Category: Captain John Smith

Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Captain John Smith, Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestowne, National Society of Colonial Dames of America

The 1907 Memorial Church – A Structure Built To Honor The 300 Year Anniversity Of The First Permanent English Settlement At Jamestown Island

Hamilton Historical Records

In 1893, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, which is currently known as Preservation Virginia, purchased 22.5 acres of land within Jamestown Island, the land where Captain John Smith had utilized to establish the first permanent English settlement of “Jamestowne”. The association worked diligently to prepare for the upcoming 300 year anniversity of Jamestown.

The National Society of Colonial Dames of America contracted Boston architects Edmund Wheelwright and Ralph Adams Cram to create a replica of the Jamestown Church where the Virginia General House of Burgesses first met on July 30th, 1619. The church was modeled after St. Luke’s Church in Smithfield, Virginia and used bricks from two historical buildings located within Hampton, Virginia. In 1907, National Society of Colonial Dames of America donated the church to Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and had the building placed on top of the original church building site.

A statue to Captain John Smith, who became the first governor of Virginia, was erected yards away from the enterance of the 1907 Memorial Church.

Arlington County, Virginia, Captain John Smith, Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia, King Charles II of England, Thomas Fairfax

Fairfax County, Virginia – A Region That Englishman Captain John Smith Once Explored

Hamilton Historical Records

Captain John Smith was one of the first Englishmen to record life in what would eventually become Fairfax and Arlington Counties, During his travels through the Potomac River. In 1649, King Charles II of England granted all of the land between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to a group of seven Englishmen.

Painting of Thomas Fairfax, the Sixth Lord of Fairfax.

Eventually, in 1719, this land came into the possession of Thomas Fairfax, sixth Lord Fairfax. In 1742, Fairfax County, which was named after Thomas Fairfax was established by the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Sixth Lord of Fairfax has a family whose land grant included all of Northern Virginia. Therefore, in the future parts of Loudon County would be formed form Fairfax, County.