BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Yorktown -- Shore Level

VA -- Yorktown -- Shore Level:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. YORKS_180530_003.JPG: Riverwalk Landing .50 miles Battlefield Visitor Center 1.25 miles Historic Yorktown
2. YORKS_180530_014.JPG: Signs of the Past on the Riverwalk While walking along the waterfront, we invite you to discover some of Yorktown's past by reading the signs placed along the way. Although Yorktown is best known for the Siege of 1781 that resulted in the surrender of the British army to the Allied forces, there is much more to know about our past ... and present. Read on to learn about interesting events, geography, and structures. York County collaborated with the National Park Service, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (Yorktown Victory Center), Watermen's Museum and York County Historical Museum to develop these overviews. If a sign intrigues you, visit one of our museums to learn more. We welcome your questions or comments. For more details about information on signs along the Riverwalk, visit www.yorkcounty.gov/ychm.
3. YORKS_180530_017.JPG: Naval Weapons Station Supply, amphibious, and combat ships pass Yorktown on their way to and from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The military installation's pier is located three miles upstream. When the 20-square-mile site was acquired by the Navy on August 7, 1918, it was the largest naval installation in the world. Commissioned as the U.S. Navy Mine Depot, operations supported the World War I North Sea Mine Barrage. During World War II, the Depot continued to produce a wide range of ordnance materials such as underwater mines, depth charges, and torpedoes. Activities were reduced after World War II, but were soon increased again to meet the needs of the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. In 1958, the Depot was renamed Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. Today, the installation and its tenant commands provide technical, logistical, and supply-related services to the Atlantic Fleet.
4. YORKS_180530_040.JPG: Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Join the Adventure Explore the places Englishman John Smith traveled in the early 1600s. Learn about the thriving American Indian communities he encountered and imagine the bountiful Chesapeake he observed. Experience the natural and cultural richness that exists in the region today. The 3,000-mile Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail traces the exploratory voyages Smith conducted from 1607 to 1609 on the Chesapeake Bay and along several major rivers. The trail includes parks, museum sites, driving tours, and water trails that align with Smith's historic voyage routes and offer opportunities for recreation and discovery. Experience the Trail • Explore rivers, coves, and open water by kayak, sailboat, or motor craft. • Bicycle or hike along woodland trails and shoreline paths. • Follow winding back roads through rural landscapes and historic villages. • Visit places that celebrate American Indian heritage. • See birds and other wildlife foraging in marshes, waterways, and forests. • Attend festivals and demonstrations, or join a guided tour. To learn more about the trail and to plan your adventure, visit www.smithtrail.net
5. YORKS_180530_042.JPG: Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail John Smith Explores the Chesapeake Captain John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1600s seeking precious metals and a passage to Asia. He traveled the James, Chickahominy, and York rivers in 1607, and led two major expeditions from Jamestown in 1608. Smith and his crew sailed and rowed a primitive 30-foot boat nearly 3,000 miles, reaching as far north as the Susquehanna River. Although Smith did not discover gold, or a river passage to the Pacific, his precise map and detailed observations of American Indian societies and the abundant natural resources guided future explorers and settlers. An Abundance of Life: Smith discovered a treasure trove of natural wonders in the Chesapeake region: thick forests of giant pines, oaks and hickories; vast marshlands; huge turtles, 800-pound sturgeon, and great schools of shad and striped bass. Massive flocks of ducks, geese, and swans darkened the sky; and enormous oyster reefs rose above the water's surface. Native Inhabitants: At the time of Smith's exploration, an estimated 50,000 American Indians dwelled in the Chesapeake region -- as their ancestors had for thousands of years. Their sophisticated societies included arts and architecture, systems of government, extensive trade and communication networks, and shared spiritual beliefs. The native peoples hunted, fished, grew crops, and gathered food and raw materials from the land and waterways. Smith's remarkably accurate map of the Chesapeake Bay (published in 1612), and his spirited written accounts of a lush landscape inspired European migration. Decorative shells -- such as those found on this ceremonial robe -- were valuable in the American Indian's trading network that extended for hundreds of miles. This robe (which may have belonged to paramount chief Powhatan) was crafted from elk skins and adorned with more than 17,000 shells.
