The summer of 2003 my family and I went on vacation to visit Williamsburg, at least
that was the plan. Now myself, I'm the kind of person who packs two weeks ahead
of time, so of course I went online to see what I could find out about Williamsburg,
Jamestown and Yorktown. I couldn't seem to find very much, from a tourists
point of view, so I went to my back up source, the AAA Auto Club. I picked
up a book for Virginia, found the section covering the three towns and started
to read. The more I read, the more I discovered how little I knew and the more
I wanted to know. Now, we've all had vacations and trips that were disappointing. Our expectations were high and the reality failed miserably. This was not the case with this trip. My expectations came no-where near the beauty and wonder of the reality. I thought I knew what to expect - how wrong I was! I hope that people seeing these pages will go out of their way to visit these wonderful historical sites, you won't be disappointed. I would suggest one thing above all else, give yourself plenty of time. A week would be good, you might get to see it all. So far we've split our trip up into two different visits, if you don't count the time I took for pictures, it would have taken us three days so far. We have another visit planned soon for the rest of Yorktown, the Yorktown Victory Center and Williamsburg, we figure at least three more days maybe four. That's without visiting the beautiful plantation houses in the area, I can't even guess how long that would take, because there are a lot. I really hope that these pages help someone in their research and you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the visit. As I mentioned, we haven't finished our "vacation" so the pages here are not complete, we still have Yorktown, Yorktown Victory Center and Williamsburg to visit. I want to thank all the National Park personnel, the members of the Living History Museum as well as the other folks at the other places we visited, everyone was wonderful, helpful and very nice! :) |
On Roads of Water Within three days of reaching the New World, the first Jamestown colonists had assembled a small boat to go exploring in the roadless wilderness. Once settled, they gathered raw materials of boat building for export as well as for their own use: hardwoods for masts, staves, and planks; pine trees for pitch, resin, and tar. From their shallow boats, or "shallops," the colonists harveted the teeming waters and traded along the shores of coastal Virginia. |
Jamestown Island A 5-mile loop road follows the higher ground of the Island. You may travel a shorter, 3-mile loop by turning left at the first fork in the road. Jamestown Island formed many thousands of years ago from a series of shoals along the James River. When colonists arrived in 1607, an isthmus connected the island to the mainland, and a "paradise" of virgin hardwoods covered the land. By 1800, the isthmus had eroded, and the forest had been cleared for farming. In the 1800s, the Ambler and Travis families ran large plantations here. From the island's rim, Confederate forts guarded the river channel during the Civil War. Today, the loop road around the island affords views of the James River, the marshes, and the regenerating forest. |
Homes to Last The colonists at Jamestown produced most of their own brick and tile locally at each building site. Bricks were used for houses, wells, and walkways; tiles for floors and roofs. Three kilns have been excavated at Jamestown, each producing bricks of a unique size and shape. Bricks also varied in hardness and color with the clay used and the length of time they were "fired." Such differences can help date archeological remains to the time a kiln was active. |
The Hardwood Harvest By the 1600s, hardwood lumber was scarce in England. Early exports of the colony were potash, used in the manufacture of glass, and soap ash, which yields liquid soap. The ashes of hardwood logs were mixed with water, strained, and heated to a syrup-like consistency. Cooled and hardened in pots, the mixture could be shipped to England. In time the settlers cleared all of the hardwood forests from Jamestown Island. |
Today's forest is regrowth, mostly of pine. |
Among the ruins of New Towne was a seven-foot pit, dug in colonial times. Not deep
enough for a well, the hole tapered from 14 feet wide at the rim to 6 feet wide
at the sandy bottom. In Britain in the 1600s, perishables were often stored
in huts built over pits filled with layers of fresh-water ice and straw.
