411 Years Ago on 26 Apr 1607

Jamestown in relation to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service

After 127 days at sea, three shiploads of 104 English settlers arrive on the shore of present-day Virginia. They designate their landing spot at the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Cape Henry. Cape Henry is named after Henry Frederick Stuart, the oldest son of King James I and later, the northern cape is named for Charles Stuart, the son who succeeded his father as King in March of 1625.
 
Upon landing at Cape Henry, Captain Christopher Newport opened the sealed instructions issued by the Virginia Company.  Fortunately for John Smith, it named him as a leader of the colony. Smith had been charged with mutiny while at sea and was to be hanged upon arrival at Virginia. This saved Smith from the gallows. They erect a cross and proclaim the land for their King. Indians mount a small attack and the party of three ships (the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery) move further inland to locate a secure site for settlement in keeping with the aforementioned instructions.
 
The settlement of James Citte is founded less than three weeks later on a small island situated near the northern shore of what was later named the James River. Sent and financed by the Virginia Company of London, the colonists/adventurers are hoping to find gold and other valuable resources waiting to be plucked from the shore.  Alas, no riches were found.
 
Thus James Citte, or Jamestown as it came to be known, was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

-John Graves, Jamestowne Society Communication Committee 2018-2019

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