City: Charles City, VA

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (804) 829-6018

Address: 12602 Harrison Landing Rd. Off Route 5

Description: In early December 1619 a company of Englishmen arrived to settle a grant of Virginia land known as Berkeley Hundred. Their sponsor had instructed that the day of their arrival be “a day of Thanksgiving,” so the settlers celebrated and gave thanks, more than a year before the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620 first did. Either a reenactment of the first Virginia Thanksgiving or a commemoration of the event has taken place the first Sunday in November since 1958 at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County. There is always some sort of celebration, although it varies from year to year. There is no charge to take part in the simpler commemorative ceremony. A small fee is charged during the years in which the reenactment is scheduled. Sandwiches, Brunswick stew, and other fare are available for purchase after the event in the Coach House Tavern. If the weather is temperate, the venue combined with activities makes for a poignant and lovely afternoon.

City: Charles City, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (804) 829-6018, (888) 466-6018

Address: 12602 Harrison Landing Rd.

Description: This was the site of the first official Thanksgiving in North America, celebrated by English settlers on December 4, 1619. It is on Route 5, halfway between Williamsburg and Richmond. Berkeley is one of Virginia’s most historic plantations, as it was the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his third son, William Henry Harrison, who was the ninth president of the United States. The plantation was patented in 1618, and the stately Georgian mansion, overlooking the James River, was built in 1726 of brick fired on the site. It is said to be the oldest three-story brick house in Virginia and the first with a pediment roof. The handsome Adam woodwork and double arches in the Great Rooms were installed by Benjamin Harrison VI in 1790 at the direction of Thomas Jefferson. The rooms in the house are furnished with period antiques. As you approach the site along Route 5 in Charles City County, you’ll have to follow a sharp curve onto a side road that leads to the plantation drive. Two tidbits of Berkeley history deserve particular attention. “Taps” was composed here by U.S. General Daniel Butterfield in 1862 during the Civil War while Union troops were encamped on the site. And the first bourbon whiskey in America was distilled here in 1621. Allow about 90 minutes for your visit. The plantation is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (off-season 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas day). Tickets for a garden and house tour cost $11 for adults, $7.50 for students ages 13 to 16, and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Discounted tickets are offered for senior citizens, military, and AAA members.