Powhatan's Chimney is located at present day Wicomico, in

Gloucester County, Virginia Gloucester County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,711. Its county seat is Gloucester Courthouse. The county was founded in 1651 in the Virginia Colony and is named for Henry Stuart, ...

, United States. Powhatan's Chimney was long considered clue to the site of ''

Werowocomoco Werowocomoco was a village that served as the headquarters of Chief Powhatan, a Virginia Algonquian political and spiritual leader when the English founded Jamestown in 1607. The name ''Werowocomoco'' comes from the Powhatan ''werowans'' (''wer ...

'', a capital village of

Chief Powhatan Powhatan ( c. 1547 – c. 1618), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommaca ...

in what is now

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. According to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

Captain John Smith John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...

, ''Werowocomoco'' was located on the north side of the York River about from where the river divided at

West Point, Virginia West Point (formerly Delaware) is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,306 at the 2010 census. Geography West Point is located at (37.543733, −76.805366). The York River is formed at West ...

, at the time the

Jamestown Settlement Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614 ...

was established in 1607. Soon after in 1609, Chief Powhatan relocated his capital to a more inland location for better security. The exact location of ''Werowocomoco'' was lost through changes in settlement patterns. The

Powhatan Confederacy The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

and its people were largely displaced by English settlers by the middle of the 17th century. Legend tells that Powhatan's Chimney was from a house that Smith built at ''Werowocomoco'' for the chief. The chimney's collapse in 1888 led to the growth of a preservation movement, and the founding of

Preservation Virginia Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus o ...

(formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). It was organized to protect and preserve other historic resources. This organization reconstructed the chimney in the 1930s in the belief that it represented the historic site of Powhatan's residence at his capital. In 1977, an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

found ground-surface artifacts at a site further west on the York River on Purtan Bay that indicated a late

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

/early European contact-era settlement. A 2002 archaeological survey revealed extensive artifacts on what may have been a settlement, with habitation from the 13th to the 17th century. Archaeologists and anthropologists believe this is the site of ''Werowocomoco''."Virginia Site Is Considered Possible Home Of Pocahontas"
''New York Times'', 7 May 2003, accessed 25 February 2017 Since 2003, a team of researchers has excavated and found evidence of a substantial settlement, with earthworks built around the early 15th century, more than 200 years before the English arrived. Representatives of local

Virginia Indian The Native American tribes in Virginia are the indigenous tribes who currently live or have historically lived in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. All of the Commonwealth of Virginia used to be Virgini ...

tribes, descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy, are part of the team. In 2006 the ''Werowocomoco'' Archeological Site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP). Scholars hope to find more evidence about the political nature of the chiefdom through additional excavations. Both the newly identified site on Purtan Bay and Powhatan's Chimney are located within an area which the Native Americans may have considered as ''Werowocomoco,'' as their meaning was a general area of lands and not a specific place.Board of Supervisors Meeting, Gloucester County, Virginia, Nov. 8, 2006
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References

{{Coord, 37, 17, 30, N, 76, 31, 52.7, W, type:landmark_region:US-VA, display=title Buildings and structures in Gloucester County, Virginia Powhatan Confederacy Native American populated places