6. YORKS_180530_045.JPG: Witch Blood Beachsex
7. YORKS_180530_051.JPG: Chesapeake Bay Gateways The Watermen's Museum Part of a Network of Special Places The Watermen's Museum is one of the Chesapeake Bay's special places linked together by the Gateways Network. Visitors to Chesapeake Bay Gateways experience first-hand the varied stories and adventures shaped by the extraordinary environment of America's largest estuary. There are more than 150 Gateway sites and water-trails and all of them offer ways to explore and connect to the authentic Chesapeake. To learn more, visit the Gateways website at: www.baygateways.net or ask here for the informative map and guide. Chesapeake Bay Facts: • 2,500 sq. miles of water • Width: 3.4 to 35 miles • Approximately 11,684 miles of shoreline • Average depth – 21 feet; maximum depth 174 feet • Largest of the 130 estuaries (a place where salt and fresh water intermix) in the United States • Watershed drains 64,000 sq. miles of land in 5 states • The estuary supports more than 3,600 species of plants and animals While in the area visit nearby Gateway sites to learn even more stories about the Chesapeake Bay. Watermen fishing the Bay The Chesapeake Bay is filled with maritime lore. Watermen still head out in pre-dawn darkness to harvest the Bay's bounty. Osprey Millions of waterfowl make their way along the Bay and through its watershed every year. Witness these migrations and countless other natural wonders. Yorktown Battlefield At Gateway sites like Yorktown Battlefield history comes alive. The Bay provided the background for events that created our nation.
8. YORKS_180530_053.JPG: Yorktown's Windmill For over 100 years, one of Yorktown's most prominent landmarks was a tall, wooden "smock" windmill that stood at the edge of the steep bluff near here. A rotating cap with sails sat atop the tower and could be turned with a long tail pole to face the wind. The original mill was built by William Buckner about 1711 and ground grain for nearby residents. The windmill shown in several later 18th-century views of the town may have replaced Buckner's first structure. It is likely that the windmill was damaged during the 1781 siege of Yorktown. In 1801 it was referred to as the "Old Tower Windmill" suggesting it may not have been in operation. By 1840, the octagonal tower, missing its sails, was obviously in ruins as shown in the sketch above. The use of wind to power mills for grinding grain dates to ancient times. A bluff-top site like this one was perfect for employing wind power to rotate the heavy grinding millstone, easing the task of producing flour and meal from wheat and corn. In Virginia, tidal and millpond water impoundments also provided power for gristmills.
9. YORKS_180530_059.JPG: York River Ferry Records indicate that regular ferry service began here as early as 1647 to cross the river between Yorktown and Gloucester Point. Ferries were licensed by the Virginia House of Burgesses and tolls, equipment, and services were regulated by colonial and later state government. Two women, Janet Mitchell and Mary Gibbons of Yorktown, managed the ferry business in 1774. They advised "Gentlemen who cross to pay their Ferriages at the Swan Tavern" and they also assured customers reading the April 1 issue of the Virginia Gazette that "the Ferry shall be kept inferiour to none in the Colony." The first ferries were powered by men using oars. Later, a cable was used to pull boats across. The invention of the internal combustion engine meant boats could motor across the channel. When the George P. Coleman Bridge opened in 1952, the Virginia Department of Transportation discontinued ferry service in this location.
10. YORKS_180530_063.JPG: Chesapeake Bay Watermen Rugged men and women have made their living on the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers for centuries. Known as watermen, they hand down skills learned by observing water, climate, and wildlife. Consequently, younger generations learn time-honored maritime traditions from their elders. The work is often dangerous, especially during bad weather, but affection and respect for the marine environment motivates those who work on boats. Watermen harvest fish, oysters, crabs, clams, and scallops. They operate ferries, tugboats, police boats, and research vessels. Thomas Jefferson, who promoted the idea of "a school of instruction for our navy," recognized the valuable skills developed by working watermen and referred to their industries as providing good instruction. More than 200 years later, watermen are still seen here as they go about their work on the York River.
