The Jamestown Church Bell Tower Ruin - From Coin to Reality
BillJones
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One thing I like to do when I visit a structure or image that is on a coin is to grab of photo of both so that I can compare the two. Last week I visited "The Historic Triangle" which is Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.
The only original above ground structure from the 17th century that is still standing in Jamestown is the church bell tower. Opinions differ on when it was built. They range from 1639 to 1680 or even the 1690s. My guess would be 1680. It stands just inside the Jamestown fort after it was expanded from the original three sides to five sides. It was a part of the fifth Jamestown church. The building which stands to the right of it is the reconstructed church which was dedicated in 1907 for the 300th anniversary.
The obverse of the coin:
The bell towner:
The reverse of the coim. This is Captian John Smith and the Indian chief, Powhatan, who was the father of Pocahontas.
The only original above ground structure from the 17th century that is still standing in Jamestown is the church bell tower. Opinions differ on when it was built. They range from 1639 to 1680 or even the 1690s. My guess would be 1680. It stands just inside the Jamestown fort after it was expanded from the original three sides to five sides. It was a part of the fifth Jamestown church. The building which stands to the right of it is the reconstructed church which was dedicated in 1907 for the 300th anniversary.
The obverse of the coin:
The bell towner:
The reverse of the coim. This is Captian John Smith and the Indian chief, Powhatan, who was the father of Pocahontas.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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By 1800 the church are crumbled, and the bricks from it were used to build a wall around the church cemetery. An engraving and an oil painting from circa 1845 show that the church was completely gone and only the tower, looking very much as it does now, was all that remained.
The Confederate Army did build Fort Pocahontas on the site, but I don't think that there was much shooting there. In sum I don't think that the church was destroyed during the Civil War. It was gone well before then.
This is one spot where the evidence of the Civil War takes a backseat to the history before then. The guides point to an earth mound and say, "The Confederate Army built that," but that's about it so far as the Civil War is concerned. There is a little more Civil War stuff at Yorktown, but it too is of secondary interest.
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Rick
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<< <i>My family arrived at Jamestown in 1698. They would have went to that church. One of the reasons that I picked up one of these coins >>
Quite a story, and quite a legacy!
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
<< <i>Pretty cool. I'm assuming you were inside of the fence or leaning way over it.
There is no fence. It shows in photos from years ago, but it's gone now.
I wish I had had more time to go looking around old churches when I was in England, but I was busy swinging a detector in the farm fields the whole time! Did get a chance to visit (the outside of) one from the 1400s, though. And drove by another that was built circa 1100.
I haven't been to see Jamestown or Colonial Williamsburg yet. Will have to do that someday.
PS- embarrassingly, I was totally unaware of the coin type featured in the OP. That just goes to show how woefully out of touch I am with modern commemorative issues.