When the first settlers arrived in Jamestown in April 1607 and raised a cross at Cape Henry, claiming the land for England, they may have had a thanksgiving predating their first known observance in 1619. In that year, Berkeley Hundred was settled, one of a number of plantations granted by the Virginia Co. of London to its stockholders.

As many prepare to gather around the table for annual Thanksgiving feasts and celebrations, some might wonder when the tradition started and when it became a national holiday.