Timeline Description: Jamestown was the first English colony to be settled in the New World. It was first established in order to aid the Virginia Company of London with their import/export business. However, it eventually became a royal colony and helped populate the Americas.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1606 | English ships set sail for the New World (Late 1606) Ships with the Virginia Company of London set sail for America. |
| April 10, 1607 | Virginia Company makes landfall After staying for a period in Puerto Rico, the ships left Puerto Rico for the American mainland. |
| April 26, 1607 | The search for good ground begins The ships finally made landfall on the mainland, but they quickly realized they needed a more secure location so they began searching for a more acceptable settlement. |
| May 14, 1607 | The site is found A site was chosen for habitation by Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, and they were greeted happily by local Indian tribes. |
| 1608 | More mouths to feed The first supply ships arrived at the colony, which also brought more settlers to a place that already did not have enough food. |
| July 24, 1609 | Supplies are lost at sea Another supply ship, bringing around 500 new settlers, became endangered at sea during a hurricane. Most of the supplies for the Jamestown Colony were lost, and the survivors of the hurricane became stranded in Bermuda. |
| 1609 | Years of starvation (1609-1610) These years marked a period of "starving time", during which only 61 of the original 500 settlers survived. |
| May 10, 1610 | Newcomers arrive at Jamestown Survivors from the hurricane left Bermuda and set sail for Jamestown, arriving two weeks later. They found the dying colony and agreed to return them to England. |
| June 10, 1610 | The colony is saved A supply ship arrived just as the other ships were setting sail for England. The settlers agreed to stay. |
| 1613 | A new plan is set in motion After failing to maintain a thriving colony, Governor Dale assigned 3-acre plots to the settlers with the intent of working the land. His plan was mostly successful. |
| 1614 | Success at last Settler John Rolfe began harvesting tobacco. He had kept seeds while stranded in Bermuda several years before. Once he became successful, he married Indian Chief Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas. |
| 1617 | Relations with the Indians(1617-1618) During a trip to England, Pocahontas became sick and died. Soon after this, her father, Chief Powhatan, died. After both of their deaths, relations with the local Indians worsened for the settlers. |
| 1619 | Moving forward The first assembly convened to establish an equal government among the colonists. |
| 1622 | Hostility with the natives Indians attacked the settlers, killing about a third of the English in the area, and the attack became known as the Indian Massacre of 1622. |
| 1624 | Virginia becomes an official colony King James made Virginia into a royal colony, and ten years later it was divided into eight different counties. |
| 1698 | Jamestown shifts places The Jamestown colony was moved permanently to Middle Plantation after it burned to the ground for the second time in twenty years. |