Historic Jamestowne

First stop by the glass blowing house on the way to the island — it’s fascinating to watch and their giftshop is filled with things made right there. We were a little annoyed that we had to pay a separate admission after just having come from the settlement, but it goes toward upkeep so that was fine. (also the ticket is good for the week and gives a yorktown discount) They allow dogs onto the grounds which was nice. It’s a beautiful peaceful place on the James river. There are lots of old trees, crumbling foundations, statues, and informative signs. you can stand in the middle of where the original fort was and in the summer there are archaeologists working in dig sites. The church was beautiful. We watched the ferry for a bit and saw a deer just grazing by. The inside exhibits are nice, but repeat a lot of what is at the settlement. Make sure you leave enough time to see both places if you are touring Jamestown — it’s worth it!

National Landmark is pretty cool. Especially about the cannibalism I never knew about. eeww. It was really cool so see how the colonist lived, even the Actual buildings. They have a girls skull in the museum with al the teeth. I kid you not. Colonists were here first before Plymouth Rock. If you want to see REAL history, you need to visit thisplace, as this is where America really started! There is even a colonial glass blowing place just like the colonists used, and of course they have a shop where you can buy some of these blown glass objects.

Another national park. What is cool here is they are still digging and will be for a long time. This where the settlement came ashore and was built. This was before Plymouth MA, wow. They have good visitor center and a really cool building with nothing but stuff they found. If your are lucky they will be out digging and you can asked them questions. There’s a little driving tour when you go right out the parking lot.

I visited the Colonial National Historic Park in Jamestown, VA on 8÷21÷1988 (it’s stamped in my National Park Passport). It was my 1^st time there. Interesting to be at the site of the first successful English colony in America (before Plymouth, MA). The glass blowing demonstration is well worth seeing. Why did nearby Williamsburg grow so much rather than Jamestown? The answer is simple — fresh water.

This place was great, the tour is highly recommended, you learn so much about Jamestown.

Take the organized your for the best experience. Guides are informative and entertaining. Worth the price of admission and a good compliment to the Jamestown visitors center and Williamsburg visits. We are off to Yorktown to complete the Historic Triangle later this week.

Very cool. The «in the trenches tour» was worth every penny. Fascinating. The little café had very good food including a terrific view and gluten free bread and lots of sandwhich options. Even has wine and gf cider.

For those of you confused by the multiple things called «Jamestown», this is the REAL DEAL! Unlike the nearby reproduction monstrosity, this is the actual landing and settlement sight of the first permanent settlement in the New World. The visitor’s center is very informative thanks to terrific displays and a first rate orientation film. Reenactors are on site on Wednesdays and Thursdays to give tours as if you are a colonist just arriving on shore. Archaeological excavation is ongoing and makes for a unique first-​hand experience.
To make your tour visit complete be sure and check out the glass blowing demonstrations. A quick side trip to the nearby ferry that takes passengers at no cost from the Jamestown side of the James River to Surry County on the other side.
Last but not least, the gift shop on site is the best I’ve ever seen after having been to many national parks. The staff were very friendly and professional and the quality and scope of merchandise available was unparalleled.

Compellingly interesting. Very affordable — just $ 14 for an adult. Great tour and very nice to chat with the friendly archeologists as they work. Bonuses — the café is far, far above normal tourist-​spot fare — and the location along the James River is stunning. If you have any interest at all in history and archeology, this is a can’t miss.

Historic Jamestown (as opposed the the commercially run Jamestowne Settlement museum) is the original site of the permanent settlement, supported by Preservation Virginia and administrated within a larger preserved area by the National Parks Service. The amount of time you spend here depends on whether or not you’ve got young children, and how interested you are in modern archaeology.
If you’re toting around a bunch of sullen teenagers or hyper under-10’s, the Settlement museum with its slick displays, living history actors, musket demonstrations, and recreations of the English sailing vessels that brought the colonists to the banks of the James river is probably more suited. Take them here to spend an hour showing them the original site, perhaps swing quickly through the exhibits of relics, follow the driving tour through the swamps of the island to give them some perspective, and be on your way. The history here is pretty dry and will bore the kiddies to tears unless they’re some rare early American history geeks.
However, if you’ve got some time on your hands, take one of the archaeology tours with the very well-​informed docents. Jamestown is an active research site. Unless it’s bucketing down rain, in the summer there will pretty much always be a team working on a dig. Frequently, you can see and occasionally handle relics as they are removed from the soil. The on-​site «archaearium» building houses a broad display of materials that have been recovered from the site. The Jamestown Rediscovery archaeology study has served as a reference program internationally.
Apart from the research onsite, the property is a pleasantly rolling space bounding the James River with pleasant breezes even in the heat of a Virginia summer. Which also means that it can be quite a bit windy and chilly in contrast to a normally mild Virginia spring, so bring a jacket on cooler days.

