Historic Jamestowne — Attraction in Jamestown Island

Visited in December 2022, week between Christmas and New Years. Was pretty deserted at opening but got busy pretty quickly. The theater with video was closed and was told that it had been "down" for quite sometime (months?). Which was unfortunate. There is a few exhibits in the main visitor center. You need to pay to go in. Alot of the lights were either turned off or out as it was just abnormally dark and hard to read many if the plaques/displays. The main attraction is out the back doors. There is a little bit of a walk down the boardwalk over the swamp to get to the settlement site.

Make sure to buy your tickets online before hand as the registration line gor long pretty quick that i noticed later in the day. Also if pirchased online you get 20% off discount code off 1 item in gift shop. You need to use code online and set to instore pick up. Very bad cell reception indoors. Had to walk outside museum to out in my order. It was also complicated with the NPS annual pass stuff. So you do get a discount, they asked for our ID when we checked it. They just needed our online order number.

The only real remaining structure is the church which is pretty cool. Everything else was moved to williamsburg by the towns folk because they were tired of the town constantly flooding so they took all the building materials with them minus the basement cellars because they were in the ground. Some of these foundations can be seen in the archiarium museum building. Look down through the glass floor. I almost missed them because i didn't look down. This museum buolsing located all the way in the back was the best. They had so many artifacts on display. Also had a native american give a presentation on the day we visted as well. Make sure to check the calendar. They also had a balcksmith but it wasn't anywhere near as interesting. My kids 13, 10 and 7 listened to native american presentation for over an hour. There is also another gift shop in this building as well at the end.

There is also a cafe on property with actual reasonable priced food. We didn't but any because we already had food plans but some of the items sounded good and also baked goods.

The fort (or whats left of it) had the black smith shop and it was interesting to watch him make nails that they were actually using to build more parts of the fort.

The rest of the property had some trails but no real structures to look at. Some really nice waterfront views. We spent a few hours here mostly because of the native american presentation. Not sure we would go out of our way to visit again unless the movie was back up and running or a special program/presentation was happening. Don't forget to visit the glasshouse just up the road...

This was our first time to Historic Jamestowne. Since we are able, we went ahead and bought the lifetime NPS annual pass, which is valid for admission at all US National Parks. We actually visited two days in a row, the first time to go through the brick and mortar museum and the second day to tour the grounds. Please be aware that there are two sites, the "Old Towne" is owned by the state of Virginia, and the "New Towne" is owned by the National Park Service. Both require separate admission fees.

The museum buildings and grounds are well maintained. The museum also has a nice 15-minute overview movie of the origins of the site, including artifact displays. What's interesting is that all of the Native American artifacts have been removed from the exhibits. The walking tour is self-guided. Guided tours are available for an extra cost. Our only mistake was going on one of the hottest days of late June, temps in the upper 90s.

The museum has site maps available. However, there are enough placards throughout detailing people and events. Don't expect to see any buildings or recreations that's over at the "Old Towne." The only standing structure is what's left of the Ambler House. Otherwise, you'll only see the foundations for over a dozen structures. With a bit of imagination, one can visualize what it may have been like at the settlement over 400 years ago.

We accomplished the walking portion in 30 minutes. If you have time, please take the driving tour on Island Drive. From the NPS Museum, simply take a right out of the parking lot. It's well worth it if you enjoy nature. There's also the 1608 Glasshouse that's available to tour. Check before you visit for times as they have live glass blowing...

This place is the most overpriced / worst managed / greatest affront to historic preservation in the entire NPS system. And the biggest shocker is that we the American people / NPS do not even own the land of the original settlement. That is correct, HISTORIC JAMESTOWN IS NOT OWNED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. It is in the hands of a private Virginia group. So you have to pay $15 per person ($75 for a family of 5) to walk across a NPS boardwalk to access the privately held site, who will let you in for another $15. $150 for a family of 5. Have they heard of eminent domain?

The actual NPS site includes “new towne” a series of empty fields dotting with occasional reconstructed brick outlines where newer buildings used to sit. It is thoroughly underwhelming and totally not worth $15 per person.

For some reason, NPS has included this major American history site with the totally different Yorktown Battlefield. It is officially titled “Colonial National Historic Patk”. Look at their NPS map closely and “Old Towne” is not colored the same, because we don’t own it. It makes no sense, but they are connected by the lovely Colonial Parkway.

If you want to get the most out of this place, exit the 199 and take Colonial Parkway to the visitor center. Then either get out a kayak and float around, or take the loop car trail “island drive”. Then head over to Jamestown Settlement where they have a proper museum and historic reenactments and living model fort, village, and ships. NPS has failed the American people...