11. YORKS_180530_097.JPG: Wars & Yorktown This lower Chesapeake Bay location has been strategic since early colonial days when a fort was built to protect the colony from warring European powers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, ships loaded with tobacco would form convoys at Yorktown to await royal gunships to guard them against privateers and pirates on Atlantic crossings. Most famously, it was the site of the Siege of Yorktown, the last significant battle of the American Revolution. The battle is remembered at Yorktown museums operated by the National Park Service and the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the American Civil War, Confederate troops encamped behind the reinforced Revolutionary War era earthworks. In 1862, the Union army began the Peninsula Campaign to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital. Union troops seized Yorktown after the Confederates abandoned it and prevented the Confederacy from using the York River for the rest of the war. Yorktown also supported military efforts during World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam, and more recent and ongoing conflicts. Active Navy, Coast Guard and Armed Forces training bases are located in York County along the York River.
12. YORKS_180530_100.JPG: Heavy Artillery at Yorktown Within a few years of Yorktown's founding in 1691, a small gun battery was established along the shoreline. Later, Virginia's Royal Governor Spotswood rebuilt and enlarged the fortification to include 11 cannon. By 1731, the town's battery of between 12 and 20 guns was relocated to the slope overlooking the waterfront where it remained until falling into total disrepair by the 1770s. In October 1781, Lord Cornwallis deployed 244 brass and iron pieces of various calibers against some 150 cannon, howitzers and mortars in the American and French arsenals. At the height of the siege, Allied artillery fired as many as 1,500 rounds each day, more than one round per minute. The British were forced to surrender. During the Civil War, Confederate troops armed Yorktown's bluffs with heavy artillery. Union General George McClellan highly over estimated their strength and prepared for a "second Siege of Yorktown." After exchanging fire throughout April 1862, in May the Confederates left and Union troops moved in to occupy the same positions.
13. YORKS_180530_115.JPG: Converging on Yorktown
14. YORKS_180530_118.JPG: The Olympic Flame Honoring America for the first time the Olympic Flame arrived here to begins its journey to the XIII Winter Olympic Games January 31, 1980 Yorktown, Virginia Where independence was won
15. YORKS_180530_121.JPG: N.S. Savannah N.S. Savannah, a joint project of the U.S. Maritime Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission, was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. She was built to carry up to 60 passengers and 9,250 tons of cargo. In 1962, after reactor tests at Yorktown and sea trials, Savannah sailed from Yorktown to Savannah, Georgia, her home port. From then until 1970, nearly 1.5 million people visited Savannah to explore her technological marvels. N.S. Savannah operated reliably and safely, established precedents for future commercial nuclear-powered merchant ships, and demonstrated the peaceful use of atomic power. At the end of her service, Savannah was displayed at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in South Carolina and was later stored in the Maritime Administration's Virginia reserve fleet. In 2008, Savannah was moved to Baltimore in preparation for final decommissioning.
16. YORKS_180530_125.JPG: Nick's Seafood Pavilion After a vacation stopover in Yorktown, Nick and Mary Mathews decided to return in 1944 to open a restaurant. The original Nick's had 35 seats. Later, Nick's Seafood Pavilion, famous for it's fine seafood menu and ornate decor, expanded to seat 440. Nick's welcomed many dignitaries and entertainers. Among others, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred McMurray, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Randy Travis, the 1980 Winter Olympic torch relay runners, and two Russian military defectors dined at Nick's. The couple openly expressed their love of America and Yorktown and generously supported many projects and causes, including donating land for the development of the Yorktown Victory Center. That generosity also extended to military members in uniform, who always ate free-of-charge at Nick's. In 1983, "Miss Mary" was chosen to sponsor the USS Yorktown (CG48), becoming the first immigrant to christen a U.S. Navy ship. "Mr. Nick" passed away, unexpectedly, on the way to the christening ceremony. Mary died in September 1998. The Mathews and the restaurant are fondly remembered, however, the restaurant was severely damaged in 2003 during Hurricane Isabel and was subsequently demolished.
