7/7/11 – Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Out front, there’s a big pavillion called Quadricentennial Plaza with flags from all 50 states--memorial from the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown colony.

In the Visitors Center, we watched a movie that traces the first 20 years of the settlement, then toured the museum.  There are a lot of artifacts from the period. 

Outside near the memorial for the 350th anniversary of the colony, we were met by a historical interpreter dressed as a Powhatan Indian who took us out for a guided tour of a Powhatan Indian village. 

  

   
She then took us over to the re-creation of James Fort and introduced us to another interpreter there, dressed as a colonial settler from the 1600s.  We had just missed the musket demo, but that was okay.  Our guide took us into the Governor's house, which is being remodeled, then we toured the church.   There were lots of artisans giving demos of life in the early 1600s. 

   

  

We were then escorted out to the river and replicas of the 3 English ships that brought the original settlers ot the New World.  Our interpreter there explained about the journey and then we were free to wander on each of the ships, where there were more people able to answer any questions we had.  

It’s amazing how much you can learn when you listen to the interpreters compared to just reading about it.  Makes it a lot more personal.  Check out more pictures here:  Jamestown Settlement