Our Heritage

Still Very Much Alive

Historic museums and sites of interest are everywhere in Hampton Roads. That’s largely due to the historical richness of our past. Hampton Roads is home to our nation’s Historic Trangle: Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. Here you can experience the story of America’s beginnings at the Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. Through film, artifactfilled galleries and outdoor living history, these museums engage visitors in nearly two centuries of our nation’s history—from the founding of America’s first permanent English settlement in 1607 to the decisive Revolutionary War victory in 1781 and implementation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Costumed historical interpreters depict the daily lives of the people who lived through these events two and three centuries ago. This is all done in faithfully re-created settings— three replica ships, a Powhatan Indian village, and a Colonial fort at Jamestown Settlement; and a Revolutionary War encampment and 1780s farm at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. At these living museums, you can grind corn, steer with a whipstaff, try on English armor, enlist in the Continental Army or assist with farm chores. Call 253-4838 or toll free 1-888593-4682 or visit www.historyisfun.org. Colonial Williamsburg is the restored Capital of Colonial Virginia, where history lives so “that the future may learn from the past.” You can explore the nation’s history and learn what it means to be an American while visiting more than eighty original buildings, restored to their 18th-century grandeur. See how the people lived, from the richest to the poorest. Play the games the children played, watch craftsmen at work, and sample some Colonial fare. While Colonial Williamsburg’s sites are open year round, many people choose to visit in December to enjoy the Grand Illumination, an annual spectacle of light and music for residents and visitors alike. Call 1-855-756-9516 or visit on the web at www.history.org.

The Colonial National Historical Park stretches from the York River to the James River and is home to Yorktown and the Yorktown Battlefield, site of the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War. Yorktown Battlefield is administered by the National Park Service, and is part of the Colonial National Historical Park which includes Jamestown and the Colonial Parkway, which connects the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. For more information, call the Park’s headquarters at 898-3400, or visit www.nps.gov/colo/ index.htm.

The Mariners’ Museum, one of the largest international maritime museums in the world, features more than 35,000 maritime items, including ship models, the August Crabtree collection of miniature ships, scrimshaw, maritime paintings, decorative arts, intricately carved figureheads and working steam engines. The Mariners’ Museum is also the custodian of the artifacts and archives of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. The USS Monitor Center is a home to the priceless artifacts recovered from the