The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-23
THREE SIDE SHOWS ID TIE EXPOSITION They Are Jamestown, Williams
 burg and Yorktown SOME OLDEN HISTORY Writer In the New York Sun Says These Auxiliary Features Are
 Really More Interesting
 Than the Exposition.
SOME 0LDEN HISTORY

Than the Exposition.
 Williamsburg. Va.-There Is no part of the Jamestown exposition better worth seeing than three little side shows lo- cated some thirty-five miles away from the grounds. They are known as James, town. Williamsburg and Yorktown, and few go to see them, mores the pity. They are less noisy and less strenuous than the Warpath and less crowded than the aisle in front of a food display where samples are given to visitors, but a visit to them affords pleasure and excites an interest not to be found in acres of boots and shoes and dry goods and food pro- ducts and machinery and potato parers and souvenirs of the exposition.
 There Is no similar area ofs the United States so rich in historical interest as the region lying between the James river and the York river and between Richmond and Ft Monroe. Here is the "cradle of the republic" the scene of the first or ganized government and the scene of activities during the Revolution, the war of 1872 and the civil war. Here are old homes, old public edi. ses and earthworks which mark the site of many battle ground. Here our history is written on almost every acre. A trip to the most important and most interesting spots may bo made with comfort and at small expense.
 The interest of Jamestown is largely sentimental. All that there is to see may be seen in an hour. The place was prac- tically deserted 200 years ago. A few rods west of the steamboat landing there is a combination of earthworks, some of which were thrown up by the early settlers and some by the forces of Gen. R. E. Lee in 1S61 Immediately beside them stands the old church tower which dates back to 1859, and around the tower are the tombs of men and women who died a hundred years before the nation was born. East ward a few rods stand the ruins Of the old Wyatt mansion. These and few located sites and visible foundations are the main features of the old Jamestown.
 The new Jamestown is represented by a fine sea wall built by the government a brick rest house. erected by the gov ernment for the convenience or visitors a. small memorial building erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a monument in process of construc- tion There has also been built on the
 site of the old church a brick structure as much like the old building as 1t was found possible to make 1t. some day' and the sooner the better, the government should buy the whole island and add 1t to our collection of national parks. It l contains something like 1500 acres, and
 the cost would be small matter. Mod est appropriations from time to time would convert the spot Into an attractive
 park which would stand forever as sign
 of respect for our first settlers.
 Seven miles inland from Jamestown is
 the old town of Williamsburg. Here l there Is a great deal more to see than l there is at Jamestown, and there is also
 a great deal more of history connected 1 with the place than with It's abandoned l neighbor. Here the settlers came when 1 driven out of Jamestown by death and
 disease. The migration began about loo2
 Little Is known of the history of the place
 during its first forty years because of ths 1 destruction of the court records during l the civil war The parish register of the
 old Bruton church takes up the story In 1 1874, and the subsequent record Is cram
 med with interest. The sightseer may spend several busy days in the place. and 1 it Is a rich hunting ground for the anti 1 quarian. Here are old buildings, public
 and private, relics, antiquities, and some
 choice bits of architecture The plans for
 the present church were drawn by Gov l ernor Spottswood and the building was erected in 1715 The old court house, standing on the village green, was built
 in 1869. A short distance westward are 1 the buildings of William and Mary Col lege, dating back to TOO. In the list of l its alumni are such names as Thomas Jefferson, Peyton Randolph, John Tyler,
 Edmund Randolph. James Monroe and 1 John Marshall. On the north side of tfss 1 campus Is the house of the president or l the college. The old building was burned
 by French troops in 17s1, and the present. building was erected by order of Louis
 XVI and paid for out of his own pocket. 1 Eastward from the village green is the site of the old capitol, burned in 1882. | This is one of the special spots where | American history was made Faneull Hall l in Boston has it's claims as a "cradle," l but the building which stood here rivals l them. Here Washington came for his l first experience as a member of the House | of Burgesses. Hero Patrick Henry de-
 nounced the stamp act and flung down his famous challenge to the ruling pow CTS: of this be treason, make the most of it. Here on the hyleaf of an old law book Henry wrote his declaration of rights. Here independence received an inn petus perhaps as vigorous as 1t received
 
 thos days. Yet somehow Williamsburg Is little known.
 Nor are these all that the place has to offer to the visitor and the sightseer. Here are old buildings and old homes that
 were once occupied by men who were distinguished in their time and whose names are written in the nations history.
 Here is the old Wythe house, once tho
 residence of George Washington as q l headquarters in 17S1. There Is the old
 home of Judge Blair. appointed by Wash l ington as a member of the supreme court
 of the United States. There is the old l powder house, built In TIA, from which | Lord Dunmore one night In 1775 caused | the powder to be removed because he
 feared an nsurrection.
 There are the home of Peyton Ran
 dolph, the first president of the continen- | tai Congress; the old Bassett house, once
 the home of President Tyler; Tazeweu | hall, the home of Edmund Randolph, and 1 a number of other buildings of age and
 note There are interesting relics in the 1 old powder house, in the old church and 1 in private hands. Fort Magruder and other signs of the civil war may be seen 1 on tho outskirts of the village. There is