News

George Washington Birthplace Hosts National Trails Day Event on June 1st, 2024. Participating organizations include the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, The Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Northern Neck National Heritage Area, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 6,675,119 visitors to national parks in Maryland spent $246.6 million in the state in 2021. That spending resulted in 2,940 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of $344.3 million.

Last week, National Park Service (NPS) Director Chuck Sams visited Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, and Werowocomoco in Gloucester County, part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail to learn about the vast diversity of these significant sites and the work that will need to be done to continue their preservation.

Last Friday, April 1st, 2022, the Rappahannock Indian Tribe announced the return of 465 acres of land along the Rappahannock River. The donation of the conservation easement to the Tribe ensures that this ancestral homeland will be protected from development and remain in the hands of Tribal citizens for generations to come.

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail received an Open OutDoors for Kids grant from the National Park Foundation (NPF). This grant will support fourth-grade field trip programs that connect students living in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to their local environment and history.

Kalen Anderson, this year's Lead Ancestral Lands Corps Individual Placement, has been selected Corps Member of the Year by The Corps Network. Kalen is one of three recipients of the award selected from among the more than 20,000 young people serving in Corps programs across the country.

Read the 2020 State of the Trail Report for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.

Werowocomoco was the residence of Powhatan and the site of the first meetings between Native leaders and English colonists. The new exhibit provides the public with its first opportunity to interact with this world-class archeological site.

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Chesapeake Trail) is pleased to announce that its first cohort of interns has completed the inaugural Ancestral Lands Corps Individual Placement Program at Werowocomoco, the historic capital of the Powhatan chiefdom and a site of international and historical significance located on Virginia's York River.

The Archeological Overview and Assessment (AOA) of Werowocomoco, residence of Powhatan and the site of the first meetings between Native leaders and English colonists, was completed in November 2020. The 183-page report summarizes the current state of archeological research and offers direction for future preservation and management of the archeological resources found on this historical site, which was acquired by the National Park Service in 2016.