Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Settlement

Recreated interior of James Fort
Established	1607
Location	Jamestown, Virginia
Type	Living history museum
Website	Official website

Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614), a Powhatan Indian Village, indoor and outdoor displays, and replicas of the original settlers' ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.

It is located adjacent to the Colonial National Historical Park site, which includes Jamestown, the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America, founded on May 14, 1607. It is also adjacent and complementary to Historic Jamestowne on Jamestown Island, run by the National Park Service and Preservation Virginia, being the archaeological site where the first settlers lived. The Colonial Parkway connects all of these sites.

Late in the 19th century, Jamestown became the focus of renewed historical interest and efforts at preservation. In 1893, a portion of the island was donated to Preservation Virginia for that purpose, including the ruined church tower. In the early 1900s, a seawall was constructed with the intention of preserving the site around the original "James Fort", even though the actual location of the original 1607 fort was thought to be underwater and lost to erosion. In 1907, the Jamestown Exposition was held to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, but the celebration was held at Sewell's Point in Norfolk, Virginia on the harbor of Hampton Roads, due to transportation and other considerations. The area came back into national prominence with the creation of the Colonial National Historical Park in 1940 and the uncovering of the old fort in 1996 by archaeologists of the Jamestown Rediscovery project.