John Smith Marker at Westover

Just outside the main gate at Westover Plantation are two historic markers. One is a Civil War Trails marker which I described here. The other, shown below, is number 18 in a series on Captain John Smith's Adventures on the James.
Here's what the sign tells us about Westover:

Westover Plantation was established in 1619, part of the rapid agricultural expansion that followed several years of mere subsistence for the English at Jamestown. Often, the English co-opted fields already cleared by Natives for farming or as fishing camps.

This brought strained relations to a boil in 1622, when Powhatan’s successor Opechancanough orchestrated an attack on outlying English settlements, including Westover, where two settlers were killed. The farm persisted, however. The house was built by Richmond founder, William Byrd II, circa 1730.

Gazing directly south from the riverbank at Westover, one sees Maycocks Point in the James River National Wildlife Refuge. Archaeological excavations there have revealed that Native Americans lived on the promontory more than 1,000 years before the English arrived.

The right-hand sidebar on the sign discusses Boating on the James, from Indian canoes to modern cargo ships.

Link: Cypress Loop on John Smith Trail