Nearby, late in the afternoon of 6 July 1781, Gen. Charles Cornwallis and cavalry commander Col. Banastre Tarleton with 5,000 British and Hessian troops clashed with 800 American troops commanded by Brig. Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne and the Marquis de . . . — — Map (db m194748) HM
In memory of the 6 Virginia & 22 Pennsylvania Line Patriots who died in The Battle of Green Spring on July 6, 1781 & are buried near here.
By their sacrifices they made possible the establishment of a free United States of America. — — Map (db m99079) WM
The varied habitats of the Greensprings Greenway provide clean water, food, shelter and a safe place for birds to raise their young. Approximately 250 species of birds regularly visit the Williamsburg area. More than 150 species, including Warblers, . . . — — Map (db m295133) HM
This small house, with only 288 square feet of living space, has a brick chimney, glass windows, and stairs leading to an overhead loft. A house of this type would have been occupied by Anthony Brown, a farmer and former Lee slave freed in 1805. . . . — — Map (db m226543) HM
John Smith was born about 1580 the son of a yeoman farmer of modest means. As a young man he traveled throughout Europe and fought as a soldier in the Netherlands and in Hungary. There he was captured, taken to Turkey and sold into slavery in . . . — — Map (db m11367) HM
During the 17th century Carter's Grove was part of the Martin's Hundred Plantation. In the early 1720's, Robert "King" Carter purchased it and later named the tract Carter's Grove. Between 1730 and 1735 Carter Burwell, grandson of Robert "King" . . . — — Map (db m9503) HM
The Church on the Main, which lies ahead, was built of brick in about 1750, along the main road connecting Jamestown and Williamsburg. It replaced the fifth church at Jamestown and was used by James City Parish, the community in this vicinity. . . . — — Map (db m99084) HM
This 30 x60' brick church, marked by the remnants of a builder’s trench, was constructed in a simple rectangular plan with doors on the west and the south. Holes marking the location of scaffolding employed during construction flank the perimeter of . . . — — Map (db m99085) HM
This archaeological site consists of the remains of the church, the cemetery, and the surrounding fences. All that remains to indicate the location and size of the church below grade is a small remnant of the foundation builder's trench. The 30' x . . . — — Map (db m99086) HM
Less than one mile to the east is the site of the Church on the Main, a brick Anglican church built by the 1750s to serve James City Parish as replacement for the church on Jamestown Island, which had become difficult for communicants to reach. The . . . — — Map (db m194711) HM
The Jamestown Church had..."a tower and a bell"
—Francis Louis Michel, 1702
For centuries, the Church Tower ruin stood as the most iconic symbol of Jamestown's past. The structure survived despite fires, abandonment, occupation during . . . — — Map (db m240211) HM
On May 12, 1607 the colonists who were the next day to establish Jamestown, landed at the mouth of this creek. Captain Gabriel Archer, one of the councilors, liked the spot and would have settled here but was outvoted. For more than a century the . . . — — Map (db m30730) HM
The James River was a lifeline. Ships from England brought tools, seeds, cloth, food, more settlers – and hope. The colonists sent back timber, tobacco, pitch, potash, furs, iron ore – and stories. By 1650, wharves reached out to the . . . — — Map (db m17119) HM
In 1930, Congress established Colonial National Monument (designated Colonial National Historical Park in 1936) to preserve and interpret the beginning and end of the British colonial experience in North America. The park included Jamestown, the . . . — — Map (db m89336) HM
Early in the 17th century, colonists began settling beyond Jamestown Island. In 1619, for example, Reverend Richard Buck received a patent of land here at Neck of Land, between Mill and Powhatan creeks.
