Friday, May 13 — Today marks the 408th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, at Jamestown, Virginia. Captains John Smith and Christopher Newport were among the leaders of a group of royally chartered settlers who sailed from Plymouth, England aboard three small ships — the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. By 1625, more than 1,200 European colonists lived in Virginia, with perhaps 30,000 native Indians. Today, the state has a population of nearly 8.4 million, and around 42,000 American Indians. Although Jamestown is now a tourist attraction and archaeological site with no residents, the surrounding James City County has a population of about 72,500.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
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