Historic James Town

After visiting the James Town Settlement we toured the Historic location where evidence of the fort really exists.  I remember visiting many, many years ago and being told that the fort was probably in the James River, it was only within the last ten years that the fort was found along the edge of the river.

We met with a guide who explained some of the stories and sites we saw.  Since I have been doing a lot of research on Jamestown I was a bit surprised that the guide stuck to some of the misconceptions of certain stories that do not match up with the true history.  I always do my best not to sugar coat the past with my kids always mentioning the both sides of every situation in history so we can all better understand why events unfolded the way they did.  This is one of the many reason I do not use a history curriculum preferring to put my history program myself to insure accuracies as they are know today.

Walking the path to the fort and seeing the old church which still stands.

part of the fort is washed away into the James River but most of it is still there and is currently being examined by archeologist.

We were told it took approximately 19 days for the walls of the fort to be built 

Inside the church the kids found a plaque about one of the young boys we read about Thomas Savage who  survive the  earliest days at Jamestown and became the first interpretation for the Powhatan Indians.

More information on people the kids and I have been reading about John Rolfe who discovered the first commercial crop that made Jamestown a profitable venture for the Virginia Company

We are also reading about Pocahontas and finding out the real story behind this girl and her short life

Jamestown church which has been expanded many times but original bricks can be seen along the inside of the church

seeing how building were built inside the fort...this was one of the store houses

Currently the site is being examined by archeologist who are continuing to find out more information about the men and women who lived here.  Most of what is found can be view by the museum on the grounds.

A grave yard was found inside the fort believe to be used during the starving time

A grave found outdid the fort

Next we took a stroll thru the woods to the Glass house which was a failed venture that the Virginia company tried to start up in Jamestown

Watched the recreation of glass items found during that period.  Unfortunately the glass in that period did not hold up well and the venture was a complete failure

Looking at the construction of the building, I believe this is called warble and daub construction.  We saw it a lot in the UK

We learned a great deal on our mini trip which happen way back in Nov.  Since then the children and I have been reading books, watching DVD and doing other activities to learn about this period in history.  It is amazing that it only took about 50 years for the English settlers to cement themselves into the American wilderness and push the Indians out of their land.