. The Jamestown Glasshouse Foundation,
Inc., representing a number of leading American glass companies, helped
to make this possible. The Foundation operates the furnace and in season
the blowing of glass in the old way can be observed. Handmade glass
objects can be purchased.

The tour of Jamestown ends here at the “Glasshouse.” From this point the
Colonial Parkway leads to Williamsburg and Yorktown. Following this
route you can read history on the spot in the order it occurred.

    [Illustration: _A building, such as may have been used in 1608-09,
    houses the glassmaking exhibit on Glasshouse Point._]




                        _How to Reach Jamestown_


Jamestown Island is easily reached over the Colonial Parkway from
Williamsburg only 10 miles away. Williamsburg is the nearest rail and
bus terminal and the closest point of concentration of housing and
eating facilities. The approach from the south is over State Routes 10
and 31 to the ferry over the James River from Scotland to Glasshouse
Point near the Jamestown Entrance Gate. From Richmond and points to the
West, State Routes 5 and 31 can be used without entering Williamsburg.




                           _About Your Visit_


Jamestown is open daily, except on Christmas Day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
from April 1 to September 30 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year.
A single admission of 50 cents per person is collected at the Entrance
Gate on Glasshouse Point. However, during the 350th Jamestown
Anniversary Festival season in 1957 this charge is a part of, and
included in, a $1 per person admission including all of Jamestown and
nearby Festival Park with its reconstructed “James Fort,” ship replicas,
and other features. All school students 18 years of age and under, when
in groups, and all children under 12 are admitted without charge when
accompanied by adults assuming responsibility for their orderly conduct.
Organizations and groups are given special service if arrangements are
made in advance. All visitors are urged to go first to the Jamestown
Visitor Center where literature, information, and a special program are
available.

No eating or lodging facilities are available at Jamestown. There is,
however, a restaurant and picnic ground in the Virginia State Festival
Park at Glasshouse Point.




                            _Administration_


Jamestown Island (except Jamestown National Historic Site administered
and maintained by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities) is part of Colonial National Historical Park. The park also
includes Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway, and Cape Henry
Memorial. It is administered by the National Park Service of the United
States Department of the Interior.

Inquiries relating to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities area should be addressed to that Association, Jamestown,
Va.; those relating to the National Park Service area to the
Superintendent, Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown, Va.




                          _Suggested Readings_


Andrews, Matthew Page. _Virginia: The Old Dominion._ Doubleday Doran.
      New York. 1937.

Chandler, J. A. C., and Thames, T. B. _Colonial Virginia._
      Times-Dispatch Company. Richmond, Va. 1907.

Forman, Henry Chandlee. _Jamestown and St. Mary’s: Buried Cities of
      Romance._ The Johns Hopkins Press. Baltimore. 1938.

Hatch, Charles E., Jr. _The First Seventeen Years: Virginia, 1607-1625._
      Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet No. 6. Virginia
      350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation. Williamsburg, Va. 1957.

Stanard, Mary Newton. _The Story of Virginia’s First Century._ J. B.
      Lippincott. Philadelphia. 1928.

Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. _The Cradle of the Republic: Jamestown and James
      River._ Ed. 2. The Hermitage Press. Richmond, Va. 1906.

Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson. _The First Americans 1607-1690._ A
      History of American Life Series, Vol. II. The Macmillan Company.
      New York. 1927.

Wright, Louis B. _Atlantic Frontier: Colonial American Civilization:
      1607-1761._ Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 1947.

Yonge, Samuel H. _The Site of Old “James Towne” 1607-1698._ The
      Hermitage Press. Richmond, Va. 1907.




                              _Footnotes_


[1]Although Jamestown Island was not a true island until the isthmus was
    washed out about the period of the Revolution, it was called an
    island even in the early years of the Colony.


                          U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1952 O—630041




                         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                       HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES


   (Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained
       from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C.)

  Antietam
  Bandelier
  Chalmette
  Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
  Custer Battlefield
  Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
  Fort Laramie
  Fort McHenry
  Fort Necessity
  Fort Pulaski
  Fort Raleigh
  Fort Sumter
  George Washington Birthplace
  Gettysburg
  Guilford Courthouse
  Hopewell Village
  Independence
  Jamestown, Virginia
  Kings Mountain
  The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
  Manassas (Bull Run)
  Montezuma Castle
  Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
  Ocmulgee
  Petersburg Battlefields
  Saratoga
  Scotts Bluff
  Shiloh
  Statue of Liberty
  Vanderbilt Mansion
  Vicksburg
  Yorktown

    [Illustration: Back cover: sailing ship.]




                          Transcriber’s Notes


—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.







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