One of my most memorable trips was to Historic Jamestowne and the Settlement in Virginia. I’ve been fascinated with Jamestown ever since I was a child and this destination has been sitting idly on my bucket list waiting for its turn. With our 3rd wedding anniversary and the pandemic situation, my husband and I wanted to do something special and decided to do a trip closer to home.

As the history books would tell us, Jamestown is America’s first permanent colony with Settlers arriving in April 1607. The expedition was sponsored by a company of investors in the Virginia Company of London who were hoping to reap profits from the new colony. The first 104 settlers set sail in December 1606 on three ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, from London across the Atlantic Ocean to the new land. They brought over the English language, customs, religious beliefs and government which created the foundations of the settlement and later played a large role in American history.

We decided to first visit the Jamestown Settlement Museum in the morning which was where the re-creations of the town’s buildings, three ships and the Powhatan’s Paspahegh Town were located. The museum was very interactive and definitely put the settlement in perspective. We were able to walk through the re-created buildings and watch the demonstrations of the tour guides who talked about daily life (food, cooking and jobs) in the Jamestown Settlement.

One of the guides described the rough conditions the settlers experienced when they first arrived to the new colony; the men slept outside for the first several months and spent working all day to build the fort and shelter for the residents. They later realized that the land they claimed was swampy and clean water was sparse especially when the temperature started getting warmer.

Afterwards, we headed to the Historic Jamestowne location which was a 5 minute drive from the Settlement. We walked down the pathway leading to the entrance of the Historic Jamestowne and saw the Memorial Church and the Church Tower to our left and John Smith’s statue standing in the center of the outline fort in front of us. I was so amazed that I was actually standing in the original triangular-sized Jamestown fort built up by these settlers.

The 17th Church Tower that sits next to the Memorial Church is the oldest remaining structure from Jamestown. From the Historic Jamestowne website, the Preservation Virginia acquired the Church Tower in 1893 and built the adjacent Memorial Church using the brick foundations similar to what was used in the 17th century.

Life in Jamestown was not easy. Half of the people died from disease in the Summer/Fall of 1607. And, by winter of 1607, there were only 38 people left in the settlement. In early 1608, more settlers arrived in Jamestown and eventually women and children started arriving to the colony. As Jamestown grew, the settlers began to have more conflicts with the Powhatan Indians for territory and food supply. As their relationship with the Powhatan Indians declined and winter approaching in 1609, the settlers began to experience food shortages due to the siege led by the Powhatan Indians. This later became what historians call the ‘The Starving Time’ which eventually led the settlers to resort to eating anything they can find and even cannibalism. Click here to read about Jane – https://historicjamestowne.org/archaeology/jane/

As we continued our tour through Jamestown, we walked towards the open field where we saw thin crosses standing in the grass next to the fort’s wall. Archaeologists had excavated several burial shafts of the early Jamestown settlers and there was even a young boy’s body that was recorded as ‘slaine’ by the Powhatan Indians. We also saw the Chancel’s burials nearby where archaeologists discovered four burials for the leaders in Jamestown: the Reverend Robert Hunt, Captain Gabriel Archer, Sir Ferdinando Wainman and Captain William West.

Jamestown always had a special place in my heart as a child and today as an adult. My family and I have one thing in common with the settlers; it’s that we both gave up everything in our homelands and took a huge risk to immigrate to a new place with so many unknowns. Obviously, I was not inflicted with disease, starvation or got attacked which I 100% agree they had it a lot worse! Nonetheless, I am very grateful for the settlers for their bravery and for taking a big risk to start over in a new land. They established the foundations of America and the symbol of freedom, and gave hope to people everywhere that they too can achieve their dreams.