Colonial National Historical Park
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The Colonial National Historic Park is made up of four separate parks, Historic Jamestowne Island, Yorktown Battlefield and the connecting Colonial Parkway on the Virginia peninsula, as well as Cape Henry - the first landing site in Virginia Beach. From the beginning of the English settlement in 1607 Jamestown to the freedom won by the colonists in 1781 Yorktown, many treasured and hallowed grounds are located within this unique park system.
COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK - HISTORIC JAMESTOWNE
The site of the original 1607 settlement, Jamestown Island is managed by both the National Park Service and Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The original Church tower still stands from the first century of occupation. Today the Jamestown Rediscovery Project has been an extensive excavation at the foot of the tower, finding the footprint of the original fort and early structures and artifacts from the first days of the Jamestown settlement.
Here one can walk in the steps of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas while exploring America’s beginnings. It was here where the successful English colonization of North America began, and was sustained as the first English representative government met. Here too, the first arrival of Africans to English North American was recorded in 1619. Jamestown is truly the Beginning of America.
Every year a new discoveries are made through the Jamestown Rediscovery Project that increases our knowledge of our early settlers. Begun in 1994 by Dr. William Kelso, the project has located over ninety percent of the once supposed missing 1607 fort on land. The team has excavated and studied structures, wells and burials, and has collected over a million and a half artifacts, many are housed in a new APVA museum on site. The National Park Service also has a Visitor Center and gift shop with interpretive displays.
Jamestown was the capital of the colony until 1699 and was home to Governors, planters and merchants who purchased lots in what was called “New Towne” and constructed dwellings there. Taverns, warehouses and wharves served those visiting the capital to attend the courts, to serve on the House of Burgesses or to have their tobacco graded, weighed and taxed at this official government port city. After Jamestown was abandoned the island was farmed by two families. In 1934, the National Park Service acquired the New Towne site and began excavations with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
Along the Colonial Parkway just before the causeway to the Island is the reconstructed Glasshouse, a modern version of what we believe the original Glasshouse of 1608 might have been like. Today modern glassblowers create glass objects like wine bottles, candle sticks, pitchers and paper weights.
Jamestown Island Drive is a three and five mile one-way road through the forest and around the swamps of the island with wilderness views and majestic wildlife. Eagles and other numerous birds, wild flowers, turtles, deer and various other mammals show this is a place teaming with life. Pull-offs and waysides along this roadway explain about the industries attempted by the early settlers to make a profit out of this wilderness. Jamestown is only 8 miles west of Williamsburg via the beautiful Colonial Parkway.
COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK - YORKTOWN BATTLEFIELD
In October of 1781, the world was literally turned upside down, as the Continental Army under the leadership of General George Washington, Comte de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette, with the aid of the French Fleet commanded by Admiral Comte de Grasse, defeated Lord Cornwallis and the British army to secure Americas independence from England. Once an important tobacco port in the 17th and 18th centuries, the village of Yorktown like a mystical Brigadoon, comes to life every 25 years during the milestone anniversaries of the British surrender with thousands of re-enactors representing both armies recreate the battle scenes. Living history battle re-enactments take place yearly, on the October 19th anniversary of the battle also known as Yorktown Day. Special events are also scheduled throughout the year.
Much of the battlefield has been preserved, along with monuments honoring the participants. Points of interest includes redoubts, the Moore House, Surrender Field and the encampments sites of the various armies. Administered by the National Park Service, tours of the Yorktown Battlefield begins at the Visitor Center where the original 1781 battle plans for both land & sea are presented through a series of exhibits. A short film is followed by an exhibit of many artifacts. Ranger guided tours are offered of the battlefield and the adjacent historic Yorktown. A self guided road tour is also available through miles of deep woods, fields, hills, lakes & earthworks to sites of encampments, redoubts, caves & Surrender Field can be made by car or bike. Only serious hikers should try walking the entire area. The Battlefield is only fifteen miles east of Williamsburg via the Colonial Parkway.
COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK - COLONIAL PARKWAY
A lesser known attraction, the Colonial Parkway is a 24 mile scenic drive linking Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown, the route is carved through woodlands and along two river banks offering panoramic views of the landscape, wildlife and history. It is the best connecting avenue to the important points of the Historic Triangle, closed to commercial traffic (with the exception of tour buses) the trip becomes a leisurely, stop-light free trek complete with pull-offs and historical markers.
The Colonial Parkway stretches twenty-three miles from the York River at Yorktown to the James River at Jamestown, connecting Virginia’s historic triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, the “sacred shrines on national life and liberty.” Several million travelers a year use this route to enjoy the natural beauty of Virginia as well to explore important milestones of our nations founding.
In construction, the National Park Service’s prime directive “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same.” Due to events and funding shortages, Parkway construction extended over twenty-six years through the Depression and World War II, the road was completed to Jamestown in 1957 in time for the founding settlement’s 350th Anniversary.
Authorized in 1930, Colonial National Historical Park is over 10,000 acres located between the James and York rivers in Virginia and administers and interprets the sites of Jamestown Island and the Yorktown Battlefield. The scenic parkway links the sites into a “single coherent reservation.” Traversing a diverse environment, the parkway provides visitors with dramatic open vistas of rivers and tidal estuaries as well as shady passageways through pine and hardwood forests. Designed as a three-lane roadway, the Parkway allows motorists to appreciate the surrounding landscape, while reducing impact on the resources and providing for traveler safety. The center lane is used only for passing and the maximum Parkway speed limit is 45 miles per hour with speed reductions near major sites. Commercial vehicles are banned on the Parkway with the exception of tour buses.
Colonial National Historical Park - CAPE HENRY
583 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23459
As part of the Colonial National Historical Park which ties into the Yorktown, Jamestown and Colonial Parkway portions of the park near Williamsburg, this small plot in Virginia Beach at the north end of Atlantic Avenue in Fort Story, is home to a lot of history. Here stands the Cape Henry Memorial Cross which commemorates the site where a wooden cross was erected by the early English settlers who knelt and offered thanks to God for their safe arrival to Virginia in April of 1607.
Here too, more than a century and a half later, just off shore, on September 5, 1781, two mighty war fleets exchanged cannon shot for about 2 1/2 hours. Admiral Comte deGrasse, commander of the French fleet thwarted the British Navy during the Battle of the Capes from rescuing Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown, thus securing the victory of the Continental forces over the English, which led to America’s independence. A statue honoring the Admiral stands facing his stunning victory.
A three-way Interpretive Panel also sits on this windswept site giving information about this strategic location in reference to these two significant events in American history, the landing of English settlers in 1607 to establish the First Permanent English Colony at Jamestown and the Battle of the Capes. This tiny bit of National Park is overlooked by the two Cape Henry Lighthouses, though not administered by the NPS, the lighthouses are also significantly important historic icons, which have between them, lit the way at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay for over two centuries.
Colonial National Historical Park
phone: 757.898.2410
Combination Historic Jamestowne - Yorktown Battlefield tickets are available / Golden Age Passports and Golden Access Passport are honored.
The seven-day combination pass fee is per adult and allows unlimited access to both Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield during regular operating hours. Children 15 and under are admitted free.
The twelve-month Annual Pass admits pass holder and accompanying spouse, children and parents. It allows unlimited access to both Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield during regular operating hours. It is valid for twelve months from the date of purchase.
There is no fee to travel the Colonial Parkway.
There is no fee to visit Cape Henry. The Cape Henry Memorial site is unattended by National Park Service personnel, and there are no facilities or services available. Cape Henry is open year round. It is recommended that all visitation be conducted between the hours of dawn to dusk.
