Opiscopank--Smith's Mystery Town

N-78

In 1608, Capt. John Smith mapped Opiscopank near here as an Indian town where a chief lived. Oddly, his narratives did not mention visiting the town or how he learned about it. In 1649, Ralph Wormeley patented 3,200 acres here that included “the Indian Townes of old & new Nimcock, bounded N.W. upon Rosegill Cr.” While the Rosegill plantation later became well known, historical records are silent on what became of the Nimcock Indians who lived at the former Opiscopank. Archaeological research found evidence of Middle to Late Woodland Indian habitation at several locations on the former Rosegill plantation.

Department of Historic Resources, 2010

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Jamestown Narratives: Eyewitness Accounts of the Virginia Colony by Edward Wright Haile, 1998; A Phase II Archaeological Evaluation of Sites 44MX0051, 44MX0052, 44MX0053, 44MX0054, and 44MX0056, Proposed Rosegill Development, Middlesex County, Virginia” prepared by Cultural Resources, Inc. for Rosegill Development LLC, Vienna, Virginia, 2006; Cavaliers and Pioneers by Nell Marion Nugent, 1992; John Smith’s Chesapeake Voyages, 1607-1609, Helen Rountree et al, 2007; Last Refuge: Tribal Preserves in Eastern Virginia, in Indian and European Contact in Context: The Mid-Atlantic Region (Dennis Blanton and Julia King, ed), by Martha W. McCartney, 2004.