January 1608, and was eventually replaced by another frame structure after the fort was rebuilt. The exact date of the first church to stand on a brick foundation is uncertain, possibly 1639. Brick foundation traces, uncovered in 1901 by John Tyler, Jr., a civil engineer who volunteered his services for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, lie behind the free-standing brick church tower which remains the only standing ruin today. The modern brick structure and roof enclose and protect the footing evidence of the walls of two separate churches and a tile chancel flooring. Indication of fire among these foundations was noted by Tyler.

A mansion structure or public building dating from the second quarter of the 17th century. Rebuilt once and burned about the time of Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676.

Mansions

Despite official urgings that they build substantial town houses on Jamestown Island, the first successful planters often preferred to build on their holdings away from the capitol, once the Indian menace had passed. Only 2 houses at Jamestown, designed for single occupancy, have over 900 square feet of foundation area.

One was either a stately residence or a public building (area 1,350 square feet) located near Pitch and Tar Swamp, just east of the Jamestown Visitor Center. Archeological evidence indicates that this structure was first completed before the middle of the 17th century. It was later reconstructed and enlarged about the beginning of the last quarter, possibly during Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676. Unmistakably, it burned.

The second structure was a smaller (1,200 square feet), but imposing, house located near the present shoreline, considerably downriver. One of the features of this second mansion was a basement in the center of which was sunk a square, brick-lined recess, 3.3 feet on a side and 2.7 feet deep. Among the many wine bottle fragments in this recess were 3 bottle seals—1 with “WW” and 2 with “FN” stamped on them. Whether or not this mansion can be associated with Sir Francis Nicholson, the last governor resident at Jamestown (who moved the capital to Williamsburg), we do not know. Artifacts found in the refuse indicate this house was dismantled, not burned, shortly before or after the turn of the 17th century. The mystery of the little brick-lined recess is not entirely solved, but it is probable that here was a primitive cooler, deep below the house, in which perishable foods or wines were stored.

Jamestown house types: simple frame, half-timber, brick, and row. (Conjectural sketches by Sidney E. King.)

Excavated foundation of a late 17th-century prototype of the Baltimore and Philadelphia row houses. Six families could have lived here.

Row Houses

Although row houses—a continuous row of joined family residences on unit foundations—were a common city feature in 17th-century England, apparently they did not become popular at Jamestown. But the brick foundation of one true multiple-family unit has been uncovered, and two others approach this category, thus providing the true precedent for the row houses which came to characterize miles of Baltimore and Philadelphia streets, and are a familiar pattern of some modern duplex apartment units.

This Jamestown row house is probably the most impressive foundation on the island. It is 16 feet long and 20 feet wide (inside measurement), situated east of the Tercentenary Monument, facing south, well back from the river and “the back streete.” A cellar and a great fireplace terminate the east end, and 9 other fireplaces are evident in 4 main divisions, which may have housed one family or more in each division. Since artifact evidence relates it to the last quarter of the 17th century, and possibly the beginning of the 18th, there would seem little possibility of the row house having served as a public building or a tavern. There is some evidence that at least part of the structure burned.

Two other foundations might be classed as row houses, but are less clearly delineated. One is the Last Statehouse Group of five units in the APVA grounds.[1] The other multiple house is a 3-unit building midway between the brick church and Orchard Run. This structure generally fits the description of the First Statehouse in its 3-unit construction and dimensions, and has long been thought to be the original Statehouse building. The structure, however, is as close to the present shoreline as the First Statehouse is recorded to have been in 1642—a puzzling coincidence, if the factor of erosion is taken into consideration.

Single Brick Houses

These were once supposed to have been very common at Jamestown, but are represented by only 12 foundations, not all of which have been completely excavated. Like the other excavated structures, if these houses can be related to the ownership of the land tracts on which they once stood, we may someday know more of their possible identity.

Frame Houses

Partial or even whole brick footings do not always indicate brick houses at Jamestown. Some 30 structures have been recorded which had brick footings or isolated brick fireplace foundations, the appearance of which suggests frame houses. These may be briefly classified as follows:

• Brick, or brick-and-cobble, wall-footings with central chimney bases of brick—2.
• Brick footing and outside chimney—3.
• Brick footing only—10.
• Brick chimney base alone remaining—12.
• Stone footing only—1.
• Cellar only, presumed to belong to frame or unfinished house, or to have had all bricks salvaged—1.
• Burned earth floor area only remaining, presumed to mark a frame house—1.

Some of the structures encountered in the first explorations remain to be more fully excavated and recorded. Structures in this category total 23.

Miscellaneous Structures

Because of the inadequacy of Jamestown remains and records, it is difficult to determine the purposes for