JAMESTOWN — Historic Jamestown will hold its 25th annual “The Burning of Jamestown,” a historic reenactment of Bacon’s Rebellion, Saturday, Sept. 17.
Bacon’s Rebellion took place in 1676 and is regarded as the first stirring of revolutionary sentiment in America. According to the National Park Service, as more has been learned, Bacon’s Rebellion has been seen as less a fight against tyranny and more of a power struggle between two stubborn leaders, Nathaniel Bacon and Gov. Sir William Berkeley.
During this special evening walking tour, guests will be led through the colonial town site and see the dramatic events unfold through the eyewitness account of Thomas Matthew, a Burgess in 1676. Controlled fires re-create the burning of Jamestown as it occurred on September 19, 1676.
“One night a year you get to come out and see a recounting of an event that occurred,” said, Willie Balderson, Director of Living History & Historic Trades. “The way we frame the program, we work with our partners, the national park service, and we started this program in 1997. So we’ve been doing it for a long time.”
The tour is free with a paid admission to Historic Jamestown and begins at 7 p.m. at the Tercentennial Monument. Visitors can also explore the context leading up to the rebellion and its lasting impact during historian Mark Summers’ Bacon’s Rebellion walking tour, offered every Saturday at 2 p.m. For more information, check out the Jamestown official website.
