Long before microwaves, electric stoves, and refrigerators, early Virginians prepared meals in clay pots and iron kettles, and preserved food by smoking and salt curing. This Thanksgiving holiday, dig into the foodways of 17th- and 18th-century America during Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia.

This Thanksgiving holiday, explore centuries-old culinary practices and cooking techniques of early Virginia during a two-day event, Friday and Saturday, November 24 and 25.

Jamestown Settlement

Discover how food was gathered, preserved and prepared on land and at sea by Virginia’s English colonists and Powhatan Indians. Enjoy cooking demonstrations throughout the day in re-creations of Paspahegh Town, a colonial fort and along the ships’ pier. (Food preparation in the museums’ outdoor living-history areas is for demonstration purposes only.)

Paspahegh Town

See venison, turkey, and other game roast over an open fire, while stews of corn, beans, and squash cook in clay pots. Learn the importance of corn to the Powhatan Indians and the variety of dishes in which it was used, including corncakes and corn dumplings. Throughout the day, discover how Powhatan Indians made stone and bone tools used to obtain and prepare food.

James Fort

See the culinary skills English colonists brought to Virginia as historical interpreters bake bread in a cloame oven and demonstrate open-hearth cooking of pudding, pies, and pottage, based on historical recipes of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Also learn about European military tactics during artillery drills near the fort each day at 4:15 p.m.

Ships’ Pier

Along the ships’ pier, explore how the colony was provisioned. Throughout the day, see typical sailors’ fare of salted fish and meat, biscuit, and dried foods, and discover the kinds of fresh provisions that sailors picked up along their island stops on the way to Jamestown.

American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

Explore how Continental Army soldiers earned their rations and witness the bounty of produce and proteins fresh from the fields transformed into stews, pies, and breads. Enjoy cooking demonstrations throughout the day in re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and Revolution-era farm.

Continental Army Encampment

Discover how soldiers tried to turn meager rations of dried beans, salted meat, and hard bread into nourishing soups and stews. Daily artillery drills will show visitors how soldiers earned their rations.

Revolution-era Farm

A variety of dishes for the farm’s owners and enslaved people will be prepared daily using 18th-century open-hearth cooking techniques and recipes. See how their traditional fares were similar in some ways and different in others. Explore the methods used by farming families to preserve and store goods through the lean winter months.

Tickets, tours & packages

Explore the heart of our nation’s beginnings and discover the stories of America’s earliest adventures with a variety of ticket and package options.

A Combination Ticket – available online only – is $30.00 for adults and $15.00 for ages 6 through 12, offering seven days of unlimited admission to both Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

America’s Historic Triangle Ticket offers unlimited admission for up to seven days to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefield and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

One-day, Single-Site Tickets offer admission to Jamestown Settlement at $18.00 for adults and $9.00 for ages 6-12, and admission to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown admission at $18.00 for adults and $9.00 for ages 6-12.

Children ages 5 and under receive free admission to both museums. Residents of York County, James City County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive complimentary admission with proof of residency.