About

Kingsmill Plantation is a large tract of land in James City County that played a significant role in the growth and development of the Jamestown colony. When the first colonists arrived, Gabriel Archer proposed that they currently the currently-named Hope section of Kingsmill their new home. This location was situated slightly west of Jamestown and allowed ships to anchor closer to shore. More than a decade later, Richard Kingsmill, a prominent member of the Virginia Company of London, settled on Kingsmill's first 300 acres. Following Kingsmill, the property was owned by Colonel Lewis Burwell III. Burwell was a member of the Governor's Council, the first elected legislative assembly in the new world. He named Kingsmill Plantation after his grandfather, Richard Kingsmill. The plantation house was a grand 4,800 square foot two-story manor that overlooked the James River. The plantation also included two brick dependencies, a coach house, dairy, stable, barn, and two wells. The manor was destroyed by fire in 1846. Today, one the brick dependencies and original garden steps remains.