Jamestown, Virginia April 3

April 3
We headed to the Outer Banks, North Carolina with a stop at Jamestown. I remember driving out here in 1968 and not seeing much but thinking about the settlement. Today it is an active archeological site. They only recently discovered the actual site and began to uncover the foundations. In 2007 they dedicated a wonderful new museum displaying a small portion of the over a million treasures they have found. The first permanent colony was British and consisted of 114 men and boys with their arrival in 1607. It was hoped it would be prosperous for the individuals but more importantly for England and its backers, the Virginia Company of London. It had a disastrous beginning with disease, starvation, Indians and unfamiliar climate taking its toll. By the end of the first year, only a third were still alive. Only 60 of the 300 residents survived the “starving time” from 1609-1610. Tough beginning. In 1619 Africans arrived to work the tobacco fields and 90 women arrive a year later. Life here was never easy but the colony grew and began to prosper.
The museum is fascinating. They have displays of the various trades with the tools they have found and the actual names of the men who used them. For example, they listed the tailors by name and had the little pins, needles, thimbles, scissors, etc. that they used. Amazing. The displays of trades, tools, personal belongings and weapons used by the colonists here gave us a virtual tour of 17^th century landscape. They brought people to do everything a new community would need to survive and grow. Outside we watched archeologists working at the site scraping away the dirt layer by layer. They have uncovered many of the foundations including the walls of the first fort. The church tower constructed in the 1690’s is still standing. The replica of the glass blowing studio is turning out replicas of the glass pieces found from the early days of the settlement. At this site, America got its beginnings and the English had their first colony. We had a late lunch right there at the National Park looking out at the bay.