17. YORKS_180530_142.JPG: George P. Coleman Bridge Completed in 1952, the George P. Coleman Bridge is 3,750 feet long. The structure replaced a ferry system that operated here for more than 200 years. The bridge was widened and reconstructed in 1995. Prefabricated in six sections, the entire superstructure was barged from Norfolk to this location and set in place in ten days. The Coleman Bridge is one of two double-swing-span bridges in the world; it is the only one in the United States. Two 500-foot spans swing clockwise, allowing large vessels to follow the York River's natural channel. George Preston Coleman, a native Virginian and former mayor of Williamsburg, was Virginia's highway commissioner from 1913 to 1922.
18. YORKS_180530_145.JPG: Yorktown's Tea Party While the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 is famous, a lesser known protest against the Tea Act also occurred in Virginia. On November 7, 1774 some concerned citizens of York County openly boarded a ship in the harbor and dumped two small chests of tea into the York River, tea that had been imported despite a boycott. The earlier Boston event was only the most extreme of many protests, not against taxation itself, but against British attempts to tax Americans without allowing them representation in Parliament. This destruction of valuable private property outraged most Britons and was a turning point in the conflicts leading up to the Revolution. The residents and patriot leaders of this area, like others throughout the colonies, demonstrated their support of the Revolutionary cause and their refusal to import tea with this dignified, highly symbolic tea party of their own. The local merchant, who had ordered the small shipment of tea, quickly apologized in the newspaper and asked the local citizens for forgiveness.
19. YORKS_180530_198.JPG: Virginia Institute of Marine Science Across the York River in Gloucester County is the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), one of the nation's leading centers for the interdisciplinary research in coastal oceans and estuarine science. Chartered in 1940 as the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory, the organization was originally located in Yorktown. Construction of the Coleman Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1952, caused the relocation of VIMS to Gloucester Point. Its current campus includes more than 40 acres. The School of Marine Science at VIMS is a graduate school of the College of William and Mary. VIMS is mandated by the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct research and provide sound scientific advice on the use and conservation of York River and Chesapeake Bay resources, which include blue crabs, oysters, and commercially and recreationally important fishes such as striped bass.
20. YORKS_180530_202.JPG: Kiskiak Indians Algonquin-speaking people occupied eastern Virginia when the English landed at Jamestown in 1607. The Kiskiak, one of their chiefdoms allied under the principal chiefdom of Powhatan, was located near here on the banks of Indian Field Creek. John Smith estimated that the Kiskiak village included "around 40-50 fighting men." Although primarily located about 15 miles from Jamestown, the Kiskiak ranged across the Peninsula and up and down the south bank of the York River, known to them by the name Pamunkey. Encroachment on Indian lands by a growing number of land-hungry European newcomers resulted in conflict as settlement pressed north and west from Jamestown. After participating in the Indian uprising of 1622 and ensuing retaliatory acts by the settlers, the Kiskiak abandoned the area in 1629. They moved to the Piankatank River region, leaving their village and the surrounding vicinity that would eventually become York County.
21. YORKS_180530_226.JPG: York River Ecosystem Plants and animals in the York River and its watershed provide many ecosystem services. Forests reduce sediment runoff and excess nutrients, and provide nesting sites for bald eagles, osprey, and herons. Underwater grass beds sustain the young of striped bass, blue crabs, and other aquatic species. Grass beds and tidal marshes also reduce shoreline erosion, particularly during storms. Plankton, tiny floating plants and animals, sustain the fish and shellfish that people like to eat. Development in the watershed, that removes natural buffers and allows sediment runoff, threatens to undermine the healthy workings of this intricate web. The York River watershed contains more than 250 species of fish, 190 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 36 species of reptiles, and 26 species of amphibians. In the warm months, the York River is home to sea turtles and marine mammals, including bottlenose dolphins, which are protected by federal law
22. YORKS_180530_229.JPG: The York River Native North Americans called the York River Pamunkee, combining two words meaning upland and sloping to describe its high banks. English colonists renamed the river Charles, in 1634, and later York, in 1643. The river's watershed area drains from the Piedmont Region and courses through Virginia's heartland, covering about 2,700 square miles. Two upstream branches, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers, converge at West Point. The main stem of the York flows southeast from there for about 25 miles to Yorktown and then continues for 7 to 8 miles to join the Chesapeake Bay. The York River below West Point has an average width of two miles and average depth of 20 feet. The channel is 80 feet deep beneath the George P. Coleman Bridge, which is 90 feet above the river at its highest point.
