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New Discoveries at

Jamestown

Site of the First Successful
English Settlement in America

By John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson

Washington, D.C., 1957

United States Department of the Interior

Fred A. Seaton, Secretary

National Park Service

Conrad L. Wirth, Director

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Preface

Jamestown, a name of first rank among historic names, saw the birth ofEnglish America. Here on an island in the James River in the heart oftidewater Virginia the English carved a settlement out of thewilderness. It grew from a rude palisaded fort into a busy community andthen into a small town that enjoyed many of the comforts of dailyliving. For 13 years (until 1620) Virginia was the only English colonyon the American mainland. Jamestown served this colony as its place oforigin and as its capital for 92 years—from 1607 to 1699.

After its first century of prominence and leadership, “James Towne”entered a long decline, precipitated, in 1700, by the removal of theseat of government to Williamsburg. Its residents drifted away, itsstreets grew silent, its buildings decayed, and even its lots and formerpublic places became cultivated fields. Time passed and much wasforgotten or obscured. So it was when it became a historic area, inpart, in 1893, and when the whole island became devoted to historicalpurposes in 1934.

Since these dates, the Association for the Preservation of VirginiaAntiquities and the National Park Service have worked toward thepreservation of all that still exists of old Jamestown, and arededicated to learning its story more completely. Thus the Americanpeople can more fully understand and enjoy their historic heritage ofJamestown. A great deal of study along many lines has been required andmuch more is still needed to fill the many gaps. Libraries have beensearched for pictures, documents, and plans. Land records have beencarefully scrutinized and old existing landmarks studied.Seventeenth-century buildings and objects still surviving in England,America, and elsewhere have been viewed as well as museum collections. Akey part of the search has been the systematic excavation of thetownsite itself, in order to bring to light the information and objectslong buried there. This is the aspect of the broad Jamestown study thatis told in this publication, particularly as its relates to the materialthings, large and small, of daily life in Jamestown in the 17th century.