Once James Town became a successful colony other settlements sprang up in the neighboring countryside.

Middle Plantation was established in 1632. Unlike Jamestown and other early settlements along the rivers and navigable waterways, Middle Plantation was located on high ground halfway across the Virginia Peninsula between the James and York Rivers.
When the statehouse (capitol building) in Jamestown burned down in October 1698 the legislators found themselves meeting at Middle Plantation instead. This was then followed by a proposal to move the capital permanently to Middle Plantation, to escape the malaria and mosquitoes that plagued the Jamestown Island site. And so the capital of the Virginia Colony was relocated to Middle Plantation which was ultimately renamed Williamsburg in honor of King William III. For most of the 18th century, Williamsburg was the center of government, education and culture in the Colony of Virginia. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, James Madison, George Wythe and others, molded democracy in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States here.

Colonial Williamsburg has now been recreated by reconstructing and restoring many of the historic buildings and taking down post-Colonial buildings and additions. Walking down the main street is like walking back in time. The buildings are populated with historical reenactors whose job it is to explain and demonstrate aspects of daily life in the past. The reenactors dress and talk as they would have in colonial times. It was all very interesting but we really did not have enough hours left in the day to do it justice. We will have to come back!