224 Ballard Street, Yorktown, Virginia
757-890-3300
Located just 12 miles East of Williamsburg, Historic Yorktown is the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution in the fall of 1781. Start your tour at the Yorktown Victory Center, which offers museum exhibits such as the "Road to Revolution," "Witnesses to Revolution," "A Time of Revolution," "Converging on Yorktown," "Yorktown's Sunken Fleet" and "The Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons," as well as a re-created Continental Army encampment, a re-created farm from the 1780s and a gift shop. Visit the Yorktown Battlefield, where American forces under the command of General George Washington forced British troops under Lord Cornwallis to surrender, thereby signaling the end of the American Revolution. Two self-guided auto tours are available: seven-mile Battlefield Tour Road and nine-mile Encampment Tour Road.
Highlights of Historic Yorktown include the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center, original and reconstructed earthworks, Surrender Field and the Yorktown Victory Monument. Don't miss the 1720 Custom House (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), Watermen's Museum (full of maritime treasures) , 1697 Grace Episcopal Church, 1730 Nelson House (former home of Gov. Thomas Nelson Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence), Moore House (where surrender negotiations were held) and Cornwallis' Cave.
Historic Yorktown also features specialty shops, antique stores, art galleries, a free trolley, eclectic restaurants and a white sandy beach. Annual events at Historic Yorktown include the Yorktown Civil War Weekend in May, Yorktown Independence Day Celebration, Yorktown Day in October and Yorktown Celebrates Christmas! in December.
