Smith's Fort is the site of Captain John Smith's proposed "New Fort" and is located directly across the James River from Jamestown on the banks of Gray's Creek.
In 1609, Captain John Smith began construction of a fort site on the property. The fort was abandoned a few months later due to what would be known as the "Starving Time" in Jamestowne. The earthworks dug 411 years ago in 1609 can still be seen to this day.
Captain John Smith built a fort on the south side of the James River as a retreat position should Jamestown be attacked by Virginia Indians or the Spanish. This dower tract of land between two streams was given to John Rolfe in 1614 by Powhatan upon Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas. It is considered the first land actually given to America by the Indians. Rolfe is known to have cultivated the early tobacco crop on this property known as the Virginia Sweet.
Between 1751 and 1765, a brick plantation house was built that still stands today, with much of its interior original pine woodwork still intact. The Manor House exemplifies the upper-middle-class lifestyle enjoyed by the Jacob Faulcon family in 18th-century Surry County.
In 1886, the property, then called Gray's Creek Farm, was purchased by a collective group of African American families including Bolling Morris, John and Carter Hardy and Robertson Simmons. By the 1920s, Mr. Morris was the sole owner and he eventually sold it via an agent to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Smith's Fort was later acquired by Preservation Virginia in 1933 and has operated as a museum ever since.
Located in the manor house is a print on paper from a steel engraving done by John C. McRae in 1855 entitled, "The Wedding of Pocahontas." It was modeled from an original oil painting by Henry Brueckner in the same year. It depicts the day in April 1614 when Pocahontas was wed to Englishman John Rolfe, an event that initiated 8 years of peace with the Algonquin Indians. The original painting resides in the Getty Museum.
This is a Virginia treasure and recommend a visit. read more