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While there are many
corners of our country which might be considered "historic", few can
boast as rich a heritage as this trio of colonial settlements on the
narrow Virginia Peninsula. |
On one side of this neck of land
lies Jamestown, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in
America.
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On the other side of the
peninsula is Yorktown, site of the battle which secured our nation's
independence from Britain.
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the middle sits Williamsburg, Virginia's capital during the
American Revolution and our home for nearly three years. The
scenic
Colonial Parkway connects all three sites along its 24-mile
route. |
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After
Virginia's first capital burned down during the 1676 Bacon's Rebellion,
the
government temporarily relocated to the higher ground of "Middle Plantation" while a new statehouse was being built in Jamestown.
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A dozen miles
away from the humidity and mosquitoes along the James River, Middle
Plantation offered a more attractive site for the College
of William & Mary, established in 1693 as the colony's first
school of higher learning and the second-oldest in America after
Harvard.
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the Jamestown statehouse burned down for the third time in 1698, the
government again
temporarily moved to Middle Plantation. By the following year,
students at the college had convinced the House of Burgesses to abandon
Jamestown for good. The new capital was named Williamsburg, in
honor of King William III of England, and was granted a royal charter
as a city in 1722. |
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As capital of the largest,
richest and most populous British colony in the New World, Williamsburg
was at the center of events leading to the American Revolution,
attracting patriots such as Patrick Henry, George Washington, and
Thomas Jefferson. |
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Fearing British attack
during the Revolutionary War, however, Governor Jefferson removed the capital to
Richmond in
1780. As a result, Williamsburg stagnated, gradually becoming a sleepy country
town over the subsequent decades. |
By
the early 20th century, many of Williamsburg's colonial-era buildings
had been demolished or were in disrepair. It was only through the
efforts of Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector
of Bruton Parish Church and the financial support of his benefactor,
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. that this historic area was preserved for
future generations.
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Beginning in
1926, Goodwin and Rockefeller reconstructed 18th-century Williamsburg,
restoring 88 colonial buildings and rebuilding hundreds of others
according to original designs.
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Now one of the
most popular tourist attrations in the world, Colonial Williamsburg
attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors each year. Admission
to the historic area is free, but tickets are required for guided tours
and entry into the various attractions. We visited several times
during the years we lived nearby.
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| Anheuser-Busch,
which has a brewery just east of Williamsburg, also operates two
popular amusement parks in the neighborhood
Busch Gardens Europe and Water Country
USA. |
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Voted the
world's most beautiful theme park, Busch Gardens is organized
into
various hamlets, each inspired by a different European country. |
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More Williamsburg-area attractions
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| A dozen years after the
founding of Jamestown, the Virginia Company reorganized its New World
holdings into four "incorporations", including James,
Elizabeth, Charles
and Henrico "Citties". When the company lost its charter in 1624,
the
colony reverted to the Crown, which established James City as one of
eight Virginia shires a decade later. At the end of the 17th
century, the seat of James City County moved to
Williamsburg, and remains there to this
day even though Williamsburg, an independent city since
1884, lies outside the county. Nevertheless, Williamsburg and
James City County share many government
institutions, including a consolidated school district and court
system. |
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In June 1606,
King James I of England granted the Virginia Company a royal charter to
establish a colony in the Chesapeake Bay region. On 14 May 1607,
three ships under the command of Captain Christopher Newport arrived at
their
destination: a swampy, uninhabited island near the northern bank of the
James River.
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Life was hard
for these first colonists, many of whom were "gentlemen" (rather than
farmers or artisans), and thus woefully unprepared for the hardships
they would face. Under the leadership of Captain John Smith,
however, several dozen settlers survived periodic Algonquin attacks,
outbreaks of disease, and the "starving time" during the winter of
1609-10.
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America's first
representative assembly met at Jamestown in 1619, "to establish one
equal and uniform government over all Virginia". Ironically, that
was the same year that the first African slaves arrived at Jamestown.
