Virginia's Historic Triangle

Last weekend we went with some friends to Virginia's Historic Triangle which includes Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown all of which are within 15 miles of each other and have largely impacted the history of the United States of America.

First of all Jamestown- Established in May 1607, it is considered the first English settlement in which is now the United States. If you have ever seen the Disney movie Pocahontas, Jamestown is the actual place that movie setting took place. Yes, John Smith and Pocahontas were real people!


Jamestown is sort of a little island that sits right on the York River and is incredibly beautiful. Alot of archiology has occured here and so they replicated some of the foundations of the buildings and where they were situated.
They found this foundation of the church that was originally built in 1617! It is so old, but beautiful! I just can't begin to comprehend that long ago and what it must have been like.

Next in the historic triangle is Yorktown- The battle of Yorktown was a turning point in the Revolutionary War between England and the U.S. Here General Cornwallis' army (England) surrendered to General Washington after a seige on the town of Yorktown. Today this battlefield is a National Park and so we were able to see a video presentation and a replication of cannon shootings...

There were some guys dressed up as American soliders and they did a demonstration on a replica cannon that was used at that time.

This cannon (the green part) is an original from the Revolutionary War. If you can see the big dent in the side of it, that is where an actual ball hit it disabling it. This was supposedly a British cannon that was surrendered to Washington at the end of the battle. I think that is so great that they can preserve things like this for us to see. It makes it more real!

If you look closely at this picture, you can see the fire come out of the end of the cannon!

Last is Williamsburg- Williamsburg was the first "capitol" of Virginia and the home of the College of William and Mary which was founded in 1693. Williamsburg, which was settled in 1638, isn't too much younger than Jamestown. 4 of the first 5 presidents of the United States were "taught" in the capitol building here; that is pretty impressive. Lots more to tell about it, but you will just have to read that yourself. Here are some cool pictures from Williamsburg...

The governor's mansion in Williamsburg!

One last kiss in the stocks! ;)

They had lots of replica houses- they were so cute!

The Capitol building in Williamsburg- the first capital of Virginia.

Finally, some pictures of our friends that went with us.