When Buck and his wife died, their . . . — — Map (db m31058) HM
After the Civil War, in the area that later became known as the Community of Grove, the Freedmen’s Bureau confiscated land for displaced newly freed slaves and free blacks. In 1867, the government restored the land to its previous owners. Some . . . — — Map (db m66911) HM
These earthworks were erected by Confederate troops in 1861 as part of the defense system to block Union penetration of the James River. — — Map (db m17052) HM
(front)
1861-1865
To the
Confederate Soldiers and
Sailors of Williamsburg
and James City County
(left)
Erected by the United Daughters
of the Confederacy and the
Citizens of Williamsburg and
James City . . . — — Map (db m185422) WM
Dozens of open ditches crisscrossed Jamestown. A ditch and its mound could mark a property boundary, line the edge of a road, or drain swampy soil. Ditches also served as handy trash dumps. Two major ditches, several feet wide and hundreds of feet . . . — — Map (db m17316) HM
Low-lying uplands and wetlands are capable of storing large quantities of stormwater. However, this valuable ecosystem service can cause flooding in nearby neighborhoods perched too close to poorly drained soils. Ditching areas for irrigation or . . . — — Map (db m295113) HM
The first European settlers, who lived on the mainland behind Jamestown Island, built insubstantial frame houses that were extremely small and typically had dirt floors. As unseasoned wood deteriorated readily, such buildings had a very short life . . . — — Map (db m295106) HM
Archaeologists discovered a large domestic complex at Freedom Park that reveals important physical evidence about colonial Virginia's transformation. The site, which evolved between c.1680 and c.1745 shows how a society based upon . . . — — Map (db m295078) HM
Jamestown's fort palisade walls were build using materials and techniques like those used originally. The reconstruction follows the footprint of the original 1607 post holes identified during excavations without impacting the archaeological . . . — — Map (db m240210) HM
This hospital is the oldest institution of its kind in America. Francis Fauquier was Governor in 1768. In November, 1769, the tenth year of the reign of George the Third an act was passed by the House of Burgesses confirming the establishment of . . . — — Map (db m66918) HM
Eastern State Hospital is the oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. It was established on 12 Oct. 1773, when Virginia was still a British colony, with the mission of treating and discharging the curable mentally ill. In 1841, under the . . . — — Map (db m58354) HM
This labyrinth represents an opportunity for walking meditation that is one of the oldest contemplative and transformational tools known to mankind. For centuries, the labyrinth has been used to promote healing, connection, community and peace. . . . — — Map (db m239832) HM
The early English settlers came to Virginia looking for gold, silver, and precious gems, but never found them. Some of the artifacts they left behind, however, are highly valuable to the archaeologists who excavated Jamestown centuries later. . . . — — Map (db m17204) HM
The foundations of the multi-dwelling structure that stood here match the dimensions called for in legislation passed by the General Assembly in September 1662. This row rouse was standing by September 1668 when the justices of James City . . . — — Map (db m17320) HM
In the summer of 1781, thousands of troops crisscrossed the James City County countryside, foraging for food and strategically moving toward Yorktown. Although neither side knew the other’s strength, Lafayette saw an opportunity to attack. . . . — — Map (db m194749) HM
Along this trail are approximately 40 drainage channels, seeps and ephemeral streams. Ephemeral streams are produced when excess rainwater cannot filter into the soil fast enough. These naturally occurring drainage channels allow water to pass . . . — — Map (db m295130) HM
This oak tree fell in 1996, exposing a tremendous root system. Most tree roots in Virginia grow within the topsoil horizon, 12-18" deep, and are easily windblown in saturated soils. Over time, these roots will decompose into a mound, adding to . . . — — Map (db m295120) HM
Jamestown had a large number of four-footed and feathered residents. A chronicler wrote of “two hundred … cattle, as many goats, infinite hogs in herds all over the woods.” The government required fences to keep the free-roaming . . . — — Map (db m17200) HM
The first documented Africans in English America arrived at Jamestown in August 1619. A Dutch man-of-war captured them from the Spanish, who had enslaved them, and sold them to the Virginia colonists. The “twenty and odd” Africans, some . . . — — Map (db m97319) HM
Since the 1580s, England had been challenging Spain's claim to land in the Western Hemisphere. Although groups of would-be colonists attempted to plant a settlement on Roanoke Island, in what became North Carolina, it was not until 1606 that King . . . — — Map (db m295124) HM
The first Germans to land in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in Virginia, arrived aboard the vessel Mary and Margaret about 1 October 1608. These Germans were glassmakers and carpenters. In 1620, German mineral specialists . . . — — Map (db m194640) HM
In response to deteriorating environmental conditions, the Chesapeake Bay Act was adopted to regulate development impacts, protect existing wetlands and improve water quality. This shallow pool forebay is an example of a BMP (Best Management . . . — — Map (db m295119) HM
"...the fort reduced to a five-square form..."
