Jamestown, Virginia: The Townsite and Its StoryHatch, Charles E., Jr.
History
Jamestown, Virginia: The Townsite and Its Story
Hatch, Charles E., Jr.
Jamestown (Va.)
The findings of the program have been extensive. Documentary Study has
gleaned data which, when carefully examined, yields a more complete
picture of 17th-century Jamestown than was thought possible. However,
the picture is sketchy and needs the details filled in. For this reason,
research continues in anticipation of bridging the gaps.
Archeological work proved more fruitful than the most optimistic had
anticipated during the initial phases of the work. The materials and
information found beneath the ground at Jamestown have been astonishing
in both quantity and type. Architectural and constructural findings are
of various types. More than a hundred building-remains have been
excavated. Some are only the footings for a frame structure, some are
brick foundations in full outline, and others are well-preserved cellars
with interesting structural detail. Associated with the sites are
fragments of hardware, glass, roofing tile, and related building
materials. Some of the building remains are those of the most prominent
structures at Jamestown, such as statehouses and governors’ houses.
Brick kilns have been found, one being the well-preserved ruins in the
Association grounds, showing clearly that 17th-century Virginians made
much of their own brick and roofing tile. Pottery manufacture has been
documented as well as other such activities. Several types of early
wells, often brick-lined, have yielded many objects dropped in
accidentally, or by design, while they were still in use.
Even road traces still exist. Some of them, considered in the light of
documentary references, have made it possible to reestablish the route
of the “Greate Road” formerly connecting the island and the mainland.
The reopening of old property line ditches and the rediscovery of fence
lines (by identifying old post holes) have aided immeasurably in
locating property tracts. This information, added to that of the old
land grants and survey plats, has made possible the location of many
early landholdings and has helped in the study of the physical layout of
the town. Other features uncovered include lime kilns, where the early
Jamestown builders burned their own lime for plaster—occasionally found
still clinging to basement walls—and brick drains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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