Yorktown

Yorktown is located in York County, of which it is the county seat, 16 miles north of Newport News between Gloucester Point and Tabb along Highway 17 on the banks of the York River in the Eastern Region of the state. Yorktown, founded in 1691, was a busy 18th-century tobacco port; the town is best remembered as the site of the Battle of Yorktown, which effectively ended the Revolutionary War. Nine 18th-century buildings survived the 1781 Battle of Yorktown and can still be seen. While most are private, several are open to the public, including Nelson House and Moore House. The restored Somerwell House, at Main and Church streets, was once an 18th-century inn and is now a private residence. The headquarters and one of the visitor centers for the Colonial National Historic Park are on the northeast edge of town at the end of the Colonial Parkway. Yorktown is part of the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News metro area.