Historic Jamestowne, Virginia--Part I

Historic Jamestowne is part of the Colonial National Historical Park in the Williamsburg area of Virginia. It is the site of the first permanent English settlement on the North American continent.

Yes, the do spell it with the "e" on the signs

Our first stop was the visitor center where we paid the entrance fee (which includes access to the Yorktown Battlefield site) and looked at some of the exhibits.

More olde spelling

The first settlers came to Jamestown Island in 1607. Captain John Smith was one of the first settlers and he wrote a two-volume book called "The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine John Smith." The book was first published in London in 1629; the museum has an American reprint from 1819. It was a sensation and Smith promoted colonization to others.

John Smith's mega-hit

The original 104 English colonists (all men) came on three ships, the Discovery (Captain John Ratcliffe commanding with 21 colonists), the Susan Constant (Captain Christopher Newport commanding with 71 colonists), and the Godspeed (Captain Bartholomew Gosnold commanding with 52 persons). John Smith was a passenger but quickly rose to prominence in the colony.

Model of the Discovery

Model of the Susan Constant

Model of the Godspeed

The settlers almost immediately ran into the local tribe led by Chief Powhatan. The natives attacked, forcing the colonists to build a triangular fort. Tensions eased and some trade started. The next year, another 200 colonists came. Powhatan ordered a siege of the fort and only 60 of the then 500 colonists survived the winter of 1609-1610. Tensions eased again. New colonists came, including women and children, in order to make it a permanent foothold in the new world.

The colony gets bigger

The colony grew outside the fort. A small town was built and by 1619 the colonists elected their first governing body, the House of Burgesses. Also in 1619, the first slaves were brought to the fledgling colony. By that point, John Rolfe had introduced a strain of tobacco that grew well there, becoming the first cash crop.

Building equipment

Relations with the local tribes continued to be strained. The museum has a lot of information about the culture and activities of the natives, along with an amazing map of communication and trade routes between North American tribes.

Trade/communications routes

Items made for trade with locals and back home (i.e. England)

Cooking in colonial times

We went outside to see where the original colonists settled, but not before getting in an extra photo opportunity.

Please observe our rules

Don't make us angry

Happy to have an extra arm to help out

We journey outside in the next post!