—John Smith 1608
In 1608, the triangular fort was expanded toward the east. Archaeologists believe this is what John Smith referred to when he records that the fort was "reduced . . . — — Map (db m240213) HM
Here are the remains of Fort Magruder, an earthen redoubt built in 1861 at the center of the Confederate defensive line. The “Williamsburg Line” stretched between the James and York rivers and consisted of fourteen forts, commonly called . . . — — Map (db m10371) HM
The remains of Jamestown now lie buried beneath the ground. Archeologists have unearthed some of the known town site, but the original foundations of structures would erode quickly if left exposed to wind, weather, and acid rain. The foundations . . . — — Map (db m17220) HM
William Ludwell Lee of Green Spring Farm died in 1803. A year earlier he had written his will and bequeathed freedom to his slaves. He specified that comfortable homes be built for them on "the Hotwaters," a subsidiary farm about four miles north . . . — — Map (db m226527) HM
Tobacco, sassafras – the Jamestown gardener was distracted by quick-money crops for export to Europe. Tobacco was even grown in the streets. In 1624 the General Assembly tried to aid the struggling silk and wine industries by ordering each . . . — — Map (db m17317) HM
Colonists, lured with the expectation of finding minerals and precious metals, experienced disappointment. Local soils consisted of coastal plain sediments such as sand, fine gravel, clay and silty clay, well suited to agriculture. Scientists . . . — — Map (db m295125) HM
After 1619 these 100 acres of land were set aside for the benefit of the Jamestown parish church and minister. Richard Buck was the first clergyman to have use of it. Later on Francis Bolton became minister at "James Citty" and he, too, had "leave . . . — — Map (db m31079) HM
John Harvey served as a member of a royal commission investigating conditions in Virginia in 1624. As a reward, he received land at the east end of New Towne. There he probably built a residence and a wharf. A temperamental sea captain, Harvey . . . — — Map (db m17215) HM
George Yeardley arrived in Jamestown in 1610, was appointed captain of the guard, and eventually lieutenant governor. Later knighted and appointed governor of Virginia in 1618, he issued the Great Charter in 1619, establishing the first . . . — — Map (db m17027) HM
Situated near Jamestown, Governor’s Land originally was a 3,000-acre tract encompassing open fields between the James River and Powhatan Creek. The Virginia Company of London set the parcel aside in 1618 to seat tenants who worked the land, giving . . . — — Map (db m2438) HM
In November 1618, The Virginia Company instructed Governor George Yeardley to set aside 3,000 acres of land “in the best and most convenient place of the territory of Jamestown” to be “the seat and land of the Governor of . . . — — Map (db m99077) HM
On this road, five miles south, is Green Spring, home of Governor Sir William Berkeley. Bacon the Rebel occupied it in 1676. Cornwallis, after moving from Williamsburg by this road on July 4, 1781, was attacked by Lafayette near Green Spring on . . . — — Map (db m295072) HM
The 17th century road to Green Spring, home of Governor Sir William Berkeley, was the eastern part of the Great Road, the earliest-developed English thoroughfare in Virginia. The Great Road ran from Jamestown Island toward the falls of the James . . . — — Map (db m2441) HM
Large trees, such as this 150-200 year-old Chestnut Oak (Quercus prinus), have a story to tell. Most of the trees here are relatively young, the result of timber harvesting during the 1950s and 1980s. This area may have been clear-cut, or stripped . . . — — Map (db m295117) HM
This natural grove of American Holly (Ilex opaca) was bypassed from previous logging operations. More marketable timber is derived from pines, oak and other hardwoods. Hollies provide wonderful habitat for many songbirds and create sustainable . . . — — Map (db m295118) HM
Royal Governor William Berkeley, owner of nearby Green Spring Plantation, purchased the land here by 1652, then known as Hot Water. After Berkeley's death, the Hot Water tract passed to the Ludwell and Lee families. William Ludwell Lee inherited . . . — — Map (db m23614) HM
To the glory of God and in grateful memory of those early settlers, the founders of this Nation who died at Jamestown during the first perilous years of the colony. Their bodies lie along the ridge beyond this cross, in the earliest known burial . . . — — Map (db m11377) HM
Men and women who became indentured servants (or contract workers) were willing to exchange a certain number of years work for transportation to Virginia. These contracts could be sold to planters who needed workers. Many of these indentured . . . — — Map (db m295112) HM
All that was left of this home was the foundation of a fireplace and two rows of stains in the soil. The house was built on wood posts sunk directly into the ground. Changes in the color of the soil show where the holes were dug to sink the posts. . . . — — Map (db m17358) HM
In 1934, the National Park Service acquired 1,500 acres of Jamestown Island, including New Towne. Since then, the NPS has used different methods to tell visitors about the town. After archaeologists unearthed numerous structures with brick . . . — — Map (db m17211) HM
The raw materials for the smelting of iron were all found here: lime from oyster shells, bog ore from the swamp, charcoal from burned trees. A circular kiln, 10 feet across and lined with baked clay, sat over a pit with an air vent to the surface. . . . — — Map (db m17218) HM
By 1805, William Ludwell Lee's executor had begun constructing cabins for Lee's former slaves, who were allowed to live on "the Hotwaters" for ten years, rent-free. One type of house was made using long timber construction and a wooden chimney. . . . — — Map (db m226537) HM
Jackson the smith was at work in his shop . . . Minutes of the General Court, 1623 Protection was of the utmost importance in the early years of Virginia. Gunsmiths like Jamestown resident, assemblyman, and churchwarden John Jackson, were . . . — — Map (db m17212) HM
James City County. Area 164 Square Miles. One of the original shires formed in 1634, and named for Jamestown, the first settlement in Virginia, 1607. Williamsburg is in this county.
