Historic Jamestowne

   The tale of Pocahontas and John Smith is a famous one, and nearly all American students are familiar with the trials of the very beginning days of the colonies. But these historical figures and facts are so shrouded in history that, to many, they are not much more meaningful than myths. Here, at Historic Jamestowne, the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America, real remnants of this mysterious past are being uncovered. Archeologists piece together clues gleaned from artifacts they find and, in this way, create a mosaic of clearer understanding of life in the 1600s in Virginia. There were hard times, grim days of starving and strained relationships with the Native Americas who lived on the land. There were good times, such as during the introduction of tobacco as a prosperous cash crop and a period of peace resulting from Pocahontas's marriage. And there were failed endeavors, such Jamestowne's first economic venture of making glass. While most never learn of Jamestowne's glass, it is small details such as this one, rather than the grandiose mythic stories, that color in the past with an undeniable humanity. Like the glass created here, the history of Jamestowne is fragile to the passage of time. full of complexity and nuance, difficult to truly understand, but ultimately, beautiful and hauntingly unforgettable.

The Memorial Church, whose brick church tower is the last surviving above-ground structure from the days when Jamestowne was the capital of Virginia. Constructed around 1680, it has survived fires, the Civil War, and many long decades of neglect.

Each night, raw material is melted down in a crucible inside the 2000°F furnace. In the morning, the pool of molten glass is ready for the glassblowers to shape. Blowers use a five-foot-long blowpipe, dip it into the pool of molten glass, gather it up by spinning the rod, and start to form their creation by blowing into it. To add details, the glassblowers use a pontil rod to attach more molten glass to the vessel.