23. YORKS_180530_234.JPG: Captain John Smith's Adventures on the Pamaunk Flu www.johnsmithtrail.org Kiskiack The last major settlement to be abandoned by the Indians on the peninsula south of the York River, Kiskiack was a commercial center when the English arrived in 1607. Positioned just downstream from Powhatan's headquarters and near the Rickahock trading route, this community served as a gatekeeper to traders from elsewhere, who ventured by boat into the Chesapeake Bay. Powhatan Indians used surplus corn and shell beads to obtain copper, a substance associated with power, from other tribes. Trade included the Monacan, who got copper from long-distance connections with the Great Lakes. The colonists at Jamestown supplied great amounts of copper to the Powhatan people, thereby disrupting the cultural significance of the metal. Chemical signature of the copper artifacts found at Kiskiack, as well as at Werowocomoco, confirm that Jamestown copper from European mines was traded during the early years of contact. Capt. John Smith's Trail: John Smith knew the York river and its tributaries by their Algonquian name: the Pamaunk Flu. Smith traveled these rivers and the Chesapeake Bay many times between 1607 and 1609, trading with Virginia's Indians to ensure the survival of the young English colony. What he saw of Virginia's verdant woodslands and pristine waters inspired him to chronicle its natural wonders. Captain John Smith's Trail on the Pamaunkey Flu is a 36-site water trail and auto tour for modern explorers. Evolving Yorktown – Four Centuries of Change An archaeological excavation conducted in 1989 and 1990 on the above bluff, between Ballard and Buckner streets, uncovered four centuries of Yorktown history. Artifacts from the dig were later donated to the York County Historical Museum, located in York Hall, for study and display. 1. Portions of a previously undiscovered 17th century fort, believed to have been built by Nicholas Martiau, were uncovered here. It was Martiau's grandson, Benjamin Read (or Reade), who sold this property in 1691 to establish Yorktown as one of the designated colonial port towns. Among Martiau's other descendants were George Washington and Yorktown resident, Thomas Nelson, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence. 2. A store, kitchen and well belonging to Philip Lightfoot II, a prominent resident and businessman during the colonial period, was discovered on this site. During the early 18th century, Yorktown was one of the busiest ports in colonial Virginia. The sweet-scented tobacco grown along the York River was a major export commodity and brought the highest prices in the European market. 3. This site yielded evidence of a Revolutionary War era tented shelter with an area of reddened clay on the floor, most likely the result of scorching by a hot cauldron used by the soldiers. Yorktown was bombarded for nine days during the Siege of 1781 and this tent was occupied around that time. Also during the Siege of 1781, the British purposely sank many of their own ships just off short to prevent the French fleet from approaching. 4. Another tented hut was found at this location. It was occupied almost 100 years later during the Civil War when Yorktown again saw military occupation, first by Confederate troops, then by Union forces. Archaeologists found this hut with a bricked area that served as a fireplace and an unbroken gin bottle on the hearth. Image by Nicholas Luccketti, used with permission of the York County Historical Museum.
