Williamsburg, Virginia

This weekend we visited historically significant sites from the early 1600s, late 1700s, and late 1800s.

Yorktown Battlefield is the site for the Revolutionary War. The battle ended on October 19, 1781 and was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. It was here that Cornwallis surrendered prompting the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Moore House is located in the eastern part of the park and is where surrender negotiations took place in 1781.

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America, established May 13, 1607. The site has many of the buildings as they would have been built on the site. Since everything was made from the local materials, not much was left standing. The glassworks studio was my favorite to watch.

Fort Monroe served a pivotal role during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln had Fort Monroe quickly after the Battle of Fort Sumpter that began the Civil War. It was held by Union forces throughout the Civil War, which launched several sea and land expeditions from there. The site had been documented as an ideal fortification since the early days of English settlement.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting part of an historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Historic Area includes buildings from the 18th century (during part of which the city was the capital of Colonial Virginia), as well as 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures, as well as more recent reconstructions. The Historic Area is an interpretation of a colonial American city, with exhibits of dozens of restored or re-created buildings related to its colonial and American Revolutionary War history.