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April 20, 2007

A History Lesson

America's First Settlement, Jamestown, VA. Virginia is rich in history and living less than 45 minutes from historic Jamestown means lots of educational outings. I went there as a child, have taken the kids, and this week went as a chaperone for DD's fifth grade gifted class trip. Since this year is the 400th anniversary of the settlers arrival at Jamestown, I thought I'd share a few pics from the orginal settlement location.
This is the site where they allegedly parked the boat.

The archeological dig is ongoing. They are finding new artifacts everyday and even found a door handle while we were watching them dig.

A lot of graves have been found during the dig. The area of shells is where a large building once stood. The early settlers would bury their dead inside the buildings or at night so the Indians would not know that their numbers were reduced.
Capt. John Smith overlooks the James River.
Until 1994, researchers assumed that the original fort was under water, that erosion had long since destroyed it. Then came a new researcher guy who concluded that based on the location of the churches, the fort would have been further inland and he was right. In the last 13 years they have discovered the location of the orignal fort and over a million artifacts which tell so much about those early settlers. It's all so interesting that I had to buy the book by that researcher guy titled "Jamestown, The Buried Secrets". I hope you enjoyed your mini tour of Jamestown.

2 comments:

Suzanne said...

I haven't toured Jamestown in years. I bet the kids had FUN! As for stitching supplies, the shop I go to locally is Haus Tirol in Wmbg, although I buy stuff online (Down Sunshine Lane or Stitching Bits and Bobs if I don't need it quickly)! I've heard of From the Heart in Va Beach, but never been there. Suz

Janice said...

Thanks for the tour! I would love to visit Jametown someday. History is my fav. subject!