24. YORKS_180530_240.JPG: Evolving Yorktown – Four Centuries of Change An archaeological excavation conducted in 1989 and 1990 on the above bluff, between Ballard and Buckner streets, uncovered four centuries of Yorktown history. Artifacts from the dig were later donated to the York County Historical Museum, located in York Hall, for study and display. 1. Portions of a previously undiscovered 17th century fort, believed to have been built by Nicholas Martiau, were uncovered here. It was Martiau's grandson, Benjamin Read (or Reade), who sold this property in 1691 to establish Yorktown as one of the designated colonial port towns. Among Martiau's other descendants were George Washington and Yorktown resident, Thomas Nelson, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence. 2. A store, kitchen and well belonging to Philip Lightfoot II, a prominent resident and businessman during the colonial period, was discovered on this site. During the early 18th century, Yorktown was one of the busiest ports in colonial Virginia. The sweet-scented tobacco grown along the York River was a major export commodity and brought the highest prices in the European market. 3. This site yielded evidence of a Revolutionary War era tented shelter with an area of reddened clay on the floor, most likely the result of scorching by a hot cauldron used by the soldiers. Yorktown was bombarded for nine days during the Siege of 1781 and this tent was occupied around that time. Also during the Siege of 1781, the British purposely sank many of their own ships just off short to prevent the French fleet from approaching. 4. Another tented hut was found at this location. It was occupied almost 100 years later during the Civil War when Yorktown again saw military occupation, first by Confederate troops, then by Union forces. Archaeologists found this hut with a bricked area that served as a fireplace and an unbroken gin bottle on the hearth. Image by Nicholas Luccketti, used with permission of the York County Historical Museum.
25. YORKS_180530_243.JPG: Bicycle pumping station
26. YORKS_180530_256.JPG: Steamboats on York River In 1817, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company, or the "Old Bay Line," began regular steamboat service between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. The company's boats transported mail, crops, freight, and people along the length of the Chesapeake Bay. Smaller packets on the rivers connected to the larger craft. The local York River packets stopped in at Yorktown, as well as at Allmond's Wharf, Cappahosic, and Clay Bank on the Gloucester side, when heading toward West Point, Virginia. The Bay-going steamboats transported travelers to hospitals and stores in the cities as well as on vacation excursions. A trip "on a party of pleasure to York-Town (Va.)" was offered in 1819 by the Old Bay Line. In addition to sailing vessels, steamboats were the only means of reliable transportation until highways were paved in the twentieth century. The use of steamboats peaked around 1910 and declined as motor cars became more popular.
27. YORKS_180530_263.JPG: Civil War Hot-Air Balloons In April and May of 1862, Union and Confederate commanders deployed observation balloons near Yorktown during the Peninsula Campaign. Professor Thaddeus Lowe and Brigadier General Fitz-John Porter gathered intelligence about the Confederate defenses from the hydrogen balloons Constitution and Intrepid. In response, the Confederates launched a hot-air balloon that observed the Union's siege lines. The Union and Confederate balloons were natural targets for artillery and small arms fire, but neither side scored a direct hit. The gunfire, however, caused uneasiness as Confederate aeronaut John Randolph Bryan noted: "For some minutes shells and bullets from the shrapnel whistled and sang around me with a most unpleasant music, but my balloon and I escaped." Furthermore, Bryan and General Porter had accidental free-flight experiences when their tethered ropes broke and both narrowly escaped serious injury or capture. Neither side adequately supported balloon operations, but this was an important technological development that foreshadowed the rise of air power in the twentieth century.
28. YORKS_180530_269.JPG: TransAmerica Bike Trail In 1976, the Adventure Cycling Association established the TransAmerica Trail as part of the United States bicentennial celebration. The Route 76 bike trail runs from Astoria, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia, and covers 4,262 miles. It is still the greatest and most used route for bicyclists crossing America. They enjoy ocean coastline, lush forests, high desert, mountain passes, snow capped peaks, sweeping vistas, expansive plains, fertile farmlands, rolling hills, and wide rivers. Experts suggest bicyclists allow at least three months for the crossing. Some traverse the route quicker, but have less time for sight-seeing. The route can be ridden safely from May through September. Bicyclists celebrate beginning and completing the ride by ceremoniously dipping their front wheel into the York River here on the waterfront.
29. YORKS_180530_272.JPG: Yorktown's Stormy Past Because of its location, Yorktown is susceptible to damage from storms such as nor'easters and hurricanes. One such storm played a role in the outcome of the Siege of Yorktown. On October 16, 1781, under intense fire, the British Army attempted to flee by crossing the river to Gloucester Point. The storm was so severe that the army was forced to return to Yorktown and eventually surrender. Some residents remember the morning of August 23, 1933, when a hurricane almost completely destroyed the Yorktown waterfront. Many structures were smashed by waves or washed away in the storm surge. The National Park Service suggested owners rebuild following colonial style. The only business to comply was the steamboat office, the now remodeled Freight Shed building. On September 17, 2003, Hurricane Isabel caused heavy damage here. Several feet of water and silt flooded many of the structures on the waterfront. One popular establishment, Nick's Seafood Pavilion, was damaged so severely that it was not feasible to repair, thus leading to its eventual demolition.
