Tuesday, November 3, 2026

The Wren Building


       This is the oldest academic building in English-America. According to a contemporary it was "first modeled by Sir Christopher Wren,"but "adapted to the Nature of the Country by the Gentlemen there." Originally known simply as "The College," it now bears the name of the distinguished English architect to whom it owes its general design. The cornerstone was laid in 1695, two years after the College had been chartered by King William and Queen Mary. Although serious damage was done by fire in 1705, 1859, and 1862, the exterior walls are largely original. The class- rooms are in use today and they, together with the Blue Room on the second floor, the Great Hall, and the Chapel, have been restored to their early appearance. 
       The College of William and Mary was chartered in 1693 as an Anglican college "to the end that the Church of Virginia may be furnish'd with a Seminary of Ministers of the Gospel, and that the Youth may be piously educated in good Letters and Manners, and that the Christian Faith may be propagated amongst the Western Indians, to the Glory of Almighty God." Throughout the colonial period, William and Mary was the center of higher education in Virginia and Maryland, for both the tobacco colonies of the Chesapeake were taxed to support it. It is the second oldest college in the United States. 
       In the eighteenth century, long before Horace Mann and the great public-school movement, education was not easily come by in the colonies. There were a few endowed schools in Virginia, such as the Symmes-Eaton Academy of Elizabeth City County and "Matty Whaley's School" in Williamsburg; often a clergyman ran a small school, to serve his parish and augment his income; and the College itself had a grammar school. Sons of plantation owners, who commonly were entrusted to tutors at home for their schooling, could either attend William and Mary or go overseas to Oxford, Cambridge, or Edinburgh, or to read law at the Inns of Court in London. Higher education conferred considerable prestige on the few who attained it. Girls had little formal education. 
       Although the average enrollment at William and Mary was less than one hundred during the eighteenth century, the College exerted great influence on the intellectual life of Virginia and produced an extraordinary number of distinguished alumni, including Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Marshall. Four of the first ten presidents of the United States were associated with the College. George Washington for eleven years was chancellor. Edmund Randolph, attorney general in Washington's cabinet, wrote: "Until the revolution, most of our leading [men] were the alumni of William and Mary." 
       The faculty included such distinguished men as the Reverend Hugh Jones, mathematician and grammarian, Dr. William Small, physicist, and George Wythe, jurist and classics teacher. "I know of no place in the world," wrote Jefferson in 1788, "while the present professors remain, where I would so soon place a son." In 1729 there were six professors in the three schools of Humanity, Philosophy, and Divinity. It was largely through the influence of alumnus Jefferson that the curriculum was broadened in 1780. Provision was made for chairs of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Law and Police, Chemistry and Medicine, Ethics and Belles Lettres, and Modern Languages. The chair of Divinity was discontinued. William and Mary had been founded as an Anglican college, but, as James Madison, President of the College explained, “it is now thought that Establishments in Favor of any particular Sect are incompatible with the Freedom of a Republic." 
       The visitor enters the Wren Building by the main (east) door flanked by two howitzers captured from Cornwallis at Yorktown. Passing through the central corridor he comes out on the "Piazza," over-looking the west courtyard and modern sunken garden. To the north is the Great Hall where faculty and students dined in common in the eighteenth century; it was here that the House of Burgesses met while awaiting the completion of the Capitol. At the south end of the piazza is the Chapel wing, completed in 1732, where masters and students and an occasional distinguished visitor such as Lord Botetourt attended morning and evening prayers and special services. The fourth side of what was originally planned as a quadrangle was never added, although Jefferson drew plans for it about 1773. In the crypt of the Chapel are buried distinguished Virginians, including Sir John Randolph, Peyton Randolph, Bishop James Madison, and also the popular governor, Lord Botetourt. When the College is in session, guides are on hand to conduct visitors through the building. 
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The King Arms Tavern

       Now a public restaurant operated by Colonial Williamsburg, this inn still caters to the appetite as well as the eye of the guest. Jane Vobe operated here one of the most genteel taverns in the city, with a clientele which included William Byrd III, Sir Peyton Skipwith, and George Washington. Today, paneling and hand- some furnishings of eighteenth-century design lend an air of hospitality and comfort. A wine vault rivals its colonial predecessor. The gambrel roof is given an interesting texture by the shingles with curved butts which were commonly used in Williamsburg. (Their purpose, however, was utilitarian rather than decorative. Square-ended shingles tend to warp and curl when dried out quickly in the hot Virginia sun.) At the rear of the tavern is an elaborate garden, in which meals are also served, weather permitting. The King's Arms specializes in traditional Southern dishes: Virginia ham, fried chicken, scalloped oysters, Sally Lunn bread. Many dishes are prepared from time-tested recipes of colonial days printed in The Williamsburg Art of Cookery, dishes delectable enough to dispose of the complaint of one eighteenth-century gourmet that "Heaven sends good Meat, But the Devil sends Cooks!" 

       Appetites were prodigious in this bygone century and it was not unusual for the menu to include two "main courses," each consisting of perhaps a dozen dishes with dessert to follow. Wine, or a tankard of beer, rounded out the repast. 

       The King's Arms, although out- ranked in historical fame by the Raleigh Tavern, has many associations with the past. In 1778 the Ohio Company of Virginia, then pressing its great land claims in the west, met here. During the Revolution, when Mrs. Vobe supplied food and drink to American troops, the energetic Baron Steuben ran up a bill of nearly three hundred dollars for lodging, board, and drinks. After the Revolution the King's Arms was renamed Eagle Tavern.


