Surry in Surry County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Smith’s Fort Plantation
Photographed By Laura Troy, September 23, 2007
1. Smith's Fort Plantation Marker
Inscription.
Smith’s Fort Plantation. . Captain John Smith began Smith’s Fort in 1609, two years after the first permanent English colony in the New World was established at Jamestown. The remains of the fort, a two-foot-high earthwork, constitute the oldest extant structure of English origin in Virginia. The fort stands on a high bluff overlooking Gray’s Creek and encloses a triangle of about two hundred feet on each side. Thomas Rolfe, the only child of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, probably owned this tract. The house is a mid-18th-century Tidewater plantation dwelling likely built for Jacob Faulcon, Surry County clerk from 1781 to 1801.
Captain John Smith began Smith’s Fort in 1609, two years after the first permanent English colony in the New World was established at Jamestown. The remains of the fort, a two-foot-high earthwork, constitute the oldest extant structure of English origin in Virginia. The fort stands on a high bluff overlooking Gray’s Creek and encloses a triangle of about two hundred feet on each side. Thomas Rolfe, the only child of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, probably owned this tract. The house is a mid-18th-century Tidewater plantation dwelling likely built for Jacob Faulcon, Surry County clerk from 1781 to 1801.
Erected 1999 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number K233.)
Location. 37° 8.18′ N, 76° 50.117′ W. Marker is in Surry, Virginia, in Surry County. Marker is on Rolfe Road (Virginia Route 10) south of Main Street (Virginia Route 10), on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Surry VA 23883, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 9, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 23, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,892 times since then and 39 times this year. Photo1. submitted on September 23, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker and its surroundings. Photos of the remains of the Smith's Fort Earthworks. • Can you help?
