Recession blamed for attendance drop at Yorktown, Jamestown sites

Paid attendance at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center fell 11.2 percent last year, to 614,606, the state's Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation announced.

Jamestown's visitation dropped 12.9 percent, while Yorktown's declined 6.3 percent. Admission sales at the two museums amounted to $5.2 million, a drop of 9.8 percent from 2008.

"The national economic recession had a significant impact," said Susan Bak, the foundation's senior director of marketing and retail operations. "We're encouraged, however, that consumers are continuing to seek information about Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, with visits to our historyisfun.org Web site up over 2008."