Danny makes archaeology come alive on the tour. The National Park Service ranger also gave an engaging and interesting tour. Highly recommend visiting here and learning about such a historical place. Also don’t miss the glass blowing demonstration.

We were traveling through Williamsburg and decided to stop here. It was a neat experience. We drove through Jamestown Island. We got out and walked a trail to the water. Lots of signs with great history information on it. This was a nice time to go because the leaves were changing and it was beautiful Fall weather. We then went to look at the ships. My kids loved this. Lots to see and lots to read. Colonial Williamsburg has more to offer, but this was a neat experience!

I officiated a wedding here yesterday inside the old church. Iconic as it is, the history nerd screamed just a bit because we were standing on history as the couple said their vows adding to the very history and freedom this location allowed. Symbolism was beautiful.
The place had natural lighting for a five o’clock wedding. The pictures were perfect. After the wedding, the party of just under 100 people headed to the dale house patio for drinks and apps. The reception was held under a large tent next to the museum.
Beyond the food service of carrot tree, the required vendor, we had stunning views of the sunset and the James river. The picturesque moments of celebrating love and history was added to the iconic theme of the night.
Power was an issue but the generator was quiet. Additionally, for the older folks or those with walking issues the walk is a bit far from the parking. A private side road exists though not advertised.
Great wedding. Great evening.

This is a good place for history. There are a lot of important distinctions to make about it though — it’s not the first settlement in America. It’s not the first English settlement either. It was though, the first permanent English settlement. How come the English could settle here? There were peoples already in this already, right? It’s because it’s a disgusting mosquito-​infested swamp of an isthmus. No wonder most of the first settlers died here, it’s gross. Expect to be bitten. Bring spray.
I liked the museum, although calling it an archaearium seemed pretentious to me. Also surprisingly pretentious was that this national historical park, with park rangers and all, is basically a place for this archaeologist Kelso to do his thing. I guess he’s good and found stuff here no one else did, but I got the feeling on the ranger-​guided tour that this park is really all about him. Check out the museum shop where you can pay upwards of five grand for the privilege of going out digging with him for a couple weeks. Lame.
I liked Yorktown better.

My parents were in town recently for a weekend visit and we were looking for something to do in the area beyond our usual activities when they are in town. Because my oldest son had recently studied Jamestown at school and I had learned so much in the process, I recommended a visit to Jamestown. So, off we went. Little did I know that there are TWO Jamestown places to visit. I should have read the Unilocal reviews! We passed by the Jamestown Settlement originally and ended up at Historic Jamestown. I am so glad we did. It was fantastic way to spend an afternoon.
We went on President’s Day weekend and since this site is maintained by the National Park Service, it was actually a free weekend. Bonus! We got a quick overview of the area from the visitor’s center and off we went. We wandered the site and I guess it’s just the nerd in me but there was something very exciting and somewhat humbling about physically being at the place where our country literally started. My parents really didn’t know much about the history of Jamestown so it was fun for my son to share his learning with them as we walked around. They had a great time, as did my family.
The highlight of our time for me was the archaearium. This place houses many of the relics and archaeological discoveries from the site. It also walks you though the history of Jamestown as you look at the various artifacts. It was very cool, though my youngest son got creeped out by the skeletons. But, it really does give you a feel for how they lived and their struggles just to survive. It was worth the price of admission alone (note: we did not pay but I would in a second if we went again). I also heard the glass blowing exhibit was cool but we ran out of time and will have to do that one another time.
Overall, if you have an interest in history and the founding of this country, Historic Jamestown is the place to visit. As Christopher C. said, I would put it first on the list if you have to choose between the many options we have around here. We love the others but this one has the authenticity that made it more meaningful. We had a fantastic day as a family and made memories with my parents. I cannot recommend this to you enough.

IF, and hopefully you don’t have to make this choice although if you do it’s fairly easy, you only have time to see one site in the Historic Triangle area this is the one that you should do bar none.
Yes I’m saying that you should skip Yorktown (quasi-​irrelevant) and skip CW (mostly fake reproductions along with tickets being grossly overpriced) and skip the other Jamestown place as that while nice is fairly Disney-​ish in how they choose to interpret things.
Yes my friends, this place is the one that mixes it right in terms of price, historical authenticity and accessibility.
A few noteworthy highlights:
Make time for the movie in the visitor center. It’s short and does a good job giving you a quick synopsis of what the 1607ish era would have been like for Smith and the first group of settlers.
Take some kind of a tour. If you are a wonk, there are tours done once or twice a month (in season I believe) that are actually led by Dr. Kelso himself or by his #2. Sure they cost an extra $ 30 dollars or so but you are getting the stories and information from the source.
If you can’t do that then your next best bet is to hope that Ranger Jerome is working that day and to take one of the 45 minute Ranger led tours. He is fantastic in both his knowledge of the subject and in particular with his delivery.
Don’t forget to stop and watch the glassblowers before or after you visit the fort. A+
Give yourself time to enjoy this place as it is spread out over a fairly large area and if you take a tour, go to the Archeology Museum, walk the well marked grounds and visit the glass blowers you could very easily spend at least four to five hours here.
(They do offer a Junior Ranger Program for kids but you must buy the booklet in the gift shop. It’s cheap and looks cool but it’s not free or on the NPS website like most are.)

