The ports of entry were not established by the Virginia legislature but the 
Customs Department in London. The Naval Officer for the Upper James River 
district, if I remember correctly, was, for a long time,  Lewis Burwell of 
Kingmill. The office was in Williamsburg but the ships entered and cleared 
at Burwell's Landing. The Greenhow-Repiton Brick Office on Market Square was 
likely the Customs House but I can't prove it. I have somewhere in my files 
a list of all the Naval Officers and Customs Collectors in Virginia.
HBG
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Kiracofe" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Was Williamsburg ever "quite a port"?


>I don't have the sources at hand (Hening's Statutes at Large)  but I
> seem to recall that the status of ports-of-entry in the colonial period
> was dictated by law.  They should not be confused with landings.   A
> 1680 statute designated four tobacco ports from which tobacco could be
> shipped, and I'm guessing a subsequent act either extended that list to
> include Williamsburg or Williamsburg replaced a James City as one of the
> tobacco ports.
>
> David Kiracofe
>
>
>
> David Kiracofe
> History
> Tidewater Community College
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> Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
> 757-822-5136
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