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Jerry Pillarelli | profile | all galleries >> Travel and Nature >> US Travel; by Trip, by State >> Virginia >> Colonial National Historical Park – Virginia >> Colonial National Historical Park – Jamestown Island – Virginia tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Colonial National Historical Park – Jamestown Island – Virginia

Images of Colonial National Historical Park – Jamestown Island – Eastern Virginia, taken in July 2022.

Jamestown Island, part of Colonial National Historical Park, protects the 1607 English settlement celebrated for establishing the first representative government in the New World.

This is one of the most interesting historical sites I have visited. The park is well curated, has a complete museum and a site which is still being excavated in search of more answers to what went on in one of the earliest English settlements in the New World. And it all tells a fascinating story of exploration and hardships, to include starvation and cannibalism, as well as the establishment of a representative government.

In search of a better life in the New World 104 Englishmen crossed the Atlantic and landed on Jamestown Island on May 13, 1607; only 38 survived the first year. Subsequently, James Fort grew as more people arrived the next year but war with the Powhatan Indians and the harsh winter of 1609-10 resulted in the “Starving Time” which saw the fort’s inhabitants forced to eat their horses and pets, and eventually turn to cannibalism. In April of 1614 Pocahontas, the kidnapped daughter of the Powhatan Indian Chief, married John Rolfe in the 1608 Church bringing peace to the area. And in July of 1619 the first elected legislative assembly in the western hemisphere met in the 1617 Church in what would eventually come to be the foundation of American democracy.

And that is the abridged version of the amazing story without even mentioning the leadership of Captain John Smith or the first sale of slaves in the Virginia colony and the eventual adoption of a Slave Code in 1705.
Tercentennial Monument at Jamestown at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Tercentennial Monument at Jamestown at Jamestown in Colonial NHP 		Archeologists excavating a possible burial site at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Archeologists excavating a possible burial site at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Ironwork (1907) over the James Fort entryway at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Ironwork (1907) over the James Fort entryway at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Archeology team excavating and area outside the original James Fort footprint at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Archeology team excavating and area outside the original James Fort footprint at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Flag of England flies over log wall placed on the original James Fort palisades (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Flag of England flies over log wall placed on the original James Fort palisades (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Memorial Church built for the 300th anniversary of the settlement (1907) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Memorial Church built for the 300th anniversary of the settlement (1907) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 James Fort wall and flag stand at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
James Fort wall and flag stand at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 17th-century brick church tower at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
17th-century brick church tower at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 First James Fort well used in the early 17th-century at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
First James Fort well used in the early 17th-century at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 17th-century brick church tower attached to the Memorial Church at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
17th-century brick church tower attached to the Memorial Church at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Inside the Memorial Church at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Inside the Memorial Church at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Knight’s Tomb ledger stone of Sir George Yeardley, oldest in North America (1627), at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Knight’s Tomb ledger stone of Sir George Yeardley, oldest in North America (1627), at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Statue of Captain John Smith with brick church tower in the background at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Statue of Captain John Smith with brick church tower in the background at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Foundation of the 1617 church where the first General Assembly met in July 1619 at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Foundation of the 1617 church where the first General Assembly met in July 1619 at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Likely grave of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Likely grave of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Footprint of the 1608 Church with burial sites of four prominent residents at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Footprint of the 1608 Church with burial sites of four prominent residents at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Some of the over thirty graves at the first Fort James burial ground (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Some of the over thirty graves at the first Fort James burial ground (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Pocahontas Statue, daughter of Powhatan Indian Chief, at James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Pocahontas Statue, daughter of Powhatan Indian Chief, at James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 James Fort reconstructed barracks at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
James Fort reconstructed barracks at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Cannon overlooks the James River at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Cannon overlooks the James River at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Outside the log wall placed on the original James Fort palisades (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Outside the log wall placed on the original James Fort palisades (1607) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Site of the blacksmith shop inside James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Site of the blacksmith shop inside James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Cannon, James Fort wall and the Tercentennial Monument at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Cannon, James Fort wall and the Tercentennial Monument at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 James Fort well, log wall and 17th-century brick Church Tower at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
James Fort well, log wall and 17th-century brick Church Tower at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Log wall of James Fort with burial ground in the distance at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Log wall of James Fort with burial ground in the distance at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Excavation of a Cellar Kitchen (1608-09) in James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Excavation of a Cellar Kitchen (1608-09) in James Fort at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Churchyard cemetery (1617) tombs at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Churchyard cemetery (1617) tombs at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Tomb of John Ambler (1735-1766), Jamestown Assembly Representative, at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Tomb of John Ambler (1735-1766), Jamestown Assembly Representative, at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Geese feed at the site of the May-Hartwell House ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Geese feed at the site of the May-Hartwell House ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Ruins of a Row House in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Ruins of a Row House in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Marable House/Workshop ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Marable House/Workshop ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Swann’s Tavern ruins overlooking the James River in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Swann’s Tavern ruins overlooking the James River in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Ambler Mansion Plantation House (1750s) ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Ambler Mansion Plantation House (1750s) ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Original foundation of the first purpose-built statehouse on the James River at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Original foundation of the first purpose-built statehouse on the James River at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Slate found in a James Fort well displayed in the Archaearium Museum at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Slate found in a James Fort well displayed in the Archaearium Museum at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
17th-century glass furnace ruins at the Glasshouse Ruins (1608) site at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
17th-century glass furnace ruins at the Glasshouse Ruins (1608) site at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Glassworks being made at a furnace near the Glasshouse Ruins at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Glassworks being made at a furnace near the Glasshouse Ruins at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Trees near the Ambler Mansion Ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Trees near the Ambler Mansion Ruins in New Towne at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Confederate Civil War earthworks called Fort Pocahontas (1861) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Confederate Civil War earthworks called Fort Pocahontas (1861) at Jamestown in Colonial NHP		 Fort Pocahontas (1861) powder magazine at Jamestown in Colonial NHP
Fort Pocahontas (1861) powder magazine at Jamestown in Colonial NHP

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