Jamestown Exposition

The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States early part of the 20th century. It was held from April 26 to December 1, 1907, at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Virginia, and commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement.

Selecting the Norfolk area as the site

Early in the 20th century, as the tercentennial of the 1607 Founding of the Jamestown neared, leaders in Norfolk, Virginia began a campaign to have a celebration held there. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities had gotten the ball rolling in 1900 by calling for a celebration honoring the establishment of the first permanent English colony in the New World at Jamestown, to be held on the 300th anniversary.

Related Topics:
1607 - Norfolk, Virginia - 1900

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

No one thought that the actual isolated and long-abandoned original site of the Jamestown Settlement would be suitable. But there was an assumption in many parts of the state that Richmond, the state capital, would be chosen as the site of the celebration, because Jamestown had no facilities for large crowds, and the fort housing the Jamestown Settlement was believed to have been long-ago swallowed by the James River.

Related Topics:
Jamestown Settlement - Richmond - James River

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hampton Roads' interest was awakened by a bugle call in the form of an editorial in James M. Thomson's Norfolk Dispatch, on February 4, 1901, proclaiming: "Norfolk is undoubtedly the proper place for the holding of this celebration. Norfolk is today the center of the most populous portion of Virginia, and every historical, business and sentimental reason can be adduced in favor of the celebration taking place here rather than in Richmond."

Related Topics:
Hampton Roads - February 4 - 1901 - Norfolk - Virginia - Richmond

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dispatch was an unrelenting champion of Norfolk as the site for the exposition, noting in subsequent editorials that "Richmond has absolutely no claim to the celebration except her location on the James River."

Related Topics:
Norfolk - Richmond

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By September, 1901, the Norfolk City Council had given support to the project. And in December, 100 prominent residents of Hampton Roads journeyed to Richmond to urge Norfolk as the site. In 1902, the Jamestown Exposition Co. was incorporated. The most popular man in Virginia, former Virginia Governor Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of General Robert E. Lee, was named its president.

Related Topics:
1901 - Norfolk - Hampton Roads - Virginia - Fitzhugh Lee - Robert E. Lee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The decision was made to locate the international exposition on a mile-long frontage at Sewell's Point. The location was politically correct, as it was almost an equal distance from the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton. The rural Sewell's Point was also not conveniently located near any one of them. Fortunately, while hard to reach by land, it was much more favorably accessible by water, which ultimately proved an asset.

Related Topics:
Sewell's Point - Norfolk - Portsmouth - Newport News - Hampton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~