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Date published: 2/18/2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIRGINIA BEACH --A group of Virginia historians and an Army archaeologist say more research is needed before anyone can determine for sure that an early 17th-century settlement known as Henry Towne ever existed.A Fort Eustis spokeswoman said Friday that Randy Amici, the Army's lead archaeologist for Fort Eustis on the Peninsula and Fort Story in Virginia Beach, has been at the center of the possible Henry Towne discovery and will continue to participate in that research. "When I asked how long would it take, I was told years and maybe decades," spokeswoman Cindy Your said. "So, not any time soon." Amici said the settlement was established as early as 1610--three years after Jamestown--at or near Baylake Pines, a neighborhood off Shore Drive near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia Beach. Colonial Williamsburg's former chief archaeologist Ivor Noel Hume remains unconvinced but agreed that the historical documents "need to be looked at a lot more carefully." If Henry Towne was established, it could be the third-earliest-known settlement in Virginia behind Jamestown and an abandoned site started by John Smith in 1609 in Surry County. Amici's evidence is based on references he has found in at least eight historical records, including a letter dated 1610 from English naval commander Sir George Somers. Amici said Somers mentioned coming to Cape Henry, where the captain of the fort there spoke of the Jamestown famine of 1609. The centerpiece of his argument, though, has been a 1613 letter in which Lt. Gov. Samuel Argall, who had returned to Jamestown, described an outpost near Cape Henry as "Henries Towne." A 1950s excavation by Norfolk archaeologist Floyd Painter may also hold some key evidence. Hume said Friday that further searches for Henry Towne should include a more in-depth examination of Painter's artifacts, which were discovered at the Baylake Pines site.
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