Williamsburg
Originally Middle Plantation, a 1632 fortified settlement located on high ground on the Peninsula between the James and York rivers, it was renamed Williamsburg after the capital of the Virginia Colony was moved there from Jamestown in 1698. The town received a royal charter as a city in 1722, and was the center of political events in Virginia leading to the American Revolution. Williamsburg is well-known for Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city, and for the adjacent College of William and Mary, established in 1693, the second-oldest university in the United States.
Prior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area which became Williamsburg was largely wooded. It was well within the territory of the Native American group known as the Powhatan Confederacy. In the early colonial period, the navigable rivers were the equivalent of modern highways. For ease of travel, and security from conflicts with the Native Americans, early colonial settlements were established close by the rivers.
By the 1630s, English settlements had grown to dominate the lower (eastern) portion of the Virginia Peninsula, and the Natives had abandoned their villages nearby such as Kiskiack (also spelled "Chiskiack"), shifting to more remote locations, but attacking intermittently. To offer protection for the farming and fishing communities lower on the Peninsula, the colonists built a stockade across the peninsula to provide some security from attacks by the natives.
Lying along the center-line of the Virginia Peninsula, the location which became Williamsburg was some distance from both the James River and the York River, the ground sloping down to the shore of each. Near Williamsburg, College Creek and Queen's Creek each fed into one of the two rivers. Between these two creeks the land area was only about 6 miles wide, much less than at other points.
The area which became Williamsburg was settled in 1638 and named Middle Plantation, after its location on the high ground about half-way across the Peninsula. The cross-peninsula defensive palisade completed in 1634 was an integral part of the creation of Middle Plantation, though its exact route is long gone. Remnants have recently been discovered by archaeologists on the Bruton Heights School property adjacent to the site of the house of Governor John Page while working on a Colonial Williamsburg archaeological research project.[4]
Jamestown was the original capital of Virginia Colony, but was burned down during the events of Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. As soon as Governor William Berkeley regained control, temporary headquarters for the government to function were established about 12 miles away on the high ground at Middle Plantation, whilst the Statehouse at Jamestown was rebuilt. The members of the House of Burgesses discovered that the 'temporary' location was both safer and more pleasant environmentally than Jamestown, which was humid and plagued with mosquitoes.
Read MorePrior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area which became Williamsburg was largely wooded. It was well within the territory of the Native American group known as the Powhatan Confederacy. In the early colonial period, the navigable rivers were the equivalent of modern highways. For ease of travel, and security from conflicts with the Native Americans, early colonial settlements were established close by the rivers.
By the 1630s, English settlements had grown to dominate the lower (eastern) portion of the Virginia Peninsula, and the Natives had abandoned their villages nearby such as Kiskiack (also spelled "Chiskiack"), shifting to more remote locations, but attacking intermittently. To offer protection for the farming and fishing communities lower on the Peninsula, the colonists built a stockade across the peninsula to provide some security from attacks by the natives.
Lying along the center-line of the Virginia Peninsula, the location which became Williamsburg was some distance from both the James River and the York River, the ground sloping down to the shore of each. Near Williamsburg, College Creek and Queen's Creek each fed into one of the two rivers. Between these two creeks the land area was only about 6 miles wide, much less than at other points.
The area which became Williamsburg was settled in 1638 and named Middle Plantation, after its location on the high ground about half-way across the Peninsula. The cross-peninsula defensive palisade completed in 1634 was an integral part of the creation of Middle Plantation, though its exact route is long gone. Remnants have recently been discovered by archaeologists on the Bruton Heights School property adjacent to the site of the house of Governor John Page while working on a Colonial Williamsburg archaeological research project.[4]
Jamestown was the original capital of Virginia Colony, but was burned down during the events of Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. As soon as Governor William Berkeley regained control, temporary headquarters for the government to function were established about 12 miles away on the high ground at Middle Plantation, whilst the Statehouse at Jamestown was rebuilt. The members of the House of Burgesses discovered that the 'temporary' location was both safer and more pleasant environmentally than Jamestown, which was humid and plagued with mosquitoes.
