The Colonial Parkway is a 23 mile scenic parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It is part of the National Park Service's Colonial National Historical Park.
With portions built between 1930 and 1957, the Colonial Parkway links the three communities via a roadway carefully shielded from views of commercial development; a major effort has also been made to keep traffic signs and other modern roadside items to a minimum and make them unobtrusive where unavoidable. This helps visitors mentally return to the past, and there are often views of wildlife and waterfowl in addition to the river panoramas along the way.
The roadway, a National Scenic Byway and All-American road (one of only 27 in the U.S.) is free of trucks and is a popular (but not the quickest) way to move between the three points, especially for tourists. Near the James River and York River ends of the parkway, there are several pull-offs. It is toll-free, and has moderate speed Limits (45 MPH).
The Colonial Parkway took over 25 years to create from concept to completion. In 1930, a survey of the area was undertaken by National Park Service engineering and landscape architect professionals for a 500-foot right-of-way for the parkway. The road was aligned along the York River through U.S. Navy land.
By 1937, the road was completed to just outside Williamsburg. There was some debate over the routing in the Williamsburg area, and eventually a tunnel was selected. The tunnel under the historic district of Colonial Williamsburg was completed by 1942, but opening was delayed by World War II and some structural and flooding problems. It finally opened for traffic in 1949, leaving only the Williamsburg-to Jamestown section to be built.
On April 27, 1957, the colonial Parkway was opened for traffic along the entire route between Yorktown and Jamestown.
Here are some views on our drive from Williamsburg to Yorktown along the York River.
View of the York River
Hey Wayne, this may be one of your relatives.
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.
The piers extending into the York River serve a major Navy installation and are part of the Naval Weapons Station. Since its establishment in 1918, then as a Mine Depot, it has served our country in two World Wars and the Korean conflict as well as in peace time.
Aviation Field Yorktown
From July 1919 until August 1921, the U.S. Navy operated an aviation training school at the U.S. Navy Mine Depot, today's Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The school provided the first advanced aviation training for naval pilots in bomb, torpedo, and gunnery operations.
Less than a year after its initial closure, the Navy decided the airfield, located in close proximity to a deep water channel, was needed again in order to conduct experimental aviation test aboard the USS Langley (CV-1), the Navy's first full-deck aircraft carrier. On October 17, 1922, while the ship was anchored in the York River a Vought VE-7SF became the first flight to lift off from the carrier's deck. A month later, on November 18, a Patrol Torpedo (PT) seaplane was the first to be catapult launched from the Langley. In August 1926, the Navy Mine Depot Airfield was closed and the space was converted for munitions storage.
The York River, known to the Indians as the Pamunkey.
The colonists named it first Charles and then York, both in honor of the Duke of York. While only 26 miles in length, the tidal waters of the York River flow over the deepest natural channel of and Chesapeake Bay tributary. This makes it a great port for the Navy.
Our next stop was Yorktown. The signs along Main Street show how it looked in the past.
Here is how it looks today East along Main Street. Bev visited the Yorktown Shoppe, she loves to checkout little old gift shops like this.
Custom House, circa 1720
In 1691, Virginia's colonial legislature passed "An Act for Ports," in an effort to better regulate trade for the collection of import and export fees and duties. The act called for the creation of several ports, including Yorktown, and the appointment of Collectors of Ports by the royal Governor. During Yorktown's peak as a commercial port in the mid-1700s, Richard Ambler, and later his son, Jacquelin, served as collector of ports.
In 1721, Richard Ambler built this large, brick storehouse and from here he and his son handled their collector duties. Ship captains recently arriving and merchants arranging for transport of goods would convene at Ambler's storehouse to complete the required paperwork and pay the assessed fees.
The outbreak of the American Revolution brought an end to many port activities, including the collection of customs. In 1776, Virginia militia troops were using the Custom House for barracks and two years later, Jacquelin Ambler sold the property.
In 1924, the Comte de Grasse Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution purchased the Custom House and restored it five years later. Today the Custom House still continues in use as a Chapter House and Museum.
Cole Digges House
Throughout is long history, the Cole Digges House served many roles in the village of Yorktown. Originally used as a residence and warehouse, in later years it was a tea house/store and the First National Bank of Yorktown.
In 1921, Mrs. Helen Paul of Michigan bought the building and four years later began a major remodeling project transforming the 200-year old building into is current appearance by applying the Colonial Revival style made popular at Colonial Williamsburg.
The view in the next photo is the place where two Mercenary Units were located. Two battalions at Yorktown were from Anspach and Bayreuth, tiny independent kingdoms in southwest Germany. Their ruler, deeply in debt, had let these troops for hire to the British for some 45,000 pounds. Their camp covered several blocks in this vicinity.
From here we walked down the hill to the York River and the Yorktown Riverwalk Landing. As we reached the river our first view was of this magnificent Three Masted Schooner sailing up the river.
Here is a nice view of the draw bridge crossing the york river. Naval vessels have to pass through the bridge.
The Three Masted Schooner made it under the bridge without a problem.
Here are some views of our walk west along Riverwalk Landing.
Along the walk we saw these statues of General George Washington (in command of the allied ground forces) and Admiral Francois De Grasse (in command of the French Fleet controlling the nearby waters). Their roles were closely linked but they met only twice, both meetings were held on De Grasse's flagship, Ville De Paris. The first was on September, 20 to complete planning for the attack on Yorktown and the other was on October 21st to explore future operations in the South.
From here we walked back up the hill to our car and headed back up the Colonial Parkway to our home in the Williamsburg Outdoor World campground.
We had a great time enjoying the scenery and walking around the Riverwalk. So much history so little time to see it all.
Back at the campground we had a great steak dinner cooked on our crappy Walmart Grill. The steak came out great but the grill doesn't heat evenly and usually burns part of the meal. That's what I get for buying a cheap grill.
We need a small grill so it fits in one of the storage spaces in the camper. I will start shopping again for a small Weber gas grill like I use to have. The old one lasted for years but I was not able to find one when it finally fell apart. I'll have to check out Home Depot or someplace like that.
After our great meal we propped up our feet and watched TV the rest of the evening. The weekend crowd is here with their kids and although they were having a great time outside they were quiet and didn't bother us at all.
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