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Jamestown Celebrates 400th Anniversary

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Jamestown Settlement is undergoing a transformation in preparation for the 400th anniversary of America’s first permanent English colony and its own 50th birthday in 2007. The museum, which opened in 1957 as a setting for the Jamestown Festival commemorating the colonies 350th anniversary, is incorporating recent historical findings in planning for the next half-century of chronicling the nations Virginia origins. By 2007, Jamestown Settlement will be poised for the future with new exhibition galleries that tell the story of the cultures that converged at Jamestown in the 17th century, an expanded outdoor living-history program, and a special exhibition showcasing the world in 1607, the year Jamestown was founded. The board of trustees of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the Virginia agency that operates Jamestown Settlement, adopted a comprehensive facilities master plan in 1997 for developing physical facilities to support growth in visitation, programming and staffing through the year 2007 and beyond. The $78.1-million plan also includes a central support complex located midway between Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and exhibit enhancements at the Yorktown Victory Center.

Located just southwest of Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement is adjacent to the original site of Jamestown. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily year-round, and until 6 p.m. from June 15 through August 15.

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