Chapter III: Part 3

It has become possible to define on the ground the pattern of Jamestown as it existed in at least a part of the early period. Utilizing the route of the “Greate Road,” “Back Streete,” “the highway close to the river,” and various connecting ways, a plan now lays on the ground east from the Visitor Center. Exposed original foundations, other ruins marked aboveground in brick and wood (these in dull white), reopened old ditches (which often mark property lines), fences of period type, and replanted hedges are all used. Paintings help in visualizing the houses that once stood on some of the foundations while recorded descriptions, narrative markers, and other aids give information on owners, events, and happenings.

The extreme east end of Jamestown is that area developed after 1619, first actually surveyed by William Claiborne in 1623, and known to its first residents as _New Towne_. Here it is possible to locate, plot, and identify, with some assurance, a number of the early property holdings.

There is the plot taken up by Capt. John Harvey in 1624, on which he had houses and where he kept a garden and cultivated fruit trees. Across “Back Streete” from the Harvey site was the holding of Dr. John Pott who was sent from England in 1621 accompanied by two surgeons and a chest of medicine. He had a house here by 1622, although it was not until after this date that he obtained his land patent.

West of the Harvey site was the home and lot of George Menefie, an attorney, administrator, and member of the council. Near the home of Menefie was the tract of Ralph Hamor, Dale’s secretary of state, who died in 1626. Farther west were the holdings of John Chew, a merchant (1624), and of Richard Stephens (1623), who had personal difficulties with John Harvey, and who later appears to have been a party to the first duel fought in an English colony. North of the “Back Streete” and west of Pott’s holdings were those of Edward Blaney (a merchant), Capt. Roger Smith, and Capt. William Pierce, whose house George Sandys, in 1623, pronounced “the fairest in Virginia.”

Near the river, in the “New Towne” section, stood the _First Statehouse_ (14) in Virginia. Foundations here (now partly exposed and partly marked) are thought to be those of this significant structure. It served the colony from 1641 to 1656. In it, during the early governorship of Sir William Berkeley, were discussed the measures needful for the government of the growing colony. Here, too, the colony gave its submission to the commonwealth government of Oliver Cromwell in England in 1652, and Richard Bennett was chosen as governor by the assembly to succeed Berkeley.

Even the designation “New Towne” was forgotten in the years after 1650 when the area, including street alinement, changed considerably. Those living in houses here or owning property in Jamestown’s east end then included Sherwood, Thomas Rabley, James Alsop, Richard Holder, William Edwards, and Henry Hartwell, one of the founders of the College of William and Mary. The scanty remains of _Hartwell’s Frame_ _House_ (15) are believed to have been identified and they are marked. In this instance the discovery of a preponderance of “H-H” initialed wine bottle seals furnished a helpful identity clue.

The “_Country House_” (16) in this early period lay in the “New Towne” section. Perhaps a number of houses stood here on the same site prior to the first brick structure that bears this designation. In excavations on the site, the foundations of the brick building were found, including excellent specimens of ornamental plaster which may have adorned this structure or that of a later private residence of William Sherwood, which was found to have occupied the same site. Its foundations are visible.

Dominating the scene today in this area are the ruined walls of the _Jaquelin-Ambler House_ (17). These are a testimony of the late colonial period (18th century) when Jamestown Island was no longer the seat of government and when, as the town declined, the island became the private estate of two families—Ambler and Travis. The present walls of the Ambler House constitute the center portion of a rather impressive residence that was flanked by two wings. It was begun about 1710 and when fully established, had formal gardens, the brick walls of which were partly uncovered during archeological work on the townsite. Its construction is thought to have obliterated all trace of Richard Kemp’s house, the first recorded all-brick house in Virginia.

Between the Ambler House ruins and the Visitor Center stood a “_long house_” (18), one made of several sections with common connecting walls. Its long walls have been outlined on the ground as it stood some three centuries ago. Behind this site are the original ruins (displayed under cover) of an early building that appears from its fireboxes and other features to have served some, but as yet unidentified, “manufacturing” purpose. Near it, unmistakeable evidences of pottery manufacturing have been found. This particular locality has evidences, too, of other types of workmanship. Perhaps, for a time, it was a kind of “_Production Center_” (19) in Jamestown.

The story of Jamestown is not all concerned with the townsite itself. Much of it deals with farming and other activities on the island surrounding the town except on the river front, and especially to the east. The _Island Drive_ is a motor road that gives access to this island area. Starting from the central parking area, it traverses the island’s 1,559.5 acres of marsh and woodland. The full drive is about 5 miles although it has a shorter 3-mile loop. Natural features are named and markers carry legends about the land and the people. Large _paintings_ here and there picture the life of the times in daily activities such as winemaking, tobacco-growing, and lumbering. After passing the _Confederate Fort_ (20), you come to _Black Point_ (21) at the east end of the island where there is an excellent view of the lower reaches of the James River. Then the loop takes you past the _Travis Graveyard_ (22) and _The Pond_ (23), where Lawrence Bohun collected herbs for medical experiment in 1610.