30. YORKS_180530_291.JPG: Tobacco Inspection In 1730, a law was passed requiring that all tobacco exported from Virginia be inspected by officials at one of the public inspection warehouses which were located in port towns or along the rivers throughout the colony. Any tobacco not meeting a minimum standard of quality was promptly destroyed. That which passed, would remain in the warehouses until it was shipped to Great Britain. Yorktown's earliest official inspection location was a warehouse and wharf owned by William Buckner. The site was located on the waterfront near here, below town lots one and four. The Buckner family provided inspection facilities at Yorktown until 1747, when a new warehouse was built at public expense. This structure, along with its wharf, was located just below the foot of Read Street. Buildings on the waterfront such as the tobacco warehouses were often in need of extensive repair or even rebuilding. In 1769, the county authorized the construction of another new warehouse, probably to replace one destroyed earlier that year by a hurricane.
31. YORKS_180530_294.JPG: Great Fire of 1814 Yorktown was heavily damaged during the Siege of 1781 and many residents abandoned their properties. Those who stayed demolished damaged buildings and repaired others. Everyday life reemerged, but on March 3, 1814, another disaster struck. The Richmond Enquirer carried the news. York, March 4 -- Yesterday about 3:00 p.m. Mrs. Gibbons' house . . . took fire and together with the county Court-house, the Church, the spacious dwelling of the late President Nelson, and the whole of the town below the hill, except Charlton's and Grant's houses, were consumed. The lower town was occupied principally by poor people, who are now thrown upon the world without a shelter or a cent to aid them . . . The wind was high and the [buildings] were old -- the fire spread . . . like a train of powder. Again, little was done to rebuild. The new Courthouse was completed in 1818. It took nearly 30 years to repair the marl walls of the church, renamed Grace. A legend that British sympathizers burned the town has never been proved.
32. YORKS_180530_298.JPG: Yorktown Waterfront Union Port and Supply Depot 1862 Peninsula Campaign In spring 1862, the Confederate heavy artillery batteries on the bluffs at Yorktown, as well as those positioned along the waterfront on both sides of the York River, effectively blocked the U.S. Navy's attempts to bypass Magruder's 2nd Peninsula Defensive Line. The waterfront fortifications were built by Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder's Army of the Peninsula and Confederate naval personnel. The earthworks on Yorktown's inland perimeter were mostly constructed atop the British defenses from the 1781 siege. On the night of May 3-4, 1862, the Confederate army abandoned the 2nd Defensive Line. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, believed that the Confederate positions could not withstand Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's, USA, elaborately prepared bombardment with heavy siege guns. The Confederate army was prevented from evacuating its heavy equipment and artillery via the York River because McClellan's Siege Battery Number 1, comprised of 100- and 200-pound Parrott siege cannon, had already bombarded the waterfront. The Confederate evacuation suddenly changed Yorktown into a busy port supporting the Union advance on Richmond. Members of the 1st Connecticut Heavy artillery retrieved the ordinance from the siege batteries around the town, and troops assembled at Yorktown to be transported up river to the Federal base at White House on the Pamunkey River, a tributary of the York River. As the Peninsula Campaign continued, casualties from battles around Richmond were transported to Yorktown, which became a major hospital area. Following the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, Yorktown became a Union garrison and headquarters for a federally held district which also included Williamsburg and Gloucester Point. Its waterfront area was an active port for Union forces until the summer of 1864, when the Union army established a supply base at City Point on the James River during the Petersburg Campaign.
33. YORKS_180530_328.JPG: Remembering Ancestors
34. YORKS_180530_348.JPG: Yorktown's Waterfront Ships, Tobacco & Trade 18th century commerce moved by water whenever possible. Yorktown's waterfront reflected this. Tobacco warehouses, ship's chandleries, grogshops and wharves lined the waterfront … Among them passed the diverse array of merchants and sailors, planters and inspectors, travelers, laborers, and slaves who kept business moving briskly.
