History of the Site

Jamestown is the first permanent English settlement in America. It was 1607 when the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery (three English ships), arrived at the place they would name Jamestown in honor of their king. The Virginia Company was sent to find wealth and riches in the New World. Jamestown survived some challenging times to become the first capital of the Virginia Colony. But after almost one hundred years, the capital was moved to Williamsburg and Jamestown was left virtually abandoned.

Recent Excavation

The first person to excavate on the site was Mary Jeffrey Galt (also the co-founder of the APVA - Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). She began excavating in 1897. Although she was not a trained archaeologist, she uncovered the foundations of an old church. In 1992, the National Park Service and APVA, led by Dr. William Kelso, started to look for the old Jamestown Fort. They have found the location of the fort by finding where the soil has been stained by rotted wood. They have also found several thousand artifacts, including a body in a coffin. The young man had died because of a bullet in his knee. They don't know his name so they just call him "JR" for Jamestown Rediscovery. So the questions are - what was his real name, why was he shot and who shot JR? Archaeological work at this site is ongoing, so if you want to go there, it is just an hour west of Richmond, Virginia.

My Personal Experience

I was very excited to travel to Jamestown. The area around Jamestown is still protected wilderness, so we could feel like we were leaving the present and going back in time. At Jamestown, I saw many different monuments, including ones for John Smith,Pocahantas, and the residents who died during the winter of 1609-10. It was also cool to see the remaining parts of the church - the only 17th-century structure still standing at Jamestown. At the dig site which is, in part, protected by a large tent, I had the chance to talk with an archaeologist who was digging up the remains of a warehouse. I saw where they found the clues that lead them to the old fort, and the site where they found JR's coffin. There is a lot of digging going on there now, and they said that it gets busier in the summer, when professional, students, and amateurs from all over the world help with the ongoing excavations. I learned that they are learning a lot about the Virginia Company, and the men who settled Jamestown. History books often tell a different story than the one they are piecing together at Jamestown. It was fun to hear the park ranger tell stories about what life was like in that time. We also had a chance to visit the nearby Jamestown settlement, where they re-create what life was like for the Powhatan Indians, on the ships that sailed from England, and in the James Fort.