Colonial National Historical Park

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Colonial National Historical Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)

Location:	Virginia, USA
Nearest city:	Williamsburg, VA
Coordinates:	37°13′8″N, 76°31′3″W
Area:	9,349.28 acres (9,271.30 federal) 37.84 km²
Established:	December 30, 1930
Total Visitation:	3,327,573 (in 2004)
Governing body:	National Park Service and Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

Yorktown Victory Monument

Yorktown National Battlefield

Yorktown National Cemetery

Colonial National Historical Park preserves various sites associated with colonial Virginia, near Williamsburg and Newport News.

1 Jamestown Island
2 Yorktown
3 Colonial Parkway
4 Green Spring Plantation
5 Cape Henry Memorial
6 Administrative history
7 Reference
8 External links

[edit] Jamestown Island

The park encompasses most of Jamestown Island, the site of the first permanent British settlement, which was founded in 1607. Jamestown National Historic Site is a 20-acre adjacent area owned by, and administered in affiliation with, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Together, they are now promoted under the name Historic Jamestowne.

The Jamestown Glasshouse is located just north of the island, and has glass blowing demonstrations.

[edit] Yorktown

The park includes Yorktown Visitor Center (indoor facilities), the site of the Battle of Yorktown, the decisive 1781 American victory in the American Revolutionary War, the Surrender Field, and a National Cemetery.

The Surrender Field is a part of the Yorktown Battlegrounds. The field is named for the surrender of British General Cornwallis' surrender there in 1781, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

The surrender took place after the Siege of Yorktown in which Cornwallis' troops laid siege upon Yorktown, Virginia and awaited supply shipments to arrive via the York River, and Chesapeake Bay. The siege was ended when French ships sailed up the York River to Yorktown and shut Cornwallis off from any chance of receiving supplies.

Notable participants in the Siege were; General Cornwallis, George Washington, and Marquis de Lafayette.

Yorktown National Cemetery contains 2,183 American Civil War interments, of which 1,434 are unidentified. Probable date of interments is 1866. Grave space is not available.

"Yorktown Memorial Monument" honors the French-American victory over the British in the American Revolution. It was dedicated in 1880 and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt

[edit] Colonial Parkway

Main article: Colonial Parkway

The park includes the Colonial Parkway, a scenic 23-mile parkway linking the 3 points of Virginia's Historic Triangle: Jamestown and Yorktown and running through the historic district of Colonial Williamsburg. The Colonial Parkway is located in James City County, York County, and the independent city of Williamsburg.

[edit] Green Spring Plantation

Just a short distance from Jamestown, also in James City County, the Park owns about 200 acres of the original 2,200 acre Green Spring Plantation. This 17th century plantation was the home of colonial governor Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley, who held the colonial governorship during the longest periods of any individual, used his plantation as an experimental farm to attempt to develop sources of income for the colony other than cultivated tobacco and traded furs.

The preserved portion of the site of Green Spring has been largely untouched since the second dwelling there and dependencies were destroyed during the American Civil War (1861-1865), promising a rich archaeological dig area to follow upon recent discoveries at the Park's location on Jamestown Island.

[edit] Cape Henry Memorial

The Cape Henry Memorial, site of the first landing of the Captain Christopher Newport and the soon-to-be Jamestown colonists in 1607, is located in the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia at Cape Henry. Open to the public, it is located off U.S. Route 60 on the army base of Fort Story.

[edit] Administrative history

Colonial National Monument was authorized on July 3, 1930. It was established on December 30, 1930. On on June 5, 1936, it was redesignated a national historical park. The cemetery at Yorktown was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933.

The Jamestown National Historic Site, owned by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (Now APVA Preservation Virginia) and administered by the NPS, was designated on December 18, 1940.

As with all historical areas administered by the National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park and Jamestown National Historic Site were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.