35. YORKS_180530_365.JPG: Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater The world's sixth largest impact crater was created about 35 million years ago when a two to three mile wide asteroid or comet splashed into a shallow sea and shattered Earth's crust. Debris shot up and everything within 600 miles was killed. A crater formed, centered about eighteen miles east of Yorktown, near the town of Cape Charles, Virginia. Yorktown and Gloucester Point sit on the western rim of the buried crater and the York River bends sharply to the northeast because it crosses the underlying crater rim. Considerable scientific research has been conducted in recent years to increase understanding about this amazing feature. Debris from the impact has been identified as far away as the Caribbean Sea.
36. YORKS_180530_372.JPG: Pirates in Yorktown? Pirates plundered ships along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean routes from the earliest days of New World settlement. William Berkeley, governor of the Virginia colony in 1660, wrote that the "Seas are soe full of Pyrates that it is almost impossible for any Ships to goe home [to England] in safety." Privateers were private owners of vessels authorized by their government to attack enemy ships. During the 1600s, European powers were continually at war and privateers were used as an inexpensive means to avoid the costs of creating and maintaining a navy. After the 1713 Peace of Utrecht, many unemployed sailors turned to unlawful piracy, attacking and seizing ships regardless of their nationality. The early part of the eighteenth century has been called the "Golden Age of Piracy" since pirates were a real threat to commerce and merchants' cargoes traveling in the Atlantic. Ships entering and leaving the busy port of York at this time had to constantly be alert for pirates on the high seas.
37. YORKS_180530_376.JPG: An Archer House: Yorktown had a "great fire" in 1814. This destroyed all but the foundations of this house, thought to be one of Thomas Archer's "Houses under the Hill." The present restoration is the nineteenth century dwelling built on the older stone foundations.
38. YORKS_180530_391.JPG: York "Under The Hill" Initially Yorktown was laid out above the bluffs, but the thin strip of ground here between water and cliff was essential to the town's commercial life. Port facilities crowded the area - wharves, warehouses and stores as pictured here. These same facilities, and the excellent harbor, prompted Cornwallis to establish his base at Yorktown in the summer of 1781.
39. YORKS_180530_402.JPG: York Under Siege, 1781 Early in October French-American forces closed their grip on the besieged British army in Yorktown and bombarded the town with their combined artillery. Incessant shellfire drove townspeople to seek shelter under this bluff and forced the British commander, Lord Cornwallis, to move his headquarters to a nearby cave. The end came quickly with the British surrender on October 19. Yorktown returned to peace, but never to its former prosperity.
40. YORKS_180530_418.JPG: Yorke Village In 1629, the Virginia Council encouraged the settlement of the south bank of the York River. The following year, Governor John Harvey was given a land patent of 752 acres at Wormley Creek, establishing Yorke Village. By the 1650s, settlement had developedso rapidly that the county court had regular meetings at Captain Robert Baldrey's house at Yorke. Although the exact size and population of Yorke Village is unknown, history clearly indicates that it served as the social, economic, political, and religious center for this area during a large part of the 1600s. The only significant, remaining feature of the village is the gravestone of Major William Gooch. Dating back to October 1655, it is one of the oldest legible tombstones in America. The eventual abandonment of Yorke Village coincided with the upriver development of Yorktown as a superior deepwater port in the late 1690s. The original village site is now home to the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center.
41. YORKS_180530_421.JPG: Signs of the Past on the Riverwalk While walking along the waterfront, we invite you to discover some of Yorktown's past by reading the signs placed along the way. Although Yorktown is best known for the Siege of 1781 that resulted in the surrender of the British army to the Allied forces, there is much more to know about our past ... and present. Read on to learn about interesting events, geography, and structures. York County collaborated with the National Park Service, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (Yorktown Victory Center), Watermen's Museum and York County Historical Museum to develop these overviews. If a sign intrigues you, visit one of our museums to learn more. We welcome your questions or comments. For more details about information on signs along the Riverwalk, visit www.yorkcounty.gov/ychm.
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