For three days in June, Yorktown will play host to a French navy frigate that brought General Marquis de Lafayette to the New World.
Sailing from Rochefort, France, the Hermione — an 18th-century style ship modeled after the ship that carried the young Revolutionary war hero to America on March 10, 1780 — will make a three-day stop in Yorktown for its first stop of a summer-long voyage.
The ship will be open to the public for free tours.
After departing Yorktown, the vessel will visit U.S. cities that played a part in the revolution, including Boston, where Lafayette — who helped defeat British General Lord Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown in September 1781— arrived for the first time in 1780 at age 19 against the wishes of the French government; Baltimore, a city Lafayette visited several times in 1781 and 1784; and Philadelphia, where the Hermione docked in 1781.
The Friends of Hermione-Lafayette in America built the 210-foot, three-masted vessel with the aim of highlighting the significance of the relationship between France and the U.S., according to its mission statement.
The nonprofit wanted to find a way to “rekindle ties between France and the United States” and make available a “lasting educational legacy,” its website states.
The ship, which will sail for 27 days across the Atlantic before arriving in Yorktown on June 5, will feature educational programs and games that incorporate history, languages, literature, art, historic reconstruction and STEM, according to the Friends of Hermione-Lafayette.
As hosts, York County has agreed to guarantee up to $200,000 to cover the $75,000 appearance fee and $125,000 logistical costs, which Interim County Administrator Mark Carter said include costs of traffic control, accommodations for the crew, internet access and more.
The funds will be taken from the carry-over fund leftover from the fiscal year 2015 budget, but Carter said there is a “strong promise” that many of the costs will be covered by the fundraising efforts of various organizations such as the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the Watermen’s Museum and private donors.
He said at the Board of Supervisors’ Dec. 16 meeting there are “fairly significant donors standing by, ready to support this effort.”
He expects the event to bring in national media that will help promote tourism not only to Yorktown but to the entire Historic Triangle and will give the county and history-minded organizations an opportunity to host an event on board in between free public tours.