24 Aug 24:
Skipper and I went on a recon trip to Surry, VA to visit Smith's Fort, the oldest remaining Eropean earthworks in America. Soon after Virginia Company Adventurers arrived in their New World at Jamestown Island, John Smith was sent across the James River to build a fort. Not much was built before efforts were consolidated back at Jamestown, but today the earthen berm remains.
A large amount of the acreage was later gifted to the marriage of John Rolfe and Matoaka (Pocahontas), the land was let out to tenant farmers and eventually sold by Thomas Rolfe, the son of John and Matoaka. In the mid 18th Century the current house was built, and archaeologists are aware of footprints of previous 17th Century European structures and pre contact Native activity.
The craftsmanship inside the Faulcon home is spectacular, very little repair was needed during the restoration. We loved the design of the butterfly shelves.
I love the gadgetty and utility of the 4 legged table. Before this day I assumed that drop leaf table had 6 legs.
Local heart pine flooring.
The gift shop commonly found in 18th Century cellars...The arch structure is not a fireplace but rather an ingenious support of the brick chimneys above, the arch design used significantly fewer bricks while still providing the necessary strength.
Did Skipper behave during the tour? No, of course she didn't. She kept asking questions just before the tour guide got to that part of their presentation...finally the tour guide said "Let me finish." He was super fun to talk to, turns out he is a wooden boat fan to an even greater degree than we are, and we'll have fun learning about the wooden boat scene on this part of the James.
Smith's Fort...circa 1609...the "Plantation" came decades later with Thomas Rolfe's tenant farmers....and then Faulcon's manor house in the 1760s.
Smith's Fort Plantation