The one-way tour road loops back to the parking area and to the isthmus connecting the island and _Glasshouse Point_ on the mainland, so named because the colonists, in 1608, undertook to produce glass at this location. Here are exhibited the _Original Glass Furnace Ruins_ (24) the remains of the first attempt to produce glass in America. Nearby is a _Working Furnace_ (25) of the same type housed in a thatch-covered building constructed in the manner of those used in Virginia and England three and a half centuries ago. The Jamestown Glasshouse Foundation, Inc., representing a number of leading American glass companies, helped to make this possible. The Foundation operates the furnace and in season the blowing of glass in the old way can be observed. Handmade glass objects can be purchased.

The tour of Jamestown ends here at the “Glasshouse.” From this point the Colonial Parkway leads to Williamsburg and Yorktown. Following this route you can read history on the spot in the order it occurred.

_How to Reach Jamestown_

Jamestown Island is easily reached over the Colonial Parkway from Williamsburg only 10 miles away. Williamsburg is the nearest rail and bus terminal and the closest point of concentration of housing and eating facilities. The approach from the south is over State Routes 10 and 31 to the ferry over the James River from Scotland to Glasshouse Point near the Jamestown Entrance Gate. From Richmond and points to the West, State Routes 5 and 31 can be used without entering Williamsburg.

_About Your Visit_

Jamestown is open daily, except on Christmas Day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April 1 to September 30 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year. A single admission of 50 cents per person is collected at the Entrance Gate on Glasshouse Point. However, during the 350th Jamestown Anniversary Festival season in 1957 this charge is a part of, and included in, a $1 per person admission including all of Jamestown and nearby Festival Park with its reconstructed “James Fort,” ship replicas, and other features. All school students 18 years of age and under, when in groups, and all children under 12 are admitted without charge when accompanied by adults assuming responsibility for their orderly conduct. Organizations and groups are given special service if arrangements are made in advance. All visitors are urged to go first to the Jamestown Visitor Center where literature, information, and a special program are available.

No eating or lodging facilities are available at Jamestown. There is, however, a restaurant and picnic ground in the Virginia State Festival Park at Glasshouse Point.

_Administration_

Jamestown Island (except Jamestown National Historic Site administered and maintained by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) is part of Colonial National Historical Park. The park also includes Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway, and Cape Henry Memorial. It is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior.

Inquiries relating to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities area should be addressed to that Association, Jamestown, Va.; those relating to the National Park Service area to the Superintendent, Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown, Va.

_Suggested Readings_

Andrews, Matthew Page. _Virginia: The Old Dominion._ Doubleday Doran.
New York. 1937.

Chandler, J. A. C., and Thames, T. B. _Colonial Virginia._
Times-Dispatch Company. Richmond, Va. 1907.

Forman, Henry Chandlee. _Jamestown and St. Mary’s: Buried Cities of
Romance._ The Johns Hopkins Press. Baltimore. 1938.

Hatch, Charles E., Jr. _The First Seventeen Years: Virginia, 1607-1625._
Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet No. 6. Virginia
350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation. Williamsburg, Va. 1957.

Stanard, Mary Newton. _The Story of Virginia’s First Century._ J. B.
Lippincott. Philadelphia. 1928.

Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. _The Cradle of the Republic: Jamestown and James
River._ Ed. 2. The Hermitage Press. Richmond, Va. 1906.

Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson. _The First Americans 1607-1690._ A
History of American Life Series, Vol. II. The Macmillan Company.
New York. 1927.

Wright, Louis B. _Atlantic Frontier: Colonial American Civilization:
1607-1761._ Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 1947.

Yonge, Samuel H. _The Site of Old “James Towne” 1607-1698._ The
Hermitage Press. Richmond, Va. 1907.

_Footnotes_

[1]Although Jamestown Island was not a true island until the isthmus was
washed out about the period of the Revolution, it was called an
island even in the early years of the Colony.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1952 O—630041

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES

(Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained
from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C.)

Antietam
Bandelier
Chalmette
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
Custer Battlefield
Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Fort Laramie
Fort McHenry
Fort Necessity
Fort Pulaski
Fort Raleigh
Fort Sumter
George Washington Birthplace
Gettysburg
Guilford Courthouse
Hopewell Village
Independence
Jamestown, Virginia
Kings Mountain
The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
Manassas (Bull Run)
Montezuma Castle
Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
Ocmulgee
Petersburg Battlefields
Saratoga
Scotts Bluff
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Vanderbilt Mansion
Vicksburg
Yorktown

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Jamestown, Virginia, by Charles E. Hatch, Jr.