JAMES CITY COUNTY – JAMESTOWN NATIONAL PARK Contributed by: Joan Renfrow ******************************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ******************************************************************************** NOTABLE SIGNS THROUGHOUT THE NATIONAL PARK A FAMOUS AFRICAN-AMERICAN DREAM The earliest African-American national radio and television minister and advisor of three American presidents, the Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux purchased the lands around you in 1936. His dream was to establish a farm and a national memorial to the progress of African-Americans in this country. The first African-Americans in British Colonial America landed in Virginia, possibly at Jamestown in 1619. ARCHER'S HOPE The great Indian massacre of March 22, 1622, during which a quarter of the population of Virginia was slain came nearest to Jamestown here in a community known as Archer's Hope. At the house of Ensign William Spence five persons were killed -- John Fowler, William Richmond, Alexander Bale, William Fairfax and "the Tinker." ATTEMPTED SETTLEMENT A small group of Spanish Jesuits attempted a settlement in Virginia in September, 1570. They are said to have entered James River and landed along this creek and crossed the peninsula to establish a mission new York River. Six months later all were massacred by the Indians save for one young boy. He was rescued by a relief expedition in 1572. COLLEGE CREEK On May 12, 1607 the colonists who were the next day to establish Jamestown, landed at the mouth of this creek. Captain Gabriel Archer, one of the councilers, liked the spot and would have settled here but was outvoted. For more than a century the creek was known as Archer's Hope and later was named for the College of William and Mary. GLEBE LAND After 1619 these 100 acres of land were set aside for the benefit of the Jametown parish church and minister. Richard Buck was the first clergyman to have use of it. Later on Francis Bolton became minister at "James Citty" and he, too, had "leave to make a lease of the Gleabe land neere unto Archer's Hope." GREAT NECK When Richard Brewster, gentleman, patented some 500 acres in this area on February 6, 1637 it was described as "the great Neck alias the barren neck." Cleared land then, the forest has since grown back. GREAT OAKS These oaks were sprouting acorns about 1750 and were growing toward fair size during the time of Washington, Jefferson, Wythe and Marshall. They are white oaks (Quercus alba) with a height near 90 feet and a spread together of some 150 feet. JAMES RIVER Indians knew this as the Powhatan River, the colonists renamed it in honor of their sovereign, James I. It is one of Virginia's longest and broadest rivers. Rising in the Appalachians it flows eastward, often soil laden, 340 miles to the Chesapeake Bay. Its mouth is the world famous Hampton Roads. JAMESTOWN ISLAND The woodland and marsh beyond the water is Jamestown Island, a pear-shape area of some 1,500 acres, being about 2 1/2 miles in length. It is separated from the mainland by Back Creek. In most recent times the wide mouth of this creek, which you see here, has been called the Thorofare. MILL DAM The mound of earth in front of you was probably part of the dam for William Park's paper mill. His mill was the first in Virgnia for making paper and operated six years or more beginning in 1744. Parks established the first permanent press in Virginia at Williamsburg. His paper mill supplied other printers, too, including Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. NECK OF LAND - near "James Citty" This area, like a peninsula and bounded on three sides by marsh, is just across Back River from Jamestown Island. In 1625 there were a number of houses and 25 persons were living here. The settlement had close community ties to "James Citty" and sent representatives to the General Assembly there. REAL ESTATE Early records tell of a land sale in 1636 being these 500 acres with "all howses...gardens, orchards, tenements." The property passed from Thomas Crompe "of the Neck of Land" to Gershon Buck son of the Reverend Richard Buck who ministered for more than a decade at Jamestown. THE PALISADES For protection against the Indians, the settlers built log palisades across the narrows of the peninsula between the York and James rivers. This was about 1633. Middle Plantation (later Williamsburg) began as a settlement along this palisade which had its southern anchor where Paper Mills and College creeks join a half mile downstream.