Williamsburg & Jamestown VA

After DC we had one more area to visit before we headed to Connecticut.  Terri has a cousin in Virginia she had never met, but had been communicating with for the past 15 years.  Onto Williamsburg, Va.

Cousin Marie and Larry McFadden

We spent a nice evening having dinner with Marie and her husband Larry McFadden sharing stories about families, work and travels.  It's nice to finally put a real person to the emails and Face Book contacts.   The McFadden's gave us some good suggestions about our visit to the area as well as traveling from here to Connecticut. 





Colonial Williamsburg

In 1926, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, shared his dream of preserving Williamsburg’s historic buildings with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the restoration began.

Dr. Goodwin feared that scores of structures that had figured in the life of the colony and the founding of the nation would soon disappear forever. Rockefeller and Goodwin began a modest project to preserve a few of the more important buildings. Eventually, the work progressed and expanded to include a major portion of the colonial town, encompassing approximately 85 percent of the 18th-century capital's original area.


A mile long and half a mile wide, Colonial Williamsburg is set aside from the rest of Williamsburg. No motorized vehicles are allowed. Transportation is provided by foot or horse drawn vehicles. The area depicts the period from 1775 to 1781 or from just before the Revolutionary War till near the end of the War.

demonstration on printing



Discussion of arms of
the times
 



The morning of each day is dedicated to 1775 and the debate on the merits of separation from the English Empire. The afternoon is

reading of the Declaration of
Independence

Street debates about meaning
of Declaration

dedicated to a time when George Washington visited prior to an assault on the British troops encamped at York. The morning debate occurs along the main street and covers both pro and con for separation. It turns out that the decision to rebel was not unanimous
by any means. About 1/3 of the people were in favor of rebellion. 1/3 were loyal to Britain, and the final 1/3 could be swayed in either direction. The debate was fascinating to hear.

Fife and Drum Corp with
firing of cannons

George Washington

In the afternoon Washington takes questions from the crowd about his Army and the progress of the war. The year is 1781 and Washington has an army of about 21,000. The British force at York numbers about 6,000. The French have aligned themselves with the US. He discussed how, in the beginning, he was opposed to separation from Britain. His goal was to regain rights assigned previously under British law. Until the shots at Lexington, he was hopeful that Britain and the Colonies could be reconciled. At this point he feels that “independence or slavery” are the only resolutions possible.


Jamestowne

May 13, 1607 three ships anchored in the James River. One hundred four men and boys came ashore to establish the first colony in Virginia.

“In the beginning Virginia was all of America.” was a quote that captured our attention.

The Susan Constance
Replica of one of 3 ships that
landed at Jamestowne

Storehouse

Armor worn in the day

By 1610 the population had grown to 300 and then declined to only 60. Mythology says that most of the deaths were due to malaria, but the archaeological docent described how the contaminated water supply and starvation killed most of the colonist. 

The winter of 1609 is known as “the starving time”.  According to current finds, colonist resorted to eating vermin, shoe leather, pets, horses and even human flesh. The docent described in some detail how the remains of a female, known as “Jane”, bear out this conclusion.

We also learned that most of the problems suffered at Jamestowne were due to poor planning, management and poor relations with the Indians. At a location just 30 miles away, colonists lived well. It was reported that “they had enough food to feed the excess to their pigs”.



Original church still
standing

Jamestowne is also where the well known Indian Pocahontas married an Englishman John Rolf.  This marriage insured peace between the Indians and the colonists until Pocahontas father, the Chief, passed away.

Current Jamestowne is laid out in two sections. One section is museums, replicas of the fort and an

Indian hut

Indian village and most impressively full sized floating replicas of the three ships used by the colonists. The second part is the original fort/town site and a museum of nearly a million archaeological finds.

  Archeology is a continuous activity, and during our visit we viewed the unearthing of a horse skeleton. They were trying to determine when the horse died, by identifying materials surrounding the remains. Archeology of the island site has a urgent air about it, as the island is being destroyed by river and tide action. Global warming will only accelerate the loss of this site.

If you Visit!

Summer weather can be hot and humid. On the days we visited, it was in the mid 90s but felt like around 105 degrees. Williamsburg takes about 3 days to see well. Jamestowne can be done in one long day. Remember to stay hydrated! Due to time constraints and heat, we did not visit Yorktown. Yorktown is the third leg of the colonial triangle of the area.

A few thoughts…

I found that I was naïve about the East coast. I thought that most everything was paved over. When we entered Florida, I was surprised to see lots of pasture land along with the anticipated orchards. Open pit mining is also common, and the mines cover huge areas. In Arizona the pits are deep and the tailings extend many miles. In Florida the pits are shallow but cover many miles. Another surprise was that some of the highest points in Florida are the garbage dumps. They are a couple of hundred feet high and covered with dirt.

As we went north along the Blue Ridge, I was surprised about how much forested land there is. We even saw logging trucks on the highway. Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, has some of the most beautiful farm land I have ever seen. Colonial areas in Virginia are rural and heavily forested. There are more trees now than during colonial days.

Mark Twain said that “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” It also helps with ignorance.