York County. Area 186 Square . . . — — Map (db m73950) HM
You are about to enter the site of 1607 James Fort, the heart of the first, permanent English settlement in North America. The sections of log walls stand above archaeological remains of the original palisades. The walls enclosed about one acre, in . . . — — Map (db m11470) HM
Indians knew this as the Powhatan River, the colonists renamed it in honor of their sovereign, James I. It is one of Virginia's longest and broadest rivers. Rising in the Appalachians it flows eastward, often soil laden, 340 miles to the Chesapeake . . . — — Map (db m31087) HM
This part of old “James Towne” has been owned and preserved since 1893 by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Founded May 13, 1607, “James Towne” was the first permanent English settlement in . . . — — Map (db m10262) HM
Across the swamp lies Jamestown Island. Powhatan Creek below you, takes its 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". — — Map (db m30733) HM
Nearby to the east is Jamestown, the original site of the first permanent English colony in North America. On 14 May 1607, a group of just over 100 men and boys recruited by the Virginia Company of London came ashore and estblished a settlement at . . . — — Map (db m2443) HM
The woodland and marsh beyond the water is Jamestown Island, a pear-shape area of some 1,500 acres, being about 2½ miles in length. It is separated from the mainland by Back Creek. In more recent times the wide mouth of this creek, which you . . . — — Map (db m31077) HM
The ancient road that linked Jamestown, the original colonial capital, with Middle Plantation (later Williamsburg) followed a meandering course. It departed from Jamestown Island and then turned northeast, crossing Powhatan and Mill Creeks. As it . . . — — Map (db m194909) HM
This plaque marks the rededication of Jamestown Settlement on the eve of the Jamestown Quadricentennial and upon the occasion of its 50th anniversary and completion of its comprehensive facilities master plan, executed between 1997 and 2007. . . . — — Map (db m98077) HM
East Side of Monument:
Virginia Company of London Chartered April 10, 1606 Founded Jamestown and sustained Virginia 1607 – 1624
North Side of Monument:
Jamestown The first permanent colony of the English people. The birthplace . . . — — Map (db m11467) HM
The First and Second Churches Captain John Smith reported that the first church services were held outdoors “under an awning (which was an old sail)” fastened to three or four trees. Shortly thereafter the colonists built the first . . . — — Map (db m17053) HM
John Smith Explores the Chesapeake
Captain John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1600s seeking precious metals and a passage to the Pacific. He traveled the James, Chickahominy, and York rivers in 1607, and . . . — — Map (db m238167) HM
Kingsmill Plantation, the home of Col. Lewis Burwell, was built in the mid-1730s and consisted of a mansion, outbuildings, garden, and 1,400 acres. The house burned in 1843. Only the office and the kitchen still stand; they are among the earliest . . . — — Map (db m266373) HM
As an artisan with marketable skills, Juba Lightfoot earned more money than some of his neighbors and was able to make his home more comfortable. His one-room house has refinements such as wooden floors, plastered walls, a brick chimney and an . . . — — Map (db m226550) HM
The Loch Ness Monster opened in Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 1978 as the World's tallest coaster, standing at a height of 130ft. With a layout as a twisting as the beast that lends it its name, the Loch Ness Monster features the world's first and . . . — — Map (db m220461) HM
The American Coaster Enthusiasts recognize Loch Ness Monster as an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark, a designation reserved for rides of historic significance. Acknowledged as the world's first continuous track interlocking loop roller coaster, the . . . — — Map (db m220463) HM
Here is a redoubt in the line of Confederate defenses, built across the James-York Peninsula in 1861-62 by General John B. Magruder. — — Map (db m262624) HM
This plantation was allocated to the London-based Society of Martin's Hundred by 1618 and was later assigned 21,500 acres. It was initially settled in 1620 around Wolstenholme Town, its administrative center, located near the James River. . . . — — Map (db m9495) HM
The first Martin's Hundred Parish church was probably built at Wolstenholme Town, an early 17th-century settlement that was located a mile southeast of here. None of the structures excavated there have been identified as a church; it may have been . . . — — Map (db m9497) HM
Evidence from wills, deeds, land plats, patents, and court cases helps to identify structures excavated by archaeologists. When historians digitalized two 17th-century land plats and superimposed them on a modern map of Jamestown, they matched a . . . — — Map (db m17310) HM
