Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-05

region by the Federal authorities al
| ready have been taken. When the
project Is completed the most historic
area of its size in America will have
| been restored and set aside as q perma-
nent memorial to the pre-Revolutionary
period. Tourists from all parts of the
| world are expected to visit this small
! neck of land between the James apd
the York Rivers
While williamsburg, when the restora-
| ton is finished, will be unlike anything
else on the planet, and while there Is
much that Is charming at Yorktown,
will be chiefly attracted. For 1t was
there-the Pilgrim Fathers to the con-
trary notwithstanding-tha the founda-
| lions of American civilization were laid.
| The <Mayfower was merely one of nu-
merous ships which sailed from Eng
| land in 1920 for Virginia under the
| auspices of the Virginia Company.
When she got off her course and land
| ed by mistake 'on the bleak coast OF
Massachusetts, Virginia had been an
| established colony for 10 years. More
| than a year before the "Maydower
| Compact" was signed and more than q
year before Plymouth was settled the
| first representative assembly In the New
World, the Virginia House Of Bur-
geSSeS met at jamestown
The plan to have the Federal Gov
eminent acquire large part OF the
Jamestown Villa msburg- Y orktown area
originated in the mind of William e.
| Carson, chairman of the Virginia Con-
servation and Development Commission.
| He saw that some one would have to
| take over jamestown Island and the
| Yorktown Battlefield In the near future
| to save them from commercial exploita-
| ton and virtual destruction. Private
| interests had announced the forthcom-
| ing erection Of o bridge over the James
| at Jamestown and another over the
York at Yorktown. Mr.. Carson realized
that with the great influx Of tourists
which these bridges would bring there
also would come the inevitable con-
comitant Of hot-dog emporiumS, filling
| stations, road houses and other similar
structures. He did not feel that scores
| Of wiener stands and gasoline pumps
would be suited to this quiet peninsula,
with It's more than three centuries Of
history and its glorious memories.
Son Washing Away.
In addition to the impending influx
+, Of tourists, there was the fact that the
| portion of jamestown Island which Is
not protected by q sea wall has been
washing away for many years, and the
| further fact that no effort is being made
to preserve the Yorktown Battlefield,
parts of which had been turned into
golf links. Thus it see. Ael imperative
that immediate ster@ oe taken to have
either the State or the Federal Gov
eminent assume control Of the region
and the State was financially unable to
undertake such an ambitious program.
The next task which devolved upon
the chairman Of the Virginia Conserva-
ton and Development Commission was
to interest the proper Federal author
tiles in the project. He found little
dificulty in doing so. President Hoover
and Secretary Of the Interior Wilbur
were both favorably impressed; Horace
NJ Albright, director Of the National
Park Service, became enthusiastic over
the plan, and Representative Louis C.
Cramton Of Michigan agreed to spon-
sor Q bill putting it into effect With
such substantial backing there never
was much doubt that the measure
would pass.
Under its terms $4,000 can be APP
propriated by Congress for the develop
nent and restoration Of the area. It
is generally felt that the Government
later will increase this sum substan-
TALLY. The State Of Virginia has set
aside 100000 toward the purchase OF
jamestown Island.
Sea Wall to EncircIe Island.
After the island is acquired, it is
planned to build q sea wall entirely
around it to supplement the compare
lively short length of wall constructed
there by the Federal Government in
1908 and thus prevent any further
erosion by the river. The tentative
plans also call for draining the marshes
which cover about half of the island,
planting trees and shrubs of the kinds
which the settlers found on their ar
rival in 1907 and possibly restoration
OF the original ''towne," with its log
houses and triangular stockade.
jamestown Island is 1887 acres in
extent and all but 231a acres of this
Is privately owned. The latter portion,
generally regarded as the most historic
part, has for 81 years been the prob
erty Of the Association for the Preser-
walton Of Virginia Antiquities. Under
the terms Of the Cramton bill it will
remain IN the hands of this organiza-
ton as long as the association wishes
to keep it.
When the A. p. v. A. was given these
2312 acres in 1893 by Mr.. and Mrs
Edward z. Barney, owners of the island,
that part OF it, as well as most of the
remainder, was a wilderness of tangled
vines, matted underground and swamp.
Originally the capital of the colony.
jamestown had been reduced to ashes
by Nathaniel Bacon in his rebellion
against Gov. Berkeley in 1916. It never
recovered from this blow.
State House Again DESTROYED.
In 1898 the State house. which had
been rebuilt, was again DESTROYED by
| fire. The following year the General
Assembly voted to make williamsburg
the capital, and jamestown was al
lowed to fall into neglect Weeds grew
in Its once busy streets and the place
was given over to desolation and decay.
Where the brick church had stood in
better years there remained only the
tower, its crumbling masonry the haunt
OF bats and swallows a gaunt reminder
Of the vanished past.
Opinion differs as to the annroxinnsto
spot at which the Sarah Constant. the
Goodspeed and the Discovery buried
their prows in the sands Of the James
on May Is, 1907. Some experts believe
That the settlers diSembarked on land
now owned by the association and
erected their village Of log huts there.
On the other hand. at least one care
ful researcher holds firmly to the con-
vlction that the landing and first set
Element were half mile downstream
from this portion of the island. 1t is
TO be hoped that further investigation
and study will bring about a reconcilia-
ton OF these divergent views and fix