Nansemond Indian Villages

Nansemond Indian Villages is a Virginia historical marker in Suffolk County, dedicated 1998.

Godwin Blvd., at intersection with Everets Road

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

The principal villages of the Nansemond Indians stood just east of here on the Nansemond River. The Nansemonds fought frequently with the English colonists who arrived in 1607 as the Indians resisted the newcomers' attempts to occupy their villages and seize their corn. Two major periods of hostility occurred in 1609 and again after Opechancanough's coordinated assault on the English settlements on 22 Mar. 1622 that began the Powhatan-English War of 1622-1632. Sir George Yeardley retaliated for the assault by burning the Nansemond villages and destroying their cornfields. The surviving Nansemonds scattered, their power broken.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

John Carter Brown Library, Brown University

Historical maps covering this location

1670 · Virginia and Maryland As it is planted and Inhabited this present Year 1670 ... (John Carter Brown Library, Brown University)
1862 · Map of the battle ground near Richmond, showing plainly, every point of interest of the… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1889 · Virginia and West Virginia (eastern portion). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1891 · (Virginia, N. Carolina) Railroad Map of the United States. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1919 · Smithfield, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Smithfield, Virginia, 1919, covering the location of Nansemond Indian Villages, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Smithfield, Virginia, 1919, covering this location. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Nansemond Indian Villages

Historical maps covering this location

More markers nearby