Island Drive

The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 O.S. (May 14, 1607 N.S.), and was considered permanent after a brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke, established in 1585 on Roanoke Island, later part of North Carolina. Jamestown served as the colonial capital from 1616 until 1699. Despite the dispatch of more settlers and supplies, more than 80 percent of the colonists died in 1609–1610, mostly from starvation and disease. In mid-1610, the survivors abandoned Jamestown, though they returned after meeting a resupply convoy in the James River. In August 1619, the first recorded slaves from Africa to British North America arrived in what is now Old Point Comfort near the Jamestown colony, on a British privateer ship flying a Dutch flag. The approximately 20 Africans from present-day Angola had been removed by the British crew from the Portuguese slave ship São João Bautista. They most likely worked in the tobacco fields as slaves under a system of race-based indentured servitude. One of their number included Angela, who was purchased by William Peirce. The modern conception of slavery in the British colonies was formalized in 1640 (the John Punch hearing) and was fully entrenched in the Colony of Virginia by 1660.The London Company's second settlement in Bermuda claims to be the site of the oldest town in the English New World, as St. George's, Bermuda, was officially established in 1612 as New London, whereas James Fort in Virginia was not converted into James Towne until 1619, and further did not survive to the present day.In 1676, Jamestown was deliberately burned during Bacon's Rebellion, though it was quickly rebuilt. In 1699, the colonial capital was moved to what is today Williamsburg, Virginia; Jamestown ceased to exist as a settlement, and remains today only as an archaeological site, Jamestown Rediscovery. It is known for its historical significance as the site of the first permanent English settlement in America. The town is home to several museums and historical sites, including the Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which showcase the rich history of the area. Today, Jamestown is one of three locations composing the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, along with Williamsburg and Yorktown, with two primary heritage sites. Historic Jamestowne is the archaeological site on Jamestown Island and is a cooperative effort by Jamestown National Historic Site (part of Colonial National Historical Park) and Preservation Virginia. Jamestown Settlement, a living history interpretive site, is operated by the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation, a state agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Jamestown Tercentennial Monument is an obelisk-shaped monument erected in Historic Jamestown in Jamestown, Virginia, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Jamestown Colony. The monument was installed in 1907.

Jamestown Church, constructed in brick from 1639 onward, in Jamestown in the Mid-Atlantic state of Virginia, is one of the oldest surviving building remnants built by Europeans in the original Thirteen Colonies and in the United States overall. It is now part of Historic Jamestown, and is owned by Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). There have been several sites and stages in the church's history, and its later tower is now the last surviving above-ground structure from the days when Jamestown was the capital of Virginia. The current structure, active as part of the Continuing Anglican movement, is still in use today. The ruins are currently being researched by members of the Jamestown Rediscovery project.

Historic Jamestown is the cultural heritage site that was the location of the 1607 James Fort and the later 17th-century town of Jamestown in America. It is located on Jamestown Island, on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia and operated as a partnership between Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) and the U.S. National Park Service as part of Colonial National Historical Park. The site was designated Jamestown National Historic Site on December 18, 1940, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in 2007 by the American Chemical Society. It is adjacent and complementary with Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum built run by the Commonwealth of Virginia to interpret the early colony.

Jamestown Island is a 1,561-acre (632 ha; 2.439 sq mi) island in the James River in Virginia, part of James City County. It is located off Glasshouse Point, to which it is connected via a causeway to the Colonial Parkway. Much of the island is wetland, including both swamp and marsh.

The Jamestown Ferry (also known as the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry) is a free automobile and bus ferry service across a navigable portion of the James River in Virginia. It carries State Route 31, connecting Jamestown in James City County with Scotland Wharf in Surry County. The service provides the only vehicle crossing of the river between the James River Bridge downstream at Newport News and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge upriver near Hopewell. It is toll-free and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The vessels carry over 900,000 passengers annually. Operations are based at the Scotland Wharf in Surry County.

The Jamestown Glasshouse is located in Jamestown, Virginia, between Jamestown Island, the location of the first permanent English settlement in North America, and Jamestown Settlement. It is currently a part of the Colonial National Historical Park, and associated with Historic Jamestowne, and located near the Colonial Parkway.

Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614), a Powhatan Native American town, indoor and outdoor displays, and replicas of the original settlers' ships: the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.The museum complex is located adjacent to Historic Jamestowne, on Jamestown Island, which is run in partnership by the National Park Service and the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, a private nonprofit branch of Preservation Virginia dedicated to the archaeological mission. Historic Jamestowne is established in the original James Fort and Jamestown Colony, the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America, founded on May 14, 1607. Colonial Williamsburg and The American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, additional living history sites, follow the next centennial of Virginian and American history up to the American Civil War. The Colonial Parkway connects all of these sites. The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation is a Virginia state agency that administers the education aspects of the Jamestown Settlement as well as the Yorktown battlefield and the Revolution.

Amblers, also known as the Coke-Watts House, is a historic farmstead at 2205 Jamestown Road in James City County, Virginia, just north of the Jamestown peninsula. Its main house is a handsome 2+1⁄2-story brick structure, built in 1852 in the country style promoted by Andrew Jackson Downing, and expanded with a sympathetically styled Colonial Revival addition in the 1950s. The property includes two surviving 19th-century brick farm outbuildings, and landscaping from the 1950s that is also considered historically significant.The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The Battle of Green Spring took place near Green Spring Plantation in James City County, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. On July 6, 1781 United States Brigadier General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, leading the advance forces of the Marquis de Lafayette, was ambushed near the plantation by the British army of Earl Charles Cornwallis in the last major land battle of the Virginia campaign prior to the Siege of Yorktown. Following a month of marching and countermarching in central Virginia by Cornwallis and Lafayette, Cornwallis in late June moved to Williamsburg, where he received orders to move to Portsmouth and send some of his army to New York City. Lafayette followed Cornwallis fairly closely, emboldened by the arrival of reinforcements to consider making attacks on the British force. On July 4, Cornwallis departed Williamsburg for Jamestown, planning to cross the James River en route to Portsmouth. Lafayette believed he could stage an attack on Cornwallis's rear guard during the crossing. Cornwallis anticipated Lafayette's idea, and laid an elaborate trap. General Wayne's forces were very nearly caught in the trap, and only a bold bayonet charge against the numerically superior British enabled his forces to retreat. Cornwallis did not follow the victory with pursuit, instead following his plan to cross the river. The action reinforced the perception among contemporaries that justified the moniker "Mad" to describe Wayne, although opinion on the merits of his actions was divided. The battlefield has been partially preserved, and reenactments are sometimes staged.

Grays Creek is an 6.02-mile-long (9.69 km) stream in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a tributary of the James River, rising south of State Route 626 and flowing east to reach the James River southwest of Historic Jamestowne, across the river.

Pleasant Point, also known as Crouches Creek Plantation, is a historic home located near Scotland, Surry County, Virginia. It was built about 1724, and is a 1+1⁄2-story, double pile frame dwelling with brick ends. It has a gable roof and originally had a hall-parlor plan, later modified to a central-hall plan. The interior woodwork was largely replaced in the 1950s, although it retains some original doors, framing and original bowfat in the dining room. Also on the property are a contributing dairy, smokehouse, laundry and a four-step terrace leading down to the bluffs overlooking the James River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.