Indian Chief Powhatan and tribesmen were headquartered along the York River when English settlers arrive at Jamestown in 1607 - first Capital of Virginia.
Colonial Gloucester County, because of its proximity to Jamestown and Williamsburg, had some of the earliest English settlements in the New World.
The county was formed in 1651.
Gloucester Point, site of an early 17th century fort, was the outpost of Cornwallis in 1781 and is the site of the final surrender of hi troops to General George Washington.