Green Spring Plantation

This article is about the National Park Service site in James City County, Virginia. For the National Park Service managed district in Louisa County, Virginia, see Green Springs National Historic Landmark District.

Green Spring
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Landmarks Register
Remains of ancillary jail structure at Green Spring Plantation site
Nearest city	Williamsburg, Virginia
Coordinates
Area	190 acres (77 ha)
Built	1645
Part of	Colonial National Historical Park (#66000839)
NRHP Reference #	78000261
VLR #	047-0006
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 29, 1978
Designated VLR	March 19, 1997

Green Spring site is at western edge of Colonial Virginia's Historic Triangle near Jamestown and Williamsburg

Green Spring Plantation in James City County about five miles (8 km) west of Williamsburg, was the 17th century plantation of one of the more popular governors of Colonial Virginia in North America, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances Culpeper Berkeley.

Sir William Berkeley, who served several terms, is perhaps the best-known of Virginia's colonial governors. Contrary to popular belief the well-known Berkeley Plantation in nearby Charles City County was not named in his honor.

Today, a section of the land that formed the core of Green Spring Plantation is part of the Colonial National Historical Park.

History

The name Green Spring Plantation originated from the natural spring on the site, which continues over 350 years later to produce huge quantities of very beautifully clear, ultra cold water. The Green Spring produced a flow "so very cold that 'twas dangerous drinking the water thereof in Summer-time," wrote a visitor in the 1680s."

The manor house at Green Spring was built in 1645. The plantation originally encompassed a 2,090-acre (850 ha) experimental farm.

Seeking alternative export products to supplement tobacco, which had become the Colony's mainstay, Green Spring produced flax, fruits, potash, rice, silk, and spirits, which were shipped to markets in North America, the West Indies, Great Britain, and Holland.

Green Spring Plantation witnessed many historic events, including the beginnings of slavery in Virginia, Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, the Battle of Green Spring during the American Revolutionary War in 1781, the emancipation of its slaves in 1803, by the will of William Lee, and the nearby Battle of Williamsburg in 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. A second mansion on the site was burned during the Civil War.

Preservation

In modern times, about 200 acres (81 ha) of the original plantation are preserved by the National Park Service (NPS) as part of the Colonial National Historical Park, which acquired the property in 1966. The site includes archaeological and architectural remnants of the manor house and ancillary structures. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 29, 1978.

With archaeological work underway, plans call for construction of a parking lot, a small reception center, water and sewer facilities, and a network of trails, planned to be opened by 2008. The project at Green Spring Plantation is supported by NPS partners, Friends of the National Park Service for Green Spring, Inc. and James City County.

See also

• Colonial National Historical Park
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Jamestown, Virginia

External links

• Friends of Green Spring a large interactive web site with streaming video and more than a dozen essays ("The voices of Green Spring")
• National Park Service, Green Spring web page
• Friends of the National Park Service for Green Spring Plantation
• Greenspring, State Route 614 vicinity, Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA at the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)
• Discourse and View of Virginia
• Green Spring Pathway to Freedom