There were many subtle but important differences between the American Indians and the Europeans who colonized Virginia. The American Indians considered land merely a part of the earth and like the sky, water and air, was communal and open to all . . . — — Map (db m295116) HM
This area, like a peninsula and bounded on three sides by a marsh, is just across Back River from Jamestown Island. In 1625 there were a number of houses and 25 people living here. The settlement had close community ties to “James Citty” . . . — — Map (db m31073) HM
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Never Forget Garden
This garden is a living tribute to all of America’s veterans and their families. In silence and respect, this is a place to remember why millions of Americans have . . . — — Map (db m226757) WM
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company constructed the Norge Depot 600 feet north of here in 1907-1908. Several years earlier, Norwegian-born railway agent Carl M. Bergh had recruited Scandinavian immigrants who lived in the American Midwest to . . . — — Map (db m194686) HM
In 1833 the founders of Olive Branch Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) met for worship at Hill Pleasant Farm. By 1835, the congregation had built a brick church on land donated by Dr. Charles M. Hubbard and Mary Henley. During the Civil War, . . . — — Map (db m23598) HM
Ospreys are a notable highlight of the trail. Their number dramatically decreased to 30 nests on the James River during the 1970s. Unregulated air and water pollution, including the use of pesticides like DDT in agricultural production, decimated . . . — — Map (db m295134) HM
Brick, lime, and pottery kilns operated throughout Jamestown. A small paved pit here, filled with oyster shells and moistened lime, marked a kiln where mortar or plaster was made. Different pits produced varying qualities of mortar and plaster. . . . — — Map (db m17314) HM
“our extreme toil in bearing and planting palisades so strained and bruised us, and our continual labor in the extremity of heat had so weakened us” – John Smith
These replicated sections of James Fort’s palisades are . . . — — Map (db m100110) HM
When the English colonists arrived in 1607, they landed in Paspahegh Country, which extended westward along the shore of the James River to the Chickahominy River and beyond.
The Native Americans who lived here were Algonquin speakers that fished, . . . — — Map (db m90951) HM
During the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, both Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan had their armies west toward Richmond on this road. Johnston evacuated Yorktown on 3-4 May and withdrew up the Peninsula, with . . . — — Map (db m10118) HM
To the north, Jamestown Island is ringed with slow moving water and a marsh of reeds, cypress, and pine. One of the first industries attempted at Jamestown was the extraction of pitch and tar from the pine trees in this swampy area. Pitch, tar, and . . . — — Map (db m17219) HM
Erected in 1922, this statue by William Ordway Partridge, honors Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Paramount Chief Wahunsenacawh (better known as Powhatan), ruler of the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom. Pocahontas was born around 1595, probably at . . . — — Map (db m11371) HM
Matoaka, nicknamed Pocahontas (“mischievous one”), the daughter of Powhatan, was born about 1597. She served as an emissary for her father and came to Jamestown often in 1608. In 1613, Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas while she visited the . . . — — Map (db m194910) HM
(panel 1)
Powhatan's Headquarters
At the time Captain John Smith traveled the York River, several Eastern Virginia Algonquian tribes paid tribute to a spiritual and political leader named Powhatan. In return, he provided . . . — — Map (db m97289) HM
James Bray owned land nearby in Middle Plantation by the 1650s, and Quarterpath Road probably began as a horse path to one of Bray’s quarters or farm units. Over the years, the road was improved; it extended to Col. Lewis Burwell’s landing on the . . . — — Map (db m130380) HM
Early records tell of a land sale in 1636 being these 500 acres with “all howses...gardens, orchards, tenements.” The property passed from Thomas Crompe “of the Neck of Land” to Gershon Buck son of the Reverend Richard Buck . . . — — Map (db m31075) HM
To the glory of God and in memory of the Reverend Robert Hunt, Presbyter. appointed by the Church of England, minister of the colony which established the English Church and English civilization at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, his people, members . . . — — Map (db m293590) HM
Several Jamestown families lived in row houses. This row of three houses was occupied at least from 1560 through 1720. Elaborate ironwork found here suggested that the row was handsomely furnished. Perhaps the row was home to the government . . . — — Map (db m17114) HM
Near this location in 1901, Samuel H. Yonge, a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, spearheaded the design and construction of a seawall/revetment that halted the rapid erosion and loss into the James River of the most-historic part . . . — — Map (db m194712) HM
