There are three elements to visiting historic Jamestown, the site of the first English settlement in the New World, established in 1607: the National Park Service (Colonial National Historical Park), Preservation Virginia (Jamestown Rediscovery), and Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum.
Due to time constraints, I only visited the national park portion of the offerings.
The Jamestown experience begins at the Visitor Center. Here, you can purchase tickets to the national park and Jamestown Rediscovery.
The original fort site and New Towne are accessible from the Visitor Center by crossing the footbridge over the pitch and tar swamp, where turtles, herons, and other wildlife live. This gives you an idea of what the settlers experienced when they arrived.
I stopped several times to watch turtles swimming in the muck and a tiny brown-headed nuthatch darting in and out of a hole in a tree trunk. Other animals living on or near the island are bald eagles, otters, red foxes, ospreys, great blue herons, raccoons, hawks, and white-tail deer.
The bridge ends at the Tercentennial Monument. The tall obelisk, which stands 104 feet tall (one foot for each of the first settlers), was placed on Jamestown Island by the United States government in 1907 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the settlement.
From here, I headed out into what was once New Towne. Jamestown developed into a thriving port town. Portions of the city burned during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676; Jamestown remained the capital until another fire led to its move in 1699 to what is known as Williamsburg today.
The remains of essential buildings, marked with signs and brick outlines, offer insight into what was.
Ambler Mansion ruins are also on this portion of the island. Built in 1750, it was abandoned in 1895 after three fires.
After spending two hours in the park and museum, I perused the large gift shop and stamped my National Park “passport.”
It is a wonderful experience to walk where our ancestors walked and better understand what they went through. If you have the time, take in Preservation Virginia (Jamestown Rediscovery) and Jamestown Settlement. You can easily spend another full day at Jamestown Settlement.
For more information about the national park, click here.
I visited the site years ago. Your post brings back some good memories.