This is the seventh post in a travel series. In this series, we are headed east starting in Wisconsin and going all the way to Virginia to see the home of George Washington and Colonial Williamsburg. To start at the beginning, go HERE where we stop in Indiana to celebrate Easter with my daughter, son-in-law, and our grandchildren.
After spending most of the day in Yorktown, we still had some time left over to check out Jamestown and see what was there and if we wanted to come back the next day to explore more. Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg are all part of what is known as The Historic Triangle and are located very close together. Our first stop was the Historic Jamestown Visitor Center which is part of our National Park System so if you have the America The Beautiful pass, you get in free, otherwise there is an admission price.
The Visitor Center was very nice and very informative. This wall shows all there is do and see at Historic Jamestown.
We first spent some time inside the Visitor Center reading everything we would need to know before exploring the historic settlement ruins.
As you can probably tell by the pictures, the Visitor Center is quite large and filled with great exhibits.
There is also a short movie about Historic Jamestown which we absolutely loved. It's shown in a "theatre in the round setting" There are two large screens; on opposite sides of each other, plus there are special projections onto the floor. It was a really cool experience.
After viewing the movie and seeing all the exhibits in the Visitor Center it was now time to venture outside and see the ruins of the very first Colonial Settlement in the New World.
First, we had to cross this bridge, that was an experience in itself because we saw so much wildlife underneath the bridge: lots of turtles and waterfowl.
Next to the Jamestown Settlement is another attraction called the "Jamestown Rediscovery" that is not connected with the National Parks so you have to pay an additional $15.00 to go inside. We didn't want to pay for it, but we enjoyed viewing it from the grounds of the National Historical Site. The next few photos show buildings on the "Jamestown Rediscovery" side of the National Historic Area.
Below is pictured the 1607 James Fort
The Jamestown (Memorial) Church was constructed in brick in 1639 and is one of the oldest surviving building remnants by Europeans.
Back in the National Historic Park we walked the path along the James River and viewed all the areas where the settlement once stood.
The Jamestown Tercentennial Monument was placed on the Jamestowne Island by the United States Government in 1907 for the 300th anniversary of the settlement. It stands 104 feet tall (one foot for each of the first settlers) and is made of New Hampshire granite.
The path to see all the ruins of the Jamestown Settlement runs along the James River so you always have beautiful, peaceful views.
To my surprise, I discovered that even though Jamestown was America's first town, no town exists on that island today. It had a long history of fires, starvation, disease, rebellion, and Indian attacks resulting in its ceasing to be a town in 1699. Today, it is a historic site, though there is still a private residence on the island.
These bricks are all that remain of the town today.
As a woman, I was really interested in how important women were to the survival of the new settlement. So much so, that in 1619 about 90 women were recruited and shipped over to become wives and start families in Virginia.
The next day, we went back to Jamestown to spend the day at The Jamestown Settlement. I will share more about Jamestown and it's incredible people in next week's Travel Post! See you then!
Have a Great Week! Amy
Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
For more information on the Historical Triangle, check out these posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for leaving a comment, I love feedback from my readers; but please don't include a hyperlink in the comments or I will have to delete it. You may include the name of your blog. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.