I'm going to visit Jamestown for the 400th Anniversary soon and plan to stop at Yorktown too. In preparation, I'm reading up. There's a glut of new Jamestown books, but I'm surprised at how few recent Yorktown books there are (at least, in the New York Public Library's catalog). Anyone have recommendations/opinions on good (or bad) Yorktown books? Of course, I would also be interested in books on broader subjects with chapters on Yorktown. I'm reading the section of Ward's War of the Revolution (1952) on the war in the South and Ketchum's recent Yorktown book, but haven't read anything else.
When will the festivities be taking place? Sounds like a nice time to visit Jamestown. And Yorktown AND Williamsburg....LOL. Linda
The official weekend is May 11-13. I'll be there in late April. It's easy to take in all three sites because they have a shuttle bus connecting them that runs frequently. I'm not even driving there. I plan on taking Amtrak to Williamsburg (the station's near the historic center of town).
I just finished Christopher Ward's The Delaware Continentals. Would this be the same Ward? If so he is a very thorough researcher. I enjoyed the Delaware Continentals very much & I would recommend chapters 51 - 53 covering Eutaw Springs, Yorktowne, & the immediate aftermath. So what did you enjoy most in Yorktowne? It's been about 40 years since the last time I was there. Back then there really wasn't much to see but a few remaining earthworks.
Yes, the same Ward. The national park mostly has earthworks, most of them said to be reconstructions. The small visitor center had some of Washington's original tents set up (a dining tent and another kind of tent, I forget which--maybe it was the marquee). Soon I'll read Jerome Greene's recent book Guns of Independence, which is a military history take on the siege itself, so I'll be able to use my memory of walking the battlefield. Yorktown itself was jumping, which I didn't expect at all (it's always described as "sleepy" in the books I've read so far). They built a new "Riverwalk" along the York, and it looked like all of the bars and restaurants there were doing land-office business (lots of bikers coming through on the Sunday I was there).
That is really nice that you have an opportunity to visit Jamestown for a historic event. Yorktown seems so distant to me, knowing the fact that my grandparents had friends who lived there. Must note this event and probably ask you about the details later.
I've been to both places, both are pretty interesting and historical. You'll definitely enjoy your visit to both of them!
I was trying to decide how to break the news to you that you're many years too late for the 400th celebration, but then I saw that this thread was resurrected from seven years ago. I haven't been there since 2005. Bad memories, but I wouldn't mind going again sometime. We didn't even get to do Williamsburg, just Yorktown and Jamestown. What I'm remembering is checking out of a hotel and driving about 2 minutes when the car lost all the lights and driving at 4 a.m. without lights at a place with very few street lamps (not sure which part of the area that was... didn't have the GPS yet and got lost) makes a bad memory. Had to check back into the hotel and wait for a garage to open at 8 a.m. Got totally cheated for $700 for what I found out later should have cost about $80, and ran out of TP while doing all that waiting. Uh... maybe I don't want to go back after all.
Oh my, sounds like you had an awful time! Sorry to hear that. Hopefully next time, if you even go back again, it isn't so bad
