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Visitors to Yorktown cannot go without taking a tour hosted by a National Park service guide. At the Visitor's Center, there are museum artifacts from the battle, including George Washington's field tent and a 16-minute filed entitled, "The Siege at Yorktown". National Park Service areas include the place where Cornwallis' surrender took place, encampment areas, much of the town, and the surrounding siege lines. Guided and self-guided tours include the siege lines, the Moore House where terms of the surrender were negotiated, and Surrender Field.
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Today, the Yorktown Battlefield consists of 4,000 acres of land that began being set aside for the public's benefit in the 1930s. A total of nine miles in and around the battlefield can be driven complete with stops at points of interest.
In today's Yorktown, visitors can walk along narrow streets gawking at about a dozen homes and buildings that remain from colonial times. One is the Dudley Diggs house built around 1760 and is the last remaining frame house in Yorktown from that era. The brown bricked Nelson Family house also remains having been built around 1730. If you look hard, two cannon balls, fired during the siege of Yorktown, remain implanted in the side of the structure. Yorktown today, is home to about 400 permanent residents. It features some nice restaurants, a few small hotels, and a shopping district.
The third and final cog of Virginia's Historic Triangle is Williamsburg.
There's no place on Earth quite like Colonial Williamsburg. It's not just a thriving present day community, but it's a working, living history museum that captures what life was like not only during most of the 18th century, but what life was like in one of the most important capitals in the English colonies.
From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the cultural, educational and political center of what was then the largest, most influential American colonies. Here, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington met in quaint pubs to discuss events of the day and undoubtedly political theories and ideas that led to the forming of a new nation.
After Virginia's seat of government was moved about 100 miles to the west in the better protected town of Richmond, Williamsburg reverted back to a quiet, unassuming town. Over the ensuing decades the homes and buildings where ideas were exchanged about how to form a new democracy deteriorated. It was only through the efforts of Rev. Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller that Colonial Williamsburg saved. Their work resulted in the preservation of 88 of the original structures of Williamsburg, the reconstruction of many buildings, and the construction of facilities to accommodate the public.
Today, Williamsburg is a site to behold. A stroll down the wide Duke of Gloucester Drive, day or night, brings to life what it was like to live in this vibrant community more than 200 years ago. Visitors can step into a print shop of the time to learn how newspapers are made. There are taverns to visit where undoubtedly Jefferson, George Mason and George Washington plotted how to create a nation where the people are served by elected representatives rather than the other way around. At one end of Gloucester Drive stands the Capitol building where the House of Burgess met and Felony Court trials held. About six blocks away, the ornate Governors Palace stands erect in front of the expansive Palace Green, a lengthy promenade lined by tall trees and colonial buildings.
What's especially interesting and enticing about Williamsburg is the fact that many period-like "residents" dress in clothing of the era and engage in conversation as if it's 1776. In addition, at night, visitors can participate in special programs such as the "Ghosts of Williamsburg where guides lead groups through the streets of town by lantern sharing eerie tales and fun folklore.
Another fascinating activity hosted in Colonial Williamsburg are speeches presented by Jefferson and Patrick Henry characters. At the end of the presentations, members of the audience are invited to ask questions in what frequently are fascinating exchanges.
Major anniversary celebrations will be observed in and around Virginia's Historic Triangle in 2006 and 2007. Events include the 225th anniversary of the victory at Yorktown on Oct. 19-22, 2006 and the newly-rebuilt replica of the Jamestown ship Godspeed, will visit six major East Coast ports from May to early August 2006. The premier Signature Event will be America's Anniversary Weekend, a three-day spectacular centered at the Jamestown sites on May 11-13, 2007. The President and Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family have been invited to participate in the event that will feature pageantry, musical performances, cultural presentations and celebrity appearances.
For more information about Virginia's Historic Triangle, call:
* Virginia Tourism Corp., 804-545-5572; www.vatc.org or www.virginia.org
* Williamsburg Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 757-253-0192 or 800-368-6511; www.visitwilliamsburg.com
* Jamestown Settlement, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, 757-253-4838 or 888-593-4682; www.historyisfun.org
* Yorktown Victory Center, 757-887-1776.
* Colonial National Historic Park, 757-898-3400.
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