Powhatan's Chimney
Encyclopedia
Powhatan's Chimney is located at present day Wicomico
, in Gloucester County, Virginia
, USA.
Powhatan's Chimney was long considered clue to the site of Werowocomoco
, a capital village of Chief Powhatan
in what is now Virginia
. According to English
colonist Captain John Smith
, Werowocomoco was located on the north side of the York River
about 25 miles (40.2 km) from where the river divided at West Point, Virginia
at the time the Jamestown Settlement
was established in 1607. Soon after in 1609, Chief Powhatan relocated his capital to a more inland location for better security. The exact location of Werowocomoco was lost through changes in settlement patterns. The Powhatan Confederacy and its people were largely displaced by English settlers by the middle of the 17th century.
Legend tells that Powhatan's Chimney was from a house that Smith built at Werowocomoco for Chief Powhatan
. The chimney's collapse in 1888 led to the growth of a preservation movement, and the founding of the Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). This organization reconstructed the chimney in the 1930s.
In 1977, an archaeologist found ground-surface artifacts at a site further west on the York River on Purtan Bay. He determined they indicated a late Woodland
/early European contact-era settlement. In 2002 current landowners permitted an archaeological survey of their property. It revealed extensive artifacts on what may have been a 50 acres (202,343 m²) settlement, with habitation from 1200 to the 17th century. Archaeologists and anthropologists believe this is the site of Werowocomoco. Since 2003, a team of archaeologists and other researchers have been working there. They and the landowners initiated consultation with the Virginia Council on Indians to plan and execute excavations on the site. Representatives of local Virginia Indian tribes, who are among the descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy, continue to advise and are part of the team. Excavation at the site since 2003 have revealed evidence of a large village, including two 200 feet (61 m)-long, curved, earthwork
ditches built 1000 feet (304.8 m) from the river bank about 1400, two hundred years before English settlement. In 2006 the Werowocomoco Archeological Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP). Excavations will continue. Scholars hope to find more evidence about the political nature of the chiefdom.
Both the newly identified site on Purtan Bay and Powhatan's Chimney are located within an area which the Native Americans may have considered as Werowocomoco, as their meaning was a general area of lands and not a specific place.
Wicomico, Virginia
Wicomico is an unincorporated community in Gloucester County, in the U. S. state of Virginia.-References:...
, in Gloucester County, Virginia
Gloucester County, Virginia
Gloucester County is within the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area in the USA. Formed in 1651 in the Virginia Colony, the county was named for Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, third son of King Charles I of Great Britain. Located in the Middle Peninsula region, it...
, USA.
Powhatan's Chimney was long considered clue to the site of Werowocomoco
Werowocomoco
Werowocomoco was a village that served as the political center of the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom, a grouping of about 30 Virginia Indian tribes speaking an Algonquian language...
, a capital village of Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
in what is now Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. According to English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
colonist Captain John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
, Werowocomoco was located on the north side of the York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
about 25 miles (40.2 km) from where the river divided at West Point, Virginia
West Point, Virginia
West Point is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,867 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Point is located at...
at the time the Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
was established in 1607. Soon after in 1609, Chief Powhatan relocated his capital to a more inland location for better security. The exact location of Werowocomoco was lost through changes in settlement patterns. The Powhatan Confederacy and its people were largely displaced by English settlers by the middle of the 17th century.
Legend tells that Powhatan's Chimney was from a house that Smith built at Werowocomoco for Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
. The chimney's collapse in 1888 led to the growth of a preservation movement, and the founding of the Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). This organization reconstructed the chimney in the 1930s.
In 1977, an archaeologist found ground-surface artifacts at a site further west on the York River on Purtan Bay. He determined they indicated a late Woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
/early European contact-era settlement. In 2002 current landowners permitted an archaeological survey of their property. It revealed extensive artifacts on what may have been a 50 acres (202,343 m²) settlement, with habitation from 1200 to the 17th century. Archaeologists and anthropologists believe this is the site of Werowocomoco. Since 2003, a team of archaeologists and other researchers have been working there. They and the landowners initiated consultation with the Virginia Council on Indians to plan and execute excavations on the site. Representatives of local Virginia Indian tribes, who are among the descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy, continue to advise and are part of the team. Excavation at the site since 2003 have revealed evidence of a large village, including two 200 feet (61 m)-long, curved, earthwork
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...
ditches built 1000 feet (304.8 m) from the river bank about 1400, two hundred years before English settlement. In 2006 the Werowocomoco Archeological Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP). Excavations will continue. Scholars hope to find more evidence about the political nature of the chiefdom.
Both the newly identified site on Purtan Bay and Powhatan's Chimney are located within an area which the Native Americans may have considered as Werowocomoco, as their meaning was a general area of lands and not a specific place.