New Discoveries at Jamestown / Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America

New Discoveries at
Jamestown
Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America
By John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson
Washington, D.C., 1957
United States Department of the Interior
Fred A. Seaton, Secretary
National Park Service
Conrad L. Wirth, Director
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. - Price 50 cents
Jamestown, a name of first rank among historic names, saw the birth of English America. Here on an island in the James River in the heart of tidewater Virginia the English carved a settlement out of the wilderness. It grew from a rude palisaded fort into a busy community and then into a small town that enjoyed many of the comforts of daily living. For 13 years (until 1620) Virginia was the only English colony on the American mainland. Jamestown served this colony as its place of origin and as its capital for 92 years—from 1607 to 1699.
After its first century of prominence and leadership, “James Towne” entered a long decline, precipitated, in 1700, by the removal of the seat of government to Williamsburg. Its residents drifted away, its streets grew silent, its buildings decayed, and even its lots and former public places became cultivated fields. Time passed and much was forgotten or obscured. So it was when it became a historic area, in part, in 1893, and when the whole island became devoted to historical purposes in 1934.