(24) Grays Creek

Spring 1609

Surry, VA

*Three generations of attorney C.B. Faison's family came to celebrate the installation of the marker on their property.*

*Smith’s Fort Plantation, director Tom Forehand, a Cross Project team member. The fort itself overlooks Grays Creek a half mile beyond the mid-18th century house.*

About

At the direction of the London Company, Capt. Smith as Jamestown’s president investigated sites nearby suitable to construct a fortified position of refuge in the event the settlement came under naval attack. His survey apparently took in several prospective locations along Grays Creek to the head of navigation, which is the site of the cross. The site chosen for the fort is downstream a mile from here on Smith’s Fort Plantation.

Siting

Siting is determined from the Smith map and USGS mapping.

Visit

Private land, personal, "Crosse Creeke" farm.

Access is by permission of C. B. Faison, 757-294-3000 or 757-294-3942: by land through an unimproved woods lane of a half mile; by tidal water from a natural creek bank.

GPS Coordinates

37.1686, -76.8481

N37°10’07” x W76°50’53”