Y is for Yorktown
Yorktown is the final point in Virginia’s Historic Triangle. (See also J is for Jamestown and W is for Williamsburg.) Although the 13 American colonies had declared their independence in 1776, the last major battle of the Revolution was here in October 1781 when George Washington’s army defeated the British under Lord Cornwallis.
The large brick house below is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in Virginia. It was built in 1729 by a Scottish merchant, Thomas Nelson, whose grandson was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. The smaller Cole Diggs House is Yorktown’s oldest brick residence (c1720). As you can see, it served as a café when we were there (2008) – I remember having a very good lunch! Always important when travelling.
I love the old colonial brick buildings. We saw some in the Lexington/Concord, MA, area. I’m hoping to do a trip to the Virginia/D.C. area within the next year or two. Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown sound like perfect places to see.
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Hop you make it. We’re going back to Virginia this year, but following a different route. So much to see!
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I thought I wrote on this one as I know I looked at it. The defenses actually scare me. I think of being impaled
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They do look a bit scary! But I guess they were supposed to.
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I lived in Massachusetts until age 10 and we had family in Pennsylvania so I’ve been to the majority of Revolutionary War sites but I missed Virginia. Maybe one of these years… Love your pictures.
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Thank you. We liked it Virginia so much we are going back this year, but following a completely different route.
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A place with so much history. We didn’t see Yorktown when in Virginia, but would love to go back there.
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I hope you get a chance some day.
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So great that you were able to include all three sites in this triangle during the A to Z Challenge. I’ve had a great time reading about Virgina, I didn’t know much about the area’s history during the Civil War before 🙂
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I know, I was pleased about that! I had other ideas for some of the letters, then just thought that would be a nice symmetrical way to do it.
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Anabel, I can see you are a history buff! I have not been to the Jamestown settlements, but definitely need to do so.
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I am indeed! Though I was never that interested in Colonial / American Civil War history until that Virginian holiday. Wearing another “hat” I’m a tour guide on women’s heritage walks in Glasgow – much more interesting than kings and queens and so on.
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