Historic Jamestown is the location of the first successful English Colony in the United States in what is now the state of Virginia. The town was first settled in 1607 and had a few growing pains. From famine and disease to relations with the natives quickly soured and led to the annexation of the Paspahegh tribe.
The 150 colonists arrived in three (small by today’s standards,) ships. Replicas of each were located at Jamestown at the time of these pictures.
Susan Constant
100 Ton Replica
“May 13, 1607, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery dropped anchor at Jamestown Island after a wintry crossing with 105 brave Colonists and founded the first permanent English settlement in the New World.”
Colonial Parkway
Today Historic Jamestown is part of Colonial National Historic Park which only about ten miles from Colonial Williamsburg. The Park includes both the original Fort Site, and the the Original Town site.
Powhatan’s Lodge
Wahunsenacawh, or “Chief Powhatan” was the chief of the Powhatan Tribe when the English arrived here. He was also the father of Pocahontas who ended up marrying a tobacco planter named John Rolfe and saved the life of Captain John Smith.
“This is a reconstruction of a typical Indian house in Virginia at the time of the Jamestown settlement. Its sapling framework is 26 feet long and 16 feet wide. The covering is of marsh grass woven together with hemp thread and can be rolled up in warm weather for ventilation. Captain John Smith’s map shows Powhatan presiding over the braves in such a structure. As many as 20 people could sit or sleep on the floor and on the shelf along the walls.”
To the left is a reconstruction of an indian dance circle, composed of seven 6-foot poles topped by carved heads.
To the right is a scarecrow’s hut. In such structures, the Indians posted an old man or boy to rattle gourds in order to tighten birds away from planted fields. The usual crops were corn, tobacco, pumpkins, squash, beans, gourds and sunflowers.”
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