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Jamestown was
spared destruction during the bloody Algonquin uprising in 1622, and
soon grew beyond the bounds of its original wooden palisades. The
town was quickly abandoned, however, after the capital moved to nearby
Williamsburg in 1699.
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Nowadays,
the site of the original Jamestown settlement is preserved by the National Park
Service and the Association
for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities.
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Next door
to the original Jamestown site is an elaborate recreation of the
historic settlement.
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Jamestown
Settlement offers interactive demonstrations and an extensive museum.
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Perhaps
the most popular exhibits at Jamestown Settlement are replicas of the
ships which brought the original English colonists to America the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. In 2006, the Godspeed sailed up the eastern
seaboard to kick off America's
400th anniversary celebrations.
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Jamestown 1607 | Jamestown
2007 | Jamestown
Rediscovery | Jamestown Glasshouse | Virtual
Jamestown | Jamestowne
Society
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| What's
in a name? The waterway we now know as the York River, which
forms the northern shore of
the Virginia Peninsula, was called "Pamunkey" before the English
arrived,
and a tributary of the York still
bears this name. Around 1630, the English established Yorke
Plantation named in honor of the Duke of York, second son of King
James I
on the south bank of the river, and soon renamed the river
itself for this prince, who had succeeded his father as King Charles I.
In 1634, Charles River Shire was
established as
one of the eight original Virginia counties. |
In
1643, the river and associated county were again renamed, this time to
their current form: York. The reason for this switch is not hard
to guess; poor
King Charles had fallen out of favor during the
English Civil War, and was in fact executed in 1649. (On the
other hand, nearby Charles City County kept
its name, perhaps to avoid confusion.)
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Some historians claim "York" simply referred to the town in northern
England; others attribute it to the
next Duke of York, the disgraced king's nephew and future King James II
(for
whom New York City was later named). It seems at least as likely,
however, that the new place names were a throwback to the earlier
"Yorke" reference in other words, they are still named for Charles I. |
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Yorktown, the
unincorporated
riverside settlement which serves as county seat, was established in
1691. It became a major regional port in the 18th century,
specializing in
the export of tobacco. It achieved its greatest fame in 1781, as
the site of the climactic battle of the American Revolutionary War. |
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Lord
Cornwallis, who commanded British forces in the southern colonies,
arrived in Yorktown in March 1781, where he awaited reinforcements to
arrive by sea from New York. However, once the French fleet
blocked the entrance to Chesapeake Bay in September, it was only a
matter of time before the Continental Army a combined American and
French force under the command of General George Washington forced
the British to surrender on 19 October.
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During
the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, Union forces prepared to lay siege to the
Confederate stronghold at Yorktown, but the rebels slipped away before
the decisive battle could be waged. Nowadays, Yorktown is a
sleepy village of 200 souls perhaps a tenth of its size in its heyday
notable primarily for its sandy beach and the bridge
spanning the York River.
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Yorktown
Battlefield & Visitor Center | Yorktown
Victory Center | Riverwalk Landing
| Watermen's
Museum
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Although not, strictly speaking, part of
the "Historic Triangle", Charles City County certainly played a
prominent role in early American history. Named for Prince
Charles, the future King Charles I, Charles Cittie was established by the
Virginia Company in 1619 as one of four "incorporations"; it was
reorganized as a shire in 1634. This rural region along the
north bank of the James River was parceled up into a series of large
plantations, the source of prosperity for generations of Virginia's
landowning aristocracy.
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Berkeley
Plantation is famous (at least locally) as the site of the first
"Thanksgiving" in America, in December 1619.
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| The estate was later the birthplace
of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence and
Virginia governor during the Revolution. |
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Another US
president, James Tyler, was born at Greenway Plantation in 1790, and
later bought the nearby Sherwood Plantation. |
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James River Plantations
| Captain John Smith's
Trail | Jamestown
Discovery Trail | Edgewood
Plantation |
Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation | North Bend Plantation
Now that you've traveled the length of the Virginia
Peninsula, your next stop might be the Commonwealth's capital,
Richmond or you can double back
to Hampton Roads.
This page was first published
11 November 2008, and last updated
11 November 2008.
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