It will be quite a while before the National Park Service will be able to start accepting visitors at Werowocomoco. The 264-acre historical site on Purton Bay in Gloucester was acquired by the NPS in 2016 for $7.1 million.

Chuck Hunt, superintendent for the NPS Chesapeake Bay, which oversees the local site, told the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors Tuesday night during its meeting in the colonial courthouse that he wished he could provide them with a firm schedule with milestones for getting the park going. “We’re just not quite there yet,” he said.

Currently, the NPS is working toward an architectural overview of the site, as well as an assessment of how best to use the site once development begins. Hunt also said the NPS plans to continue its working relationship with the county to launch exhibits about the historic site where Powhatan, the leader of many Algonquian tribes, lived and subsequently met on several occasions with Captain John Smith.

“Wero...