Backstreet – Jamestown’s Main Street 1620-1699

As Jamestown expanded beyond the fort, the Virginia Company sent William Claiborne to survey lots in New Towne. There Ralph Hamor patented an acre and a half lot in 1624, and his deed showed that at least three streets already existed: Backstreete, the highway along the river, and a connecting street. His neighbors along Backstreete included William Peirce, Dr. John Pott, Governor Sir Francis Wyatt, and future governor John Harvey. Backstreete served as Jamestown’s main street throughout the 17th century, with the church anchoring the street to the west and a cluster of homes owned by Virginia’s ruling gentry to the east. Building incentives encouraged prominent citizens like Richard Kemp, William Sherwood, Henry Hartwell, and William May to build fine brick homes along Backstreete. Even after Williamsburg became Virginia’s new capital, Backstreete remained the best location in Jamestown, and in the 1750s Richard Ambler built a mansion, now in ruins nearby, as a centerpiece of his plantation.

Virginia · United States