History
The York River was formerly known as the Pamunkey River by the Native Americans. Colonists of the Virginia Company in the 17th century first called it the Charles River. On the north bank, in what is now Gloucester County of the Middle Peninsula region, the Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy maintained Werowocomoco, one of two capitals of the paramount chiefdom at the time of European contact before 1609. In 2002-2003, archeological evidence was found of an extensive ancient settlement on the York River at Purtan Bay. With excavations since then, researchers have concluded this is likely the site of Werowocomoco. They have found evidence of a large residential village inhabited since 1200 CE, with major earthworks constructed in 1400 CE, more than 200 years prior to the English colonists. In 2006 the Werowocomoco Archeological Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Excavations continue by a team from the College of William and Mary, the Virginia Department of Naaatural History and representatives of Virginia descendant tribes of the Powhatan.
The peninsula formed by the York and the James rivers just to the south became the scene of the end campaign of the American Revolutionary War in October 1781. The British Army under Cornwallis at Yorktown found itself cornered by the Americans under George Washington on land and by the French fleet at sea. The ensuing American victory at the Battle of Yorktown forced the surrender of Cornwallis and the end of the war in the east. During the American Civil War, the same area became the theater of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862.
In modern times, York River State Park is located along the southern shore northwest of Yorktown in James City County. Also on the south shore are several large military reservations, including Camp Peary and the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown (and Cheatham Annex) of the U.S. Navy. Large areas of preserved wetlands and forest are considered ecologically important to migratory waterfowl. The National Park Service's Colonial Parkway provides a bucolic passage through a portion of this natural area between Williamsburg and Yorktown.
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