Colonial National Historical Park
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| Colonial National Historical Park | |
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| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
.jpg/288px-Colonial_Parkway,_Fusileir's_Reboubt_Overlook_(York_County,_Virginia).jpg) |
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| Location | York and James City counties and Williamsburg, Virginia, USA |
| Nearest city | Williamsburg, VA |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 9,349.28 acres (9,271.30 federal) 37.84 km² |
| Established | December 30, 1930 |
| Visitors | 3,346,675 (in 2007) |
| Governing body | National Park Service and Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities |
Colonial National Historical Park is located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is operated by the National Park Service of the United States government.
Contents |
[edit] Colonial Parkway
The park includes the Colonial Parkway, a scenic 23-mile parkway linking the three 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] Jamestown
The park includes an attraction known in modern times as Historic Jamestowne. Located in James City County at the southern end of the Colonial Parkway, it encompasses the area of Jamestown Island and is adjacent to the Commonwealth of Virginia's complimentary attraction known as Jamestown Settlement.
[edit] Yorktown
At the northern end of the Colonial Parkway, in York County at Yorktown, the park operates the Yorktown Battlefield and Visitor Center. Nearby, the state-operated Yorktown Victory Center and the Yorktown Riverwalk Landing area are located.
[edit] Green Spring Plantation
Sir William Berkeley, who held the colonial governorship during the longest periods of any individual, used his Green Spring 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 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
[edit] External links
- Official NPS website: Colonial National Historical Park
- Cape Henry Memorial
- Green Spring Plantation
- Friends of Green Spring a large interactive web site with streaming video and essays ("The voices of Green Spring")
- Jamestown National Historic Site
- Yorktown Battlefield
- Yorktown National Cemetery
- Yorktown National Cemetery - a roster and photo of burials
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