Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas and served as Virginia’s capital from 1610 until 1699.
The Virginia Company established Jamestown on an island in the James River in 1607. Although the settlement faced disease, hunger, conflict, and difficult relations with local Indigenous peoples, it survived and became the center of England’s Virginia colony.
Jamestown was Virginia’s first capital. The colonial government moved to Williamsburg in 1699 because Williamsburg offered a more central location and healthier surroundings. Richmond became Virginia’s capital in 1780 during the American Revolution and remains the capital today.
The wording requires historical context: Jamestown is not Virginia’s modern capital. Its significance is that it was an early permanent English settlement and the colony’s first capital. Archaeological work at Historic Jamestowne has revealed extensive evidence about the settlement’s buildings, residents, economy, and relationships with neighboring communities.