VA-W23 Fort James

Marker text: FORT JAMES

A mile and a half south of here on the Chickahominy River stood Moysonec, and Indian village. Some of the Chickahominy Indians residing there captured Captain John Smith in 1607. In the wake of the 1644 Indian uprising, the colonist sought to control Native American access to the lower Peninsula. Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas and John Rolfe, constructed Fort James at Moysonec in exchange for the land on which it stood. The colonists manned the fort for only three years.

Department of Historic Resources, 1998.