Jamestown, Virginia: The Townsite and Its Story

by Jr. Charles E. Hatch

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Stewart L. Udall, Secretary

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Conrad L. Wirth, Director

HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWO

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.

Jamestown, Virginia
THE TOWNSITE AND ITS STORY

By Charles E. Hatch, Jr.

The Seal of “His Majesties Council of Virginia”

The National Park Service
cooperating with
The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 2
Washington, D. C., 1949 (Revised 1957)

This publication relates to Jamestown Island, Va. A portion of Jamestown Island is included in Colonial National Historical Park and is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. Jamestown National Historic Site, the other portion of the island, is administered by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. A cooperative agreement between the Association and the Department of the Interior has been in effect since 1940 providing for a unified program of development for the whole Jamestown Island area.

Contents

Page [THE STORY OF JAMESTOWN] 2 [COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK] 36 [COLONIAL PARKWAY] 36 [THE STUDY OF JAMESTOWN] 36 [THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMESTOWN] 40 [GUIDE TO THE AREA] 42 [HOW TO REACH JAMESTOWN] 53 [ABOUT YOUR VISIT] 53 [ADMINISTRATION] 53 [SUGGESTED READINGS] 54

The Memorial Cross at Cape Henry which marks the approximate site of the first landing of the Jamestown colonists on American soil, April 26, 1607.

Jamestown is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America {1607}, the point at which the first representative legislative assembly convened {1619} to set a pattern for self-government in America, the locale of stirring events in Bacon’s Rebellion {1676-77}, and the capital of the Colony of Virginia for 92 years {1607-99}.

The first permanent settlement in America by the English at Jamestown was a visible manifestation of the determination of that nation to establish itself in the New World. The overthrow of Spanish seapower during the reign of Queen Elizabeth paved the way for English colonization ventures. Enterprising Britons had already established their influence in India, the Near East, and Russia. Sir Walter Raleigh had made several unsuccessful attempts to establish an enduring settlement along the Carolina coast at Roanoke Island, events now commemorated by Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert had tried, to no avail, to make a settlement in Newfoundland.

It remained for the Virginia Company of London, under its charter of April 10, 1606, to found the first permanent English settlement in America. This joint stock company, a commercial organization, from its inception assumed a national character. It was instrumental, under its charter provisions, in guaranteeing to the settlers in the New World the rights, freedoms, and privileges enjoyed by Englishmen at home and the enjoyment of their customary manner of living which they adapted to their new environment with the passage of years.

Jamestown was the site of the first settlement that grew into the Colony of Virginia and gave heart to those men who settled the colonies that came later. The first Virginians landed in May 1607, built houses and a fort, planted crops, and began the struggle for the conquest of a vast primitive land. They brought with them their church and respect for God, maintained trial by jury and their rights as freemen, and soon were developing representative government. All of these things are a part of the story of Jamestown.

In the words of James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States at the time of the Jamestown Tercentenary, the settlement of “Jamestown was one of the great events in the history of the world—an event to be compared for its momentous consequences with the overthrow of the Persian Empire by Alexander; with the destruction of Carthage by Rome; with the conquest of Gaul by Clovis; with the taking of Constantinople by the Turks—one might almost say with the discovery of America by Columbus.” Here was born the great English-speaking nation beyond the seas, of which Gilbert and Raleigh had dreamed; and here was the cradle of our Republican institutions and liberties.

The Story of Jamestown

On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown Island in Virginia—the Susan Constant of 100 tons commanded by Capt. Christopher Newport and carrying 71 persons; the Godspeed of 40 tons commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying 52 persons; and the Discovery, a pinnace, of 20 tons under Capt. John Ratcliffe, carrying 21 persons. During the day (as George Percy, one of the party on board, relates) they maneuvered the ships so close to the shore that they were “moored to the Trees in six fathom [of] water.” The next day, May 14, he continues, “we landed all our men, which were set to worke about the fortification, others some to watch and ward as it was convenient.” Thus, the first permanent English settlement in America was begun on the shores of the James River, in Virginia, about 20 years after the ill-fated attempts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island and 13 years before the Pilgrims made their historic landing at Plymouth, in New England.