Jamestown

Williamsburg, VA

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Welcome to Jamestown! Jamestown is the original site of the first permanent English colony in North America. On 14 May 1607, a group of over 100 men and boys recruited by the Virginia Company of London came ashore and established a settlement at Jamestown Island. They constructed a palisaded fort there within the territory of the Paspahegh Indians, who with other Virginia Indians had frequent contact with the English. Life in the colony was brutal, and many died. Jamestown is famous for its leader John Smith, and Indian princess Pocahontas. In 1619, the first English representative legislative body in North America met at Jamestown, and the first documented Africans arrived. Jamestown served as the capital of the Virginia colony from 1607 to 1699, when it was moved to Williamsburg. Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum near the original site, while Historic Jamestowne is the site of the 1607 Jamestown colony.