Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/541

 a more substantial aspect than Jamestown. Nevertheless, the new settlement soon showed the same symptoms of decline as the earlier one; the buildings began to decay, and during the five years that followed were only preserved by constant repairing. At the end of that time they appeared to have fallen into hopeless ruin. The brick church which Dale proposed to erect at Henrico never rose above its foundations, and even the foundations remained unfinished. It was designed to be one hundred feet in length and fifty in width. In the meanwhile, Sir Thomas Gates, who had returned to Virginia, had expended much time and labor in increasing the number of the houses at Jamestown. Under his direction and supervision, two rows of framed buildings were constructed on either side of a regular street, these buildings being two stories in height, with a loft in which corn should be deposited. There were also three storehouses, which really formed one structure, with a breadth of forty feet and a length of one hundred and twenty. The whole town was enclosed in a paling. At the East End there was a platform for ordnance. A bridge was also built to connect the island with the mainland. There were situated outside of the fenced area several houses which Hamor described as pleasant and beautiful, but which were probably only so by contrast with the dwellings within. To these are to be added two block and a number of farm houses.

The passage of a few years produced the same changes previously observed; indeed, it was now admitted that unless the houses and cabins were annually repaired they