Updated:
05/09/2008
Powhatan's Chimney
According to Gloucester legend, this chimney is all that remains of the house built by Captain John Smith for Indian Chief Powhatan 1609. The collapse of this chimney in an 1888 storm gave impetus to the preservation movement in Virginia. Concerned Virginians banded together in Williamsburg, Norfolk, and Richmond. They were determined to save other historical structures and sites from similar fate. From their efforts came the organization of the Association of the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The present structure was rebuilt in the 1930's by the Joseph Bryan Branch of the APVA.
Information provided by the historical marker located on-site.
