Historic Jamestowne An Introduction to the buildings and sites of the first permanent English settlement in North America

Voyage to Jamestown On May 13th 1607 three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, carrying 104 settlers arrived at what became Jamestown It became the first permanent English settlement in North America

Jamestown Island The site was selected because it provided a strong defense against possible Spanish attacks. Sailing from the east, Jamestown was located at the narrowest point of the James River, which provided a visual vantage point and screen against enemy ships.

The James River Looking east down the James River toward the Chesapeake Bay, which is approximately 40 miles away. Jamestown Island is about sixty miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.

The Jamestown Fort By June 15, 1607 the settlers had constructed a fort shaped in the form of a triangle and made of wooden posts which were placed in the ground, upright and side by side.

Convergence of Cultures

The Powhatans and the English The Powhatan Indians, who had inhabited the tidewater region of present-day Virginia for hundreds of years, were an established society ruled by a paramount chief named Wahunsenacawh, also known to history as Powhatan.

The Powhatans The Powhatan paramount chiefdom consisted of approximately 30 named tribes with a population of about 14,000 people, and was named Tsenacomoco, which may have meant “our place.” The Powhatans had a sustained society with a structured government, economy, religion, language and intricate social institutions.

Trade Between the Two Cultures Trade for food with the Powhatans enabled the colonists to survive during the early years of the settlement’s history. English trade goods consisted of: copper, blue-glass beads, various iron tools, and even toys.

Religion at Jamestown

Religion at Jamestown Religion played a major role in the life of the colonists, who were instructed to establish the Protestant faith in America.

Churches at Jamestown Throughout the 17th century the colonists constructed several churches at Jamestown. At one point in Jamestown’s history, it was mandatory that the settlers attend church twice on Sundays or suffer severe punishment.

Economy

Economic Expectations The colony was sponsored by a group of investors called the Virginia Company of London, who were granted a charter by King James I. Investors anticipated profits from the settlement in the form of gold, silver, and natural resources.

Industries English attempts to find gold and silver in Virginia proved fruitless. The Virginia Company still expected profits and had the colonists attempt various industries such as glassmaking…

Industries Ship Building... Lumbering...

Industries Wine Making... Pharmaceuticals...

Industries Silk Production... and Barrel Making.

All attempts to make profits by various industries failed due to the high death rate of the colonists and the costs of labor. However, one crop proved to be a money maker--tobacco. In the early years profit margins on tobacco production ranged form 22% to as high as 1000%! Tobacco allowed the colony to survive, prosper, and grow, however… Tobacco

Tobacco and Land Growing tobacco leached the soil of nutrients requiring the settlers to seek more land. This expansion along the banks of the James River resulted in the displacement of Virginia Indians from their homelands and led to conflict between the two cultures.

Tobacco and Labor Growing tobacco was very labor-intensive. The average farmer could only farm about half an acre of ground producing 400 pounds of tobacco and crops. The more land a farmer owned, the more people he needed to work the land. In the early years indentured servants, immigrants usually from England, provided much of Virginia’s labor force. But by the end of the 17th century Virginians turned to a new labor force: African slavery.

Government The government of the colony started as a council of seven and evolved into the House of Burgesses, the first elected representatives in English America. The Governor, his council and the Burgesses met in 1619 as Virginia’s first General Assembly.

The Colony Grows Jamestown expanded from a small fort into the social, economic, political, and religious center of the colony. Jamestown served as the seat of Virginia’s government for 92 years, until the capital moved to Williamsburg in 1699.

Touring Modern-day Jamestown

The 17th Century Church Tower The Church Tower is the only 17th century structure still standing at Jamestown. The reconstructed church rests atop the foundations of the 1639 brick church and an earlier 1617 frame church.

Famous People The statues of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith stand near the Church Tower. Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe, once did cartwheels inside the English fort where John Smith served as one of the colony’s early leaders.

1607 James Fort Site Partial representation of the fort palisade marks the location of the features found by the Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project.

1607 Fort Site Museum Opened in May 2006, the Archaearium contains about 1,000 of the nearly 1,000,000 artifacts excavated from the 1607 fort site since 1994. This modern building partially covers the foundations of the Statehouse Complex.

The Statehouse Complex During the second half of the 17th century, the colony’s Statehouse stood at the far end of this row of five brick structures as represented by these foundations.

New Towne By the late 1620s, the original fort was gone. Houses, warehouses and workshops covered the landscape east of the old fort site and was called New Towne. James “Cittie” continued to serve as Virginia’s colonial capitol until 1699.

Images of New Towne Structures All that is left of this home was the foundation of the fireplace and two rows of stains in the soil created by the rotted wood posts sunk directly into the ground. Most of Jamestown’s buildings in the first half of the 17th century were of this kind of construction.

Images of New Towne Structures Row Houses The first brick home was built in 1639. In the second half of the 17th century some Jamestown families lived in brick Row Houses. This row of 3 houses was occupied at least from 1650 through 1720.

Jamestown 1660s - Jamestown Today Jamestown was a thriving port in the 1660’s. When Williamsburg became Virginia’s Colonial Capital in 1699 Jamestown fell into disuse and ruins. Reverting to farmland in the 18th and 19th centuries it was not until 1934 that the site of Jamestown became a National Park.