The trapped frigid air could keep meat and dairy products fresh until autumn. |
The colonists brought with them their Old World patterns of subsistence: milling,
baking, brewing, and preserving food. The hole found at New Towne was very
likely a traditional English ice pit. |
Early Medical Discoveries Death and disease stalked the colony year-round. Over the first 18 years, six of seven residents of Jamestown perished -- over 6, 000 deaths. Dr. Lawrence Bohun arrived at Jamestown in June of 1610, and stayed until spring of 1611. Colonists spoke of a "seasoning time" in which newcomers passed through successive epidemics, such as typhoid, dysentery, and influenza. |
Bohun experimented with native plants, herbs, extracts, and minerals, seeking remedies
for distress of the Old World and the New. |
Bowl, Post and Pipe By 1640, Jamestown potters were making thick-walled jugs, bowls, and pots for for everyday use. Symmetrical design and an occasional slip-coat of color show that skilled artisans were at work. The local ware fired red, due to iron-rich Tidewater clay. Jamestown kilns produced earthenware objects of unglazed clay, as well as of lead-glazed clay. The colonists also made hand-modeled tobacco pipes. These home-made red pipes avoided the King's duty on white pipes from England. |
Virginia's Vintage The plentiful grape vines in the New World raised hopes of a profitable wine making industry. Native and imported varieties produced a drinkable vintage, but the wine often spoiled during shipment to England. The venture failed. A local market did exist, especially since drinking water was brackish. Large finds of wine bottle fragments, as well as several cooling pits or cellars, mark the sites of Jamestown stores or taverns. |
Wealthier colonists also consumed wine from Europe, their stock marked with personalized
seals. |
Iron for Corn For the first years at Jamestown, the English needed food from the natives in order to survive. The Powhatans for their part sought the colonists' commercial goods: iron tools and pots, hatchets and knives, bells and glass beads. Exchanges could be forceful or friendly. The Powhatans sometimes offered corn and other staples as a gift; at other times, they refused contact, or attacked those who had come to trade. The English wrote home of successful trading, yet on occasion they stole or raided at gunpoint. |
The Golden Weed King James called smoking "a filthy novelty" but tobacco proved the salvation of his Virginia colony. Seeds from South America and the West Indies, grown in Virginia's soil and climate, produced a pleasing leaf. From 1615-1619, tobacco exports increased twentyfold. |
In 1617, a captain found "the marketplace, and streets, and all other spare places
planted with Tobacco." After four more years, a report confessed, "there is no
Commodity but Tobacco." |
Silk Worn and Silk Spun England -- and Jamestown -- imported silk from the Mediterranean and the Orient. In 1619 the Colony Secretary bragged that the cow keeper and the collier's wife had suits of "fresh flaming silk." Spinning fibers from the silkworm cocoon was a lengthy, smelly chore. Despite orders from the Virginia Company to produce silk as a staple commodity, the colonists preferred to raise tobacco. |
Jamestown silk, like Jamestown wine, was not the hoped-for New World treasure. |
The "Limitless Land" English farmers were indebted to the Native American for crops and techniques that succeeded in the New World. It took fully 12 years for the colonists to become self-sufficient. The forests gave way to fields of native squash, pumpkins, beans, peas, and most importantly, "Indian corn" or maize. Some European crops adapted well: Apples, apricots, and oats. Other imports were failures: bananas, pineapples, and olives. In addition, the forests yielded fruits without cultivation, such as grapes, persimmons, and strawberries. |
Edward Travis |
Here lyeth the body of Edward Travis who departed this life the 1st day of November
in the year of our Lord 1700. |
Here lyeth the body of Susanna Travis wife of Edward Champion Travis and Daughter
of John Hutchings of the Borough of Norfolk Merc [Bant] and Amy his wife who departed
this life October the 28th 1761in the 33rd year of her age much lamented
by all her acquaintance and leaving issue three sons and one daughter. Nigh?
this place are also interred the following children of the said Edward and Susanna;
|
His wife Elizabeth who was born August ??? 1743? and died September 22d 17?? Amy
who was born October 9th ???? and [died] October 2nd? 1755? John who was born December
9th 1755 and Died November 25 1759. |
Here lyeth (in hopes of a glorious resurecction) the body of John Champion who was
borne the 10th day of November in the yeare of our Lord 1660 and departed this
life the 16th day of December in the year of our Lord 1700. |
And likewise John Champion the son of John Champion who was borne the 11th day of
Decr in the yeare of our Lord 1695 and departed this life the 11th day of September
in the yeare of our Lord 1700. |
The "Island House" To the right, just beyond this narrow marsh, lay the 80-acre "Island House" tract which was "planted and seated" prior to 1619 by Richard Kingsmill, "ancient planter," burgess, and man of property and affairs. His daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Nathaniel Bacon, later sold it to Nicholas Meriwether, an ancestor of Meriwether Lewis, one of our great western explorers. |
Excellent Good Timber Colonists marvelled at the deep, tall forests of Virginia -- then set to clearing them away. The "goodly tall Trees" became firewood, fort walls, house frames, boat planks, barrel staves, industrial fuel, and lumber exports. Jamestown's ruins yielded many tools of woodcutters, sawyers, and carpenters. Coopers were especially busy. Barrels and casks bore shipments for England, and stored colonial supplies. A two-man crosscut saw was recovered almost intact, from an abandoned site in New Towne. Pit saws were also used. |
On Roads of Water Within three days of reaching the New World, the first Jamestown colonists had assembled a small boat to go exploring in the roadless wilderness. Once settled, they gathered raw materials of boat building for export as well as for their own use: hardwoods for masts, staves, and planks; pine trees for pitch, resin, and tar. From their shallow boats, or "shallops," the colonists harvested the teeming waters and traded along the shores of coastal Virginia. |
Jamestown Across the swamp lies Jamestown Island. Powhatan Creek below you, takes it's name from the Indian Chief. To the right is Glasshouse Point, place of early glassmaking and later a part of the suburb of "James Cittie." |
Jamestown Island Loop Drive |
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