In 1607, American history began on the shores of the Virginia Pennisula when 101 English men and 4 boys, exhausted from their ocean crossing in three, small ships, stepped ashore at Jamestown and began exploring the banks of the James River. The region's natural resources supported an early economy based upon tobacco export. The natural harbors and inlets along the Tidewater coast, would make the region a key military asset from the Revolutionary War, through the Civil War, and right up to the present day naval bases. Situated on one of the greatest natural harbors in the world, the modern Tidewater Virginia area includes Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, as well as historic Yorktown, Jamestown, and Williamsburg. Jake McGuire's striking photographs of these historic communities articulate the history and growth of an integral part of a great nation.