Where America started… in 1607!
What a fantastic place. MUST take a 1 hour tour. Plan to allow 5 hours here.
Read Jessica H.‘s review!!!

Wow! What a wonderful piece of American history! I LOVED Historic Jamestown (NOT to be confused with Jamestown Settlement, which is a living history museum and is not the site of the original settlement. Both have separate fees).
James Fort was constructed by English settlers in the spring of 1607. The Jamestown Rediscovery Project, begun in 1994 by Dr. William Kelso, has located over ninety percent of the 1607 fort on land (some lost to the river due to erosion).
This takes a lot of time to see (bring your walking shoes and some water) and I would highly recommend taking one of the tours. I caught the end of one and learned a lot, wish I would have started from the beginning. So much history, a well thought out place, lots of markets indicating what is what. I’d start by heading toward the church first and then looping around (so, take a right). That way you can get the feel of how it progressed. Also, do go to the museum. There are tons of artifacts, even a body that they dug up! Very interesting stuff here. Do not miss this! And stop by the glassblowing house on your way out.
The site was privately owned in the early part of the 20^th century and the river and weather were eating away at Jamestown. Many thought the location of the original fort was now within the river itself. Around 1900 a sea wall was built to protect the site from further erosion. In addition to the church, brick remains of two dozen or so foundations that were built later are found to the east, where the town grew outward away from the fortress walls. The site lay mostly dormant until a few years ago when an archeologist from the college of William and Mary thought the fort may not be completely lost to the James River.
Since the remains of the fort were first discovered, over a million artifacts have been discovered and cataloged. Many of the most interesting items are on display at a new museum about 100 yards away from the active dig site. The outline of the original fort and building foundations are shown in the diagram.

As others have already mentioned but is worth repeating. Historic Jamestown is different than Jamestown Settlement.
The first successful settlement of the new world… it was neat to see, and actually stand on the site where the white people began their assault and occupation of a land that belonged to Native Americans. ;)
You’ll need to stop by the visitor center first and watch the film. Take the guided tour, and then stop by Dale House Café for a snack or a meal and the Archaearium which has a suggested donation as well. After you are done you can kill more time by taking a drive down Island Loop Drive. Not too much to see here, but worth it if you have nothing else to do. Finally on your way out stop by the glass blowing demonstration near the entrance/​exit to the park.
Really hard to say «Yay, I’m a fan», but highly recommend visiting just to see and say you’ve been to the birthplace of America as we know it.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Okay, please don’t be silly and think you can cover this place in a couple hours. You’ve paid the $ 14, take the time to plan your day and get your money’s worth. That’s another issue. I feel like the whole admission fee thing is kind of based on an honor system. You start off at the Visitor’s Center where one would ideally wait in line to pay admission HOWEVER there are no checks or enforcing of said passes. They give you a really cheesy blue sticker to wear on your shirt after you paid but since the pass is good for a week, who’s to say I didn’t chuck mine after the first day and I’m back here on day 7? I’m not encouraging people to be sneaky, I’m just saying… wander around the visitor center for a bit, catch the 15 minute movie, and maybe tag along with a group of people as they’re making their way outside to the Archeological dig site. Broke college kids gotta learn somehow.
We kind of broke our visit up. We explored the visitor’s center and then made our way over to the Glass House area. That was cool, you get to see the Glasshouse ruins and all-​day demos of glass blowing and making. We broke for lunch, drove down Island Drive for the driving tour and finally did the short walking trail that led us to the very end of the island. Lots of biting flies. If you don’t happen to check this box on your visit, you didn’t miss much. After this, that’s when we started the last leg of our visit: the whole encampment and dig site. This is just one of those sights that you really just need to be there to experience and feel. You get to imagine a little burgeoning village bustling with trade and whatever goings on that went down in the 1600s. Take the time, do the museum, do the excavation site, and walk the entire loop of merchant row to see all the old excavated buildings that once stood. My husband had to keep reminding me, the old bricks that you see there are reenactments (is this the right word?) of the originals. None of the original framework is still standing and/​or it’s underground. Kind of annoying because I was really hoping to touch an original building from the 1600s. ha. As if.
We didn’t do the «Jamestown Settlement», which apparently is the reenactment across the street so I can’t compare the two but I will say nothing compares to seeing this site. It’s worth it. And just pay the $ 14, it gives you A WEEK to also check out the Yorktown Battlefield site, which we totally plan on doing to milk our money’s worth.