City: Jamestown, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 229-1733

Description: In the beginning, all America was Virginia, wrote William Byrd in 1732, and this scruffy island on the banks of the James is where Virginia, named for Queen Elizabeth I, the so-called “Virgin Queen,” began.The programs offered here are coadministered by the National Park Service, which bought 1,500 acres of the island in 1934, but it was Preservation Virginia (formerly the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) whose leaders first saw the need to ensure this spot be maintained. They bought, and continue to hold, 22.5 acres of the island in 1893. In time for the quadricentennial, a new visitor center opened in 2007, a little farther inland than the old one, and offering an interpretive introduction to the island. There is an extensive collection of 17th-century Jamestown artifacts on display and a new, 18-minute orientation film. Here is where you pay your admission fee, hook up with one of the rangers leading a tour, or pick up a self-guiding leaflet if you prefer to go at your own pace. A new feature on the historic site itself is the interactive “virtual viewer,” a panoramic camera that superimposes images onto the existing, vacant land to show visitors where buildings stood, where objects were recovered and what the fort looked like 400 years ago. With the press of a button, monitors then show short films, re-creating pivotal events from Jamestown history that occurred at these sites, like the burning of Swann’s Tavern during the Bacon Rebellion, or the 1635 meeting of the Virginia Assembly at which Governor John Harvey was arrested for treason. Way cool. Guided tours for groups are available, on a reservation basis, in spring, winter, and fall. Begin your tour of the Old Towne Site at the Tercentenary Monument, a 103-foot shaft of New Hampshire granite that was erected in 1907 to mark the 300th anniversary of Jamestown’s founding. River tides have washed away part of this early town site, but on your walking tour of Jamestown you can explore the 1639 Church Tower, the sole 17th-century structure still standing, and view ruins of the original settlement made visible by archaeological exploration. These include foundations of some of the early statehouses and ruins of the original glass furnaces built in 1608. Near the Church Tower along the James River waterfront is the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological excavation site, where you can watch researchers sift through the remains of the James Fort, once believed lost forever, and talk to interpreters about the latest dig finds.Excavation on the site began in 1994 after archaeologist William Kelso led the team that discovered that the fort was not lost under the James River, as was formerly believed. It is estimated that about 85 percent of the fort still exists on land. Of that, about 20 percent has been uncovered so far.You’ll also see statues of John Smith and Pocahontas as well as the Dale House, which sits near the seawall, just beyond the Confederate earthwork. The Dale House serves as a snack bar, now that its former tenants—the archaeologists—have moved into a beautiful building of their own, called the Archearium.Further progress was made in 2001, allowing visitors to get a feel for what the settlers would have seen inside or outside the walls of the fort. Partial sections of the south and east palisade walls, the southeast bulwark, an eastern extension, and gates were built last winter. Construction of the frame of a longhouse building discovered inside the fort area helps visitors understand the dimensions and shape of the structures. Next, a pause at the Memorial Cross is in order. The cross marks some 300 shallow graves that were dug by the settlers during the so-called “Starving Time,” the dismal winter of 1609–10. Walk to the other side of the visitor center, and you will find the New Towne Site, which contains reproductions of ruins built over original foundations, including those of the Ambler Mansion, a two-story home built in the mid-1700s. Also in New Towne is the Manufacturing Site, where a number of commercial endeavors—including brick making, pottery making, and brewing—occurred in the mid-1600s. After you’ve toured the town site, take one of the loop drives around Jamestown Island. These 3- and 5-mile self-guided automobile tours through a wilderness of pine and swamp will bring you close to the vision early colonists must have beheld when they set foot in America—a natural environment at once beautiful and frightening. Herds of deer still roam the forested ridges of the island, sometimes coming close to the ruins under cover of dusk. Muskrats hide in the Jamestown marshes; you might glimpse one paddling leisurely through the swamp. A profusion of waterfowl, including ospreys, herons, and mallards, makes seasonal stops. Roll down your windows, listen to the music of songbirds, feel the stillness all around you. If time permits, pull over to read the markers inscribed with interesting historical and botanical data. Save time to visit the reconstructed Glasshouse, which is actually located on the mainland, across the bridge that brings you to the island, but included in your park admission fee. Costumed craftspeople demonstrate 400-year-old techniques, making glassware much like that created and used by settlers. While hard woods such as hickory and oak fueled the kilns in 1608, today natural gas heats the fiery furnace. The products, which register a red-hot 2,000 degrees when first pulled from the heat, are lovely. Clear and green goblets, bell jars, flasks, wineglasses, pitchers, and the like can be purchased here. A display case also shows off some of the glassblowers’ after-hours work—the vases and such they make to perfect their skills long after the tourists have gone home. You may want to return to the visitor center for souvenirs before leaving. Reproductions of colonial stoneware, glassware made at the Glasshouse, a vast selection of books, videotapes, toys, games, and other keepsakes are for sale. Admission to Jamestown Island is $10 per adult, age 16 or older, and covers reentry for up to a week, as well as entry to the Yorktown battlefield. Children 15 and younger are admitted free. Interagency Annual, Senior, and Access passes are accepted. Educational groups are admitted free of charge with advance notice and a written fee waiver. Jamestown is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Parking is free.

City: Jamestown, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 253-4838, (888) 593-4682

Description: Opened in 1957 in time for the 350th anniversary, Jamestown Settlement underwent major renovations in 2006, in time for the quadricentennial. New museum galleries doubled the size of the exhibition space, added classrooms, and expanded the cafe, with indoor and outdoor seating for 300. Combined with the outdoor living-history exhibits, the programs offered here re-create both the early colonists and the Virginia Indians habitats and customs in a lively manner without sacrificing historical authenticity. Museumgoers can board replicas of the ships that brought the English settlers to the New World in 1607, which are docked along the James River; grind corn; play quoits; and watch as tools are made and muskets are fired. If you are traveling with kids, especially young children, and have time to visit just one of the two Jamestown sites, the settlement is likelier to offer a richer experience for all. Tickets are available in the high-ceiled lobby. Start your visit by watching an introductory film, 1607: A Nation Takes Root, shown approximately every 30 minutes, that presents a dramatic overview of the first decades of the British colonial experience in the Virginia colony. After the film, make your way through the Great Hall, where exhibits use artifacts, maps, and full-scale dioramas to illustrate a chronological journey of life in Virginia from 1600 to 1699, with a special emphasis on the native Powhatans and the West Africans who began arriving here in large numbers when tobacco cultivation became the dominant economic enterprise. A short walk from the galleries, the outdoor exhibits offer a hands-on way of learning about American history. Costumed interpreters reenact the quotidian details of life in colonial Virginia. Here is a museum where visitors are actually encouraged to touch and use the items on display—climb into a dugout canoe, play ninepins, lie down in a bunk aboard the Susan Constant.At the Powhatan Village, visit the Virginia Indian houses (the British called them longhouses but the Algonquian word is yahekin) made of sapling frames covered with reed mats. These dwellings are re-creations based on archaeological findings and eyewitness drawings made by a New World explorer. Walk around the ceremonial circle made up of seven carved wooden poles created by an Indian artist and her husband. Historical interpreters dressed as Powhatans make tools from bone or smoke fish over a fire and cook it on a baking stone. Children can play cob darts, a game of pitching dried corn ears through a hanging vine hoop.