Did everyone die at Jamestown? Only 80% to 90% of the inhabitants of Jamestown died because of the winter of 1609 to 1610. They called this the "Starving time": 60 out of 500 survived.

 

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 Not everyone died, but about 80 to 90 percent of the colonists perished during a period in the winter of 1609 to 1610 called the "Starving Time". Out of roughly 500 residents at the time, only 60 survived. The survivors were so malnourished and weak that they attempted to abandon the settlement entirely. 

The colonists faced many deadly problems during the early years of the settlement: 

• Dirty Water: The colonists drank water from a salty, slimy river, which made them very sick.
• Starvation: Food ran out quickly because the land was hard to farm.
• Disease: Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria in the swampy environment. 

You can learn more about this tragic period by exploring the Historic Jamestowne exhibits or reading the National Park Service History overview. 

Would you like to know more about how the colonists survived, or about their relationship with the local Native American tribes during this time?

• Death at Jamestown | Background | Secrets of the Dead | PBS

  May 28, 2014 — Here are some details about the deaths in Jamestown: * **First winter** More than half of the colonists died from famine and illne...

  

  

  PBS
• A Short History of Jamestown - National Park Service

  Sep 16, 2022 — Not long after Captain Newport left, the settlers began to succumb to a variety of diseases. They were drinking water from the sal...

  

  

  National Park Service (.gov)
• Death at Jamestown | Clues and Evidence | Secrets of the Dead

  May 28, 2014 — During the winter of 1609-1610, nearly 90 percent of the residents of the Jamestown colony perished in an episode now called “the ...

  

  

  PBS

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