Jamestown Colony was the first permanent English settlement in North America, located near present-day Williamsburg, Virginia. Financed and organized by the Virginia Company, the colony was originally a private venture that had been granted a royal charter by King James I.
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Established in 1607, the colonists survived famine, disease, weather, and several conflicts with Native American Indians. Jamestown grew, expanded, and served as the capital of the Virginia Colony from 1607 until 1698.
The Virginia Company sailed from England to try and establish the first permanent English colony in the New World. Their instructions were to settle Virginia, find gold and a water route to the Orient. The explorers landed on Jamestown Island on the banks of the James River on .
Despite the dispatch of more supplies, only 60 of the original 214 settlers survived the 1609–1610 Starving Time. In mid-1610, the survivors abandoned Jamestown, though they returned after meeting a resupply convoy in the James River. Jamestown served as the colonial capital from 1616 until 1699.
You’ll learn about the Virginia Indians who occupied the landscape for centuries, the arrival of English colonists to Jamestown in 1607 and the first documented arrival of West Central Africans in 1619, leading to cultural encounters and events that planted the seeds of a new nation.
Visit the real thing at Historic Jamestowne, explore the actual location and active archaeological dig, Jamestown Rediscovery, home of the first successful English settlement.
On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America.