More Than a Fort: Historic Jamestowne's New Towne
a detail from the site guide of Historic Jamestowne's townsite. The blue area is the James River; each number corresponds to a wayside and/or other interpretive media related to that location.
NPS image
Jamestown quickly began expanding beyond the boundaries of the three-sided fort first built on the banks of the James River in 1607. In the 1620s, surveyor William Claiborne mapped out the area to the east of the fort. This land was quickly occupied and used for a variety of purposes by a variety of Jamestown inhabitants and visitors. Use the links below to learn more about the 17th-century story of New Towne, a busy part of Virginia's first capital. 2. The Jamestown Riverfront (1630 - 1690) 3. The Greate Road, an Early Highway (pre-1607 - 1700s) 4. Backstreete, Main Street of Jamestown (1620 - 1699) 5. A Jamestown Warehouse (1630s - 1699) 6. The Home of Governor Harvey (1630s) 7. Tradesmen on the Lot of Governor Harvey (1630s) 8. A Diverse Jamestown House (1620 - 1640) 9. An Upper-class Neighborhood (1630s - 1699) 10. A Timeline for Structures at Jamestown Related to the Chiles Family 11. Efforts to Build a Town (1660 - 1699) 12. A Jamestown Tavern Site (1670s) 13. May-Hartwell Site (1660 - 1690) 15. Probable Site of Home and Shop of a Gunsmith |
Did You Know?
Sturgeon are a prehistoric fish that have been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth. The colonists at Jamestown wrote that the rivers “swarmeth” with sturgeon.