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Making America's Best Idea Even Better
Historic JamestowneColonial Williamsburg Bus Shuttle to Historic Jamestowne
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Historic Jamestowne
Why Settle on Jamestown?
Jamestown's swampy environs claim yet another victim in this painting by NPS artist Sydney King
NPS image
Jamestown's swampy environs claim the life of yet another 17th-century English settler in this painting by NPS artist Sydney King.
 

 

 

A disease-ridden, bug-infested swamp with bad water: what a place to found a colony! But there were advantages as well to what was chosen as the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America.

To learn more about each reason contributing to the selection of Jamestown in 1607, click on the title next to each of the six images below.

 

 

 
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Good Parking!
 
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A Defensible Site

 
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Point A (Atlantic) to Point P (Pacific)

 
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All That Glitters….

 
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An Unoccupied Site

 
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Good, Sweet Water
Exmaples of clay pipes and pipe stems in the NPS Jamestown collection  

Did You Know?
Clay Pipe stems and bowls discarded by Jamestown settlers can help date an archeological site. Over 50,000 have been found by archeologists at Jamestown.

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Last Updated: June 23, 2009 at 10:37 EST