ABSTRACT
This is a short chapter that deals with the early years in the new colonies starting with the settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts. The early settlers brought with them to a limited extent their building skills from England and quickly discovered these had to be adapted to the new environment where the primary building material was wood not stone. Much innovation followed in the building primarily of accommodation for farmers and their livestock and dependence on England for such materials as glass, iron fittings, nails and screws and the like. Nonetheless the period ends with the pace of construction on an upbeat as new colonies are established and the population expands from its meager beginning at the turn of the century of 170,000.
