til the Tidewater area
had become fairly well settled. The tidal creeks and rivers afforded a
safe and convenient means of communication while the country was
thickly forested and infested with unfriendly Indians. By settling on
the peninsulas, formed by the tidal creeks and rivers, it was easier to
protect the early settlements once the Indians had been driven out.

In 1629 there were from 4,000 to 5,000 English settlers, confined
almost exclusively to the James River valley and to the Accomac
Peninsula, where they cultivated about 2,000 acres of tobacco. By 1635
tobacco had almost disappeared in the immediate vicinity of Jamestown,
as many of the planters moved to new land along the south bank of the
York River. At this time there were settlements in the following eight
counties: Henrico, located on both sides of the James River, between
Arrahattock and Shirley Hundred; Charles City, also located on both
sides of the James from Shirley Hundred Island to Weyanoke; James City,
on both sides of the James from Chippoakes to Lawnes Creek, and from
the Chickahominy River on the north side to a point nearly opposite the
mouth of Lawnes Creek; Warrasquoke (Isle of Wight), contained the area
from the southern limit of James City to the Warrasquoke River; Warwick
and Elizabeth City, the rest of the remaining settlements on the James
River; Charles River (York), all of the plantations on the south bank
of the York River; and finally Accomac. The plantations were still more
thickly grouped in James City than in any other county.

By the late 1630's, attempts to reduce the amount of tobacco grown in
the colony, by limiting the number of plants each person could plant,
had caused many planters to leave their plantations in search of virgin
soil in which more tobacco per plant could be grown. They frequently
built temporary dwellings, as they expected to move on as soon as the
land under cultivation showed signs of exhaustion. In 1648 planters in
large numbers sought permission from Governor Berkeley and the Council
to move across the York River, to take up the virgin and unclaimed
land.

Spreading north the frontiersmen had reached the Rappahannock and the
Potomac by 1650, and settlers began moving into Lancaster County. In
1653 the first settlers established themselves in what is now King
William County. Just before the end of the seventeenth century the
tobacco industry had expanded into the lowlands all along the
Rappahannock