Colonial National Historical Park
Posted by Chris | Filed under Central Virginia, State Parks, Trail Information
This 9,352 acre park in the Tidewater are of eastern Virginia protects and interprets two sites: part of the site of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 on Jamestown Island in the James River; and the site of the decisive American-French victory over British forces in 1781 in th Battle of Yorktown at the mouth of the York River. The two park units are connected by the 23-mile Colonial Parkway.
Jamestown
Hardships beset the budding community from the outset. A fever that was likely typhoid claimed many lives; the island’s brackish water was undrinkable; perishable food spoiled; was virtually unbreathable; prolific mosquitoes and other insects made life miserable; and in the first cold, damp winter, more than 60 settlers perished from illness and starvation. Two winters later, the death toll reached 500, leaving a mere 60; but 1610, a large group of new settlers arrived from England just in time to save Jamestown from almost certain abandonment. From the beginning, there had been almost constant conflict between the settlers and the native Indians, who were alarmed by the rapid takeover of their traditional ands, especially with the settlers’ clearing of land on which to grow tobacco. In 1622, the Powhatan Indians finally retaliated: close to 350 settlers were killed (about one-third of the population), and nearly all outlying settlements were destroyed.
Over the next several years, as newcomers arrived, the colonists came close to wiping out the Indian tribes in the surrounding area as new settlements, villages, farms, and tobacco plantations sprang up farther inland. By 1650, Jamestown was no longer the military and commercial center of the colony, but remained only the seat of colonial government. Finally some colonists outraged over the strict policies of the English Crown’s colonial governeor stagged a rebellion and, in 1676, burned Jamestown to the ground. Governmental buildings were quickly rebuilt, but when the legislative building again burned down in 1698, the colonial capital was moved inland to Middle Plantation, renamed Williamsburg.
Today, the eastern part of the original Jamestown settlement lies within the Jamestown unit of Colonial National Historical Park. Adjacent to the park is the affiliated, 22 acre Jamestown National Historic Site, containing ruins of the 17th century Jamestown church tower and the statue of the Powhatan Indian, Pocahontas. This site is owned and managed by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, a private nonprofit organization. Also adjacent to the park is Jamestown Settlement, run by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, a quasi-governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This area features recreations of James Fort and a Powhatan Indian village; replicas of three square-rigged sailing ships like those that carried Jamestown’s founding settlers from England to Virginia, and a museum complex on Jamestown and the Powhatan Indians.
Yorktown
In September 1781, while the Continental Army’s General George Washington succeeded in leading the British forces into believing he was poised to attack them at New York City, he organized 2,000 American and 5,00 French soldiers for rapid deployment south to Virginia. This strategic shift of manpower was carried out in anticipation of launching an attack upon the British naval base at Yorktown, where one third of all British troops in America were stationed. Washington’s troops were reinforced by 4,000 Continental soldiers already in Virginia, plus 3,000 Virginia militiamen. At about the same time, a large battle fleet of French warships arrived in Chesapeake Bay off the Virginia coast and attached a British fleet, causing extensive damage and forcing it to sale back to New York for repairs. The French fleet then formed a blockade across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and the York River.
On October 9, Washington’s allied army launched its artillery attack on British-held Yorktown. After nine days of non-stop bombardment, with British supplies dwindling and no hope that their navy could break through the blockade and rescue them, British commander Lord Charles Cornwallis requested a ceasefire on October 17 to discuss the terms of a surrender. Two days later, the defeated British army yielded up its arms as they marched by the victors. This historic surrender signaled the final major military engagement in the Revolutionary War.
The national historical park has two visitor centers - one focusing on the Yorktown unit, the other on Jamestown. Both centers provide interpretive exhibits, programs, and publications. Self-guided and interpreter guided tours are offered, as well as driving tours with interpretive stops at points of interest. Access to the park is by way of U.S. Route 17 from I-95 near Fredericksburg; by way of I-64 southeast from Richmond or northwest from Norfolk; or by State Route 5 from Richmond, a route that passes a number of historic plantations along the north shore of the James River.
Address:
PO Box 210
Yorktown, VA 23690-0210
804-898-3400
Website:
http://www.nps.gov/colo/
