An Upper-Class Neighborhood 1630s-1699

From the 1630s to the end of the 17th century, this area along Backstreete contained some of the finest dwellings in Jamestown and was home to governors, councilmen, burgesses, and lawyers. Richard Kemp, a supporter of Governor Harvey, secretary to the colony, and councilman, built Virginia’s first all-brick house here in 1638-39. Walter Chiles, a merchant and burgess, bought the “Brick house formerly Mr Secry Kemps” in 1649 and lived here with his family into the 1670s. In 1639, instructions from King Charles I directed Governor Francis Wyatt to build a “convenient house for the meetings of the council,” and this “country house,” east of Kemp’s house, served both official business and as a residence. After 1676, lawyer William Sherwood built two houses to replace these earlier structures. Sherwood probably lived in a fine brick house to the east, while the high-status home to the west contained ornate plasterwork unusual in 17th-century Virginia. Lord Howard of Effingham apparently lodged there, and he and later governors regularly met with the council there until the capital moved to Williamsburg in 1699.

Virginia · United States