Jamestown

Our Spring 2025 adventure through Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky began with a trip to Jamestown Settlement.

First we wandered through the exhibits inside the visitor’s center and watched the movie about the Jamestown Settlement. Then we went outside, found a comfortable spot near the recreation of the Powhatan Indian village and ate our picnic lunch.

After exploring how the natives were living back in 1607, we checked out the reconstruction of two of the ships that brought the first Jamestown settlers from England to Virginia. They were amazingly small for the number of people and supplies they carried.

Next, we watched some reenactors entertain the children by showing them how corn was ground and weapons were forged.

We checked out the reconstruction of some of the buildings within the Jamestown Settlement. One of the volunteers told me that the original settlement would have had so many buildings that only narrow alleys would have existed between them.

We finished our tour of the reconstructed Jamestown Settlement by stopping by the church. Attendance was mandatory for all settlers, and not just on Sunday!

On our way out of the Jamestown Settlement, we passed this beautiful redbud tree in full bloom. Spring has arrived in Virginia!

Historic Jamestown

After leaving the recreation of the Jamestown Settlement, we headed to historic Jamestown itself.

Since time was a-wasting, we decided to do the archeological museum first, since it closes at 5 pm. We had to pay an additional fee to go through the museum, but it was well worth it.

I enjoyed seeing the skeletons of the original settlers and hearing about how they died. Modern archeology is amazing in what it can learn from the past.

After touring the museum, we checked out some of the other sites. In the reconstructed church, one of the docents talked about the three major groups who lived and interacted with one another during the early Jamestown years: the Anglos, the Native Americans, and the Africans.

We learned that slavery in America began at Jamestown. And the beginning of representative government began here too.