Smith's Fort Plantation is a house and parcel of land located in

Surry County, Virginia Surry County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,561. In 1652, Surry County was formed from the portion of James City County south of the James River. For more than 350 years it has depende ...

, United States. The current main house on the property, also known as the Faulcon House, dates from 1751. The house has been an example for numerous twentieth century reproductions. It is also known as Warren House and Rolfe-Warren House. an
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History

The

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

received its name because it was the location of Captain John Smith's "New Fort," built in 1609, located directly across the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Ches ...

from the Jamestown colony. The fort was quickly abandoned due to dry rot and a rat infestation. The same land was later given by

Chief Powhatan Powhatan ( c. 1547 – c. 1618), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommac ...

John Rolfe John Rolfe (1585 – March 1622) was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia in 1611. Biography John Rolfe is believed ...

as a dowry for the hand of

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter o ...

when Rolfe and Pocahontas married. Archaeological surveys of the property have revealed that a number of structures have existed on the property and the present, restored main house was built by Jacob Faulcon in 1751.Hume, Ivor. ''The Virginia Adventure''. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1994. Smith's Fort Plantation house

Preservation

The property and current house was acquired by

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 o ...

(formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) in 1933 after undergoing restoration funded by

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in Mi ...

It is currently open as a museum with furnishings from the late 16th through the early 18th centuries. The property serves as a host to the annua
Old Virginia Christmas-Festival of Crafts

Archaeological investigations

Smith wrote of this fort that it was "neere a convenient River upon high commanding hill, very hard to be assaulted an easie to be defended." The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquites maintains the site now, whose location matches Smith's description. Hume suggests that it makes sense that Smith's description of the fort as a "retreat," makes this site a likely spot for trading parties to seek refuge. Archaeological investigations over the site have been limited to the excavations of a ditch and a highly eroded rampart. Further archaeological work to determine if this site was indeed the site of Smith's fort would be necessary. Hume notes that this site does seem to be the site of Smith's fort because the construction type is very similar in nature to the types of earthworks built on Ronoake Island.

References

External links

Smith's Fort Plantation websiteOld Virginia ChristmasRolfe House, Surry County Courthouse vicinity, Surry, Surry County, VA
8 photos and 2 data pages at

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

{{James River Plantations Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia James River plantations Museums in Surry County, Virginia Historic house museums in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1751 Houses in Surry County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Surry County, Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia 1751 establishments in Virginia