WheatLand Foundation

WILLIAM DRUMMOND/HARRIS PLANTATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, CA. 1648-1810

Preserving the Story of One of Colonial America’s Most Important Households

Help Us Complete the Definitive Study

Hidden beneath the fields of Virginia’s Governor’s Land lies one of the most significant archaeological sites of seventeenth-century America.

Beginning in 1648, Scottish-born statesman William Drummond established his plantation overlooking the James River near Jamestown. Drummond would become the first governor of North Carolina and later one of the most prominent leaders of Bacon’s Rebellion. Following the rebellion’s collapse in 1676, he was executed by Governor Sir William Berkeley, and his property was confiscated.

Yet the story did not end there. Archaeological and historical evidence reveals that Drummond’s widow, Sarah Drummond, successfully reclaimed her family’s position and rebuilt the household.

Her determination, resilience, and eventual appeal to King Charles II transformed a story of loss into one of recovery and survival.

Occupation of the site continued until ca. 1810. Eighteenth-century objects become extraordinary witnesses as British subjects began to see themselves as citizens of the United States after the Revolutionary War.

Today, the archaeological remains of their plantation provide an unparalleled opportunity to understand daily life, industry, agriculture, political upheaval, and family resilience during the formative years of colonial Virginia.

For more than three decades, archaeologists have investigated this remarkable site. Now the time has come to bring the results together in a comprehensive publication.

Why This Project Matters

The William Drummond Site contains evidence spanning more than 160 years of occupation and landscape change.

Research completed for this publication will document:

• Evolution of the plantation homelot and surrounding landscape from 1648 through 1810

• Seven archaeological wells preserving thousands of artifacts and environmental remains

• An eighteenth-century ice house

• Fence lines, property boundaries, and changing land use

• A seventeenth-century blacksmithing complex

• A locally operated tobacco pipe-making area

• Evidence of domestic life, trade, dining, and consumption

• Possible enslaved domestic quarters and labor areas

• Thousands of artifacts illuminating daily life across multiple generations

• The political and social world of the Drummond family and their descendants

This publication will provide the first comprehensive synthesis of one of Virginia’s most important archaeological sites.

What Your Support Will Accomplish

Funding will support:

• Historical and genealogical research

• Preparation of detailed archaeological site plans

• Artifact photography and illustration

• Specialist analyses

• Production of maps and landscape reconstructions

• Writing, editing, and peer review

• Publication design and preparation

• Long-term preservation and accessibility of the research

Without this effort, decades of excavation and analysis risk remaining scattered among reports, field notes, databases, and unpublished records.