Colonial National Historical Park is a large national historical park located in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

region of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

operated by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. It protects and interprets several sites relating to the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

and the history of the United States more broadly. These range from the site of the first English settlement at Jamestown, to the battlefields of Yorktown where the British Army was defeated in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Over 3 million people visit the park each year.

Units

Colonial Parkway

The park includes the

Colonial Parkway Colonial Parkway is a scenic parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It is part of the National Park Service's Colonial National Historical Park. Virginia's official state cl ...

, a scenic parkway linking the three points of Virginia's

Historic Triangle The Historic Triangle includes three historic colonial communities located on the Virginia Peninsula, bounded by the York River on the north and James River on the south. The three points that form the triangle are Jamestown, Colonial Williams ...

: Jamestown and Yorktown and running through the historic district of

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

. The Colonial Parkway is located in

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located o ...

, York County, and the city of

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

Jamestown

The park includes the original site of Jamestown, known in modern times as

Historic Jamestowne Historic Jamestown is the cultural heritage site that was the location of the 1607 James Fort and the later 17th-century town of Jamestown in America. It is located on Jamestown Island, on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia, and operated ...

in James City County at the southern end of the Colonial Parkway. It encompasses the area of

Jamestown Island Jamestown Island is a island in the James River in Virginia, part of James City County, Virginia, James City County. It is located off Glasshouse Point, to which it is connected via a causeway to the Colonial Parkway. Much of the island is wet ...

, including the Jamestown Glasshouse. Adjacent to it is the Commonwealth of Virginia's complementary attraction known as

Jamestown Settlement 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 16 ...

Yorktown Battlefield

The park operates the Yorktown Battlefield at the eastern end of the Colonial Parkway in York County at Yorktown. The Thomas Nelson House was built around 1724 and served as Cornwallis's headquarters during the final battle of the Revolutionary War. The battlefield was the site of the British defeat. Both the house and the historic siege earthworks were restored in 1976."Walter Eugene George, Jr. Collection: 1951-2007"
Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas at Austin Libraries. Retrieved 2010-11-29. The Moore House is where surrender negotiations took place in 1781, located in the eastern part of the park. Nearby are the state-operated American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and the Yorktown Riverwalk Landing area.

Green Spring Plantation

William Berkeley held the colonial governorship during the longest periods of any individual. He used his

Green Spring Plantation Green Spring Plantation in James City County about west of Williamsburg, was the 17th century plantation of one of the most unpopular governors of Colonial Virginia in North America, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances Culpeper B ...

as an experimental farm to develop sources of income for the colony other than cultivated tobacco and traded furs.

Cape Henry Memorial

The Cape Henry Memorial is at the site of the landing of Captain

Christopher Newport Christopher Newport ( – ) was an English seaman and privateer. During the war with Spain Newport was one of the most successful ' Elizabethan Sea Dogs' to venture to the Spanish Main, making large profits. Newport is best known as the c ...

and the Jamestown colonists in 1607. It is located in the city of

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

at Cape Henry. It open to the public and is located off

U.S. Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

on the Navy's

Joint Expeditionary Base East Joint Expeditionary Base-Fort Story, commonly called simply Fort Story is a sub-installation of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, which is operated by the United States Navy. Located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Vi ...

Administrative history

Colonial National Monument was authorized on July 3, 1930. It was established on December 30, 1930. On June 5, 1936, it was redesignated a

National Historical Park National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally historic significance in the United States. They are usually owned and managed by the federal government. An NHS usually ...

. The cemetery at Yorktown was transferred from the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

to the

on August 10, 1933. Jamestown National Historic Site is co-owned by the National Park Service and

Preservation Virginia Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus ...

(formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) and administered by the NPS, and was designated on December 18, 1940. Preservation Virginia owns containing the remains of the original 1607 fort. The National Park Service owns the remaining of the island which contains the archeological remains of the expanded town and its island plantation sites. 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

of the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

References

External links

* * * *Official NPS website
Colonial National Historical Park

Friends of Green Spring
a large interactive web site with streaming video and essays ("The voices of Green Spring")

{{authority control Historic American Engineering Record in Virginia American Revolutionary War museums in Virginia American Revolutionary War sites Archaeological sites in Virginia Museums in York County, Virginia National historical parks of the United States National Register of Historic Places in James City County, Virginia Parks in James City County, Virginia Parks in Virginia Beach, Virginia Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia Parks in York County, Virginia Protected areas established in 1930 National Park Service areas in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Cemeteries in James City County, Virginia Cemeteries in York County, Virginia Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia 1930 establishments in Virginia United States national cemeteries American Revolution anniversaries Virginia historical anniversaries Cemeteries established in the 1930s