Existing comment:
A Jamestown Warehouse 1630s-1699
"That at last Christmas we had trading here ten ships from London, two from Bristoll, twelve Hollanders, and seven from New-England."
-- A Perfect Description of Virginia, 1649
Jamestown's waterfront property was prime real estate. Governor Harvey wrote "that there was not one foote of ground for half a mile together by the Rivers side in James Towne but was taken up and undertaken to be built …." As the colony's official port of entry, Jamestown needed warehouses for imported cargoes.
After 1633, when the Virginia General Assembly made Jamestown one of five inspection points for examining and grading tobacco, warehouses also served planters ready to ship their crop to English markets.
Historic records suggest that, around 1638, merchant William Parry built a warehouse on this lot. By the 1660s, John Bland II operated a warehouse at this location. |