Fort Extension, Blockhouse

In 1608, the triangular fort at Jamestown was expanded eastward into a five-square form, the improvement John Smith referred to when he wrote that the fort was reduced to a five-square form. The extension enclosed garden space, domestic structures, and by 1617 the timber-framed church. Its corner was protected by a small defensive blockhouse or flanker that may have stood two stories tall, marking the fort's growth into what would become New Towne. Archaeologists excavated the cellar and well of this building, and after the structure was abandoned the cellar became a trash pit whose thousands of artifacts reveal life at Jamestown and the transition from James Fort to James City. Finds included a tobacco pipe made of local clay by Jamestown pipe maker Robert Cotton and marked with his diamond-shaped stamp; several of his pipes bore the names of influential Englishmen, and this one carried the name William Faldoo, who came to Jamestown to search for silver mines.

Virginia · United States