What was the name of the first permanent English settlement in North America? The answer is Jamestown, established in Virginia in 1607. Founded by the Virginia Company of London, it became the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
The settlers built James Fort on an island in the James River, choosing the location partly because it could be defended against Spanish attacks. The site was unhealthy, however, with contaminated water, mosquitoes, difficult soil, and limited food. During the Starving Time of 1609–1610, only about 60 colonists survived from the settlement’s earlier population.
Jamestown endured after new supplies and settlers arrived. Tobacco cultivation, especially after John Rolfe developed a commercially successful strain, transformed Virginia’s economy. In 1619, Jamestown hosted the first representative legislative assembly in English North America, an important step in the colony’s political history.
Roanoke came earlier but disappeared and was not permanent. Plymouth was founded in 1620, after Jamestown. St. Augustine was established by the Spanish in 1565, making it older than Jamestown but not English. Jamestown ceased to be Virginia’s capital when the seat moved to Williamsburg in 1699.