Travel website lauds Williamsburg and Roanoke Island
Pair included on list of ‘fascinating’ early colonial sites to visit
Travel guide website Daily Passport listed two Virginia locations and one on the Outer Banks among its “Six Fascinating Early Colonial America History Sites to Visit.”
Colonial Williamsburg and its historic area and St. John’s Church in Richmond are the first two items on the list of fascinating historical sites. Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks also is listed.
“The United States is still relatively young as far as nations go. But it’s safe to say that a lot has changed since European colonists first landed on American shores over two centuries ago,” the website says.
Colonial Williamsburg “is about as close as you can get to experiencing early America in the 1770s. In addition to guided and selfguided tours, visitors can ride through town on horsedrawn carriages, watch live silversmith and blacksmith demonstrations and listen to costumed historical figures explain the ins and outs of everyday life in colonial Virginia.”
St. John’s Church — then known as the Henrico Parish Church — was the scene of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in March 1775 before the Second Virginia Convention. Henry and other founding fathers met then to discuss organizing protests against Great Britain that led to the American Revolution.
The church hosts costumed reenactments of the Second Virginia Convention every Sunday during the summer and holds scheduled group tours.
The Henrico Parish Church was established in 1611, and the current church and its burial ground were established at what is now called Church Hill in 1741.
Roanoke Island gets a mention for its lost colony “shrouded in mystery.”
The early settlement founded by Sir Walter Raleigh had about 100 colonists who disappeared. A recreated settlement teaches visitors about colonial life in the 1500s.
The other early colonial sites included in the Daily Passport’s listing are the New Amsterdam Trail in New York City, Nassau Hall on the Princeton University campus in New Jersey and Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
“Back then, New York was known as New Amsterdam before the British gained control and the governors of the various colonies reported to the British Crown,” the website says. “Ranging from battlefields to living history museums, these six historical sites are a must-visit for history buffs to learn more about life in early colonial America.”