The Brits Try The King Arm's Tavern Food

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Saturday, October 31, 2026

Public Records Office


        After the Capitol was gutted by fire in 1747, the legislators decided to provide for “the Preservation of the Public Records and Papers" by housing them in a separate building, an example followed in other colonies. The one story building, without basement, was constructed with a view to safety. The sloping chimney caps, designed to prevent downdrafts in the flues; the plastered window jambs and interior partitions of brick; and the masonry floor all reflect the builders' fear of fire. The hip roof is characteristic of public buildings in the eighteenth century. A fine, pedimented doorway in rubbed brick adds dignity to the façade. The rounded front steps, similar in design to others in Williamsburg, are of blue Shrewsbury stone. The building served as the office of the secretary of the colony until the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780. The Court of Admiralty and the City of Williamsburg used it for a time, and the building later became an adjunct of the Williamsburg Grammar School. By 1855 it had been transferred to private ownership. The frame wing at the rear of the building is modern. This building now is used for historic exhibitions.

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The Capitol Building

The Capitol Building also known at the House of Burgesses. 


                At the eastern end of Duke of Gloucester Street stands the reconstructed Capitol, one of the chief Exhibition Buildings of Colonial Williamsburg. For the better part of a century - from 1704 to 1780 - Virginia's General Assembly convened on this historic site. Here an embarrassed and stammering Washington was applauded by fellow burgesses for his part in the French and Indian War; here Patrick Henry defiantly protested the Stamp Act until accused of treason; here George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights became law. At this place the House of Burgesses, America's oldest legislative assembly, held its meetings, together with the smaller, more aristocratic Governor's Council. The General Court of the colony met in the paneled courtroom to sit in judgment on the unfortunates who violated the laws of that bygone century.
         In Williamsburg's Capitol laws were enacted affecting the whole colony. The Governor, when he rode in his coach from the Palace to open the Assembly, was the symbol of the power of the Crown which extended from the sea to the huge wilderness empire then claimed by Virginia.
         Legislators who met here included virtually every Virginian of note in the eighteenth century. The Capitol was the scene of stubborn opposition to what the colonists regarded as arbitrary policies of the King and Parliament; here, claiming the rights and privileges of British subjects, Virginians sought to defend their concept of self government - a concept which had taken root when the burgesses first met in Jamestown in 1619 and which had matured through the years. In the end the lawmakers reluctantly took up arms against the Mother Country; yet their prolonged effort to achieve their goal by peaceful means is a conspicuous testament to their respect for the processes of deliberation carried on within the walls of the Capitol.
       Each year, on May 15, a public ceremony commemorates the most stirring historical moment associated with the Capitol. It was on that day, in the troubled Spring of 1776, that Virginia's legislators gathered here to pledge their lives and fortunes on the daring hazard of full freedom from England. Although the colonies were weak and divided, and were defying one of the greatest military powers of the day, these men of Williamsburg had the spirit and vision to adopt a Resolution for American Independence without a dissenting voice. On June 7, Virginia's delegate Richard Henry Lee acted on these instructions and introduced a motion to this effect on the floor of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. This led directly to the Declaration of Independence, drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson, who had once stood at the half-open door of the House of Burgesses to hear Patrick Henry thunder his defiance of Parliament and King. The period from May 15 through July 4 is celebrated as the Prelude to Independence. On May 15, 1953, President Eisenhower, standing just in front of the original speaker's chair in the House of Burgesses, said, "I think no American could stand in these halls and on this spot without feeling a very great and deep sense of the debt we owe to the courage, the stamina, and the faith of our forefathers." 
       When the legislature was in session or the court convened, the public grounds bordering the Capitol teemed with Virginians of every rank and profession. Within stone's throw were at least a dozen inns, taverns, ordinaries, and coffee houses, serving everything from Virginia Brunswick stew and corn liquor to Barbados sweetmeats and French brandy. Nearby stood the city's second theatre, where Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice was first introduced in America. Stables were located convenient to the Square. And, for those who caroused too freely, the pillory and stocks of the Gaol were close at hand.
       Capitol Square was a natural center for celebrations. In 1746, word reached Williamsburg that the Duke of Cumberland had finally routed Bonnie Prince Charlie and his dispirited Highlanders. That night there was a gala ball at the Capitol, where three tables were piled high with more than 100 dishes "after the most delicate taste." Outside, after each of the twenty toasts, volleys were discharged from cannon pulled upon the green. The biggest celebration took place after the Independence Resolution of May 15, 1776. A military parade was held, with the Committee of Safety and other legislators joining townspeople, children, and stray dogs in review. A train of artillery passed by, and General Lee's light dragoons, some men even carrying tomahawks. That evening, toasts were drunk to independence, Congress, and General Washington, and there were fireworks and "other demonstrations of joy." 
      The Capitol was ordered built by an act of 1699, less than one year after the last of several statehouses in Jamestown had succumbed to fire. As a drastic precaution against this danger, Williamsburg's first Capitol was designed without chimneys and the use of fire, candles, or tobacco was strictly prohibited. In time such safeguards were sacrificed to necessity and convenience; a secretary complained, for example, that his records were "exposed by the Damps." In 1723 two chimneys were added. Candles were brought in, and doubtless permission was soon granted to smoke tobacco-Virginia's "bewitching vegetable." Whether from these sources, or from arson (as was supposed at the time), the building was gutted by fire on January 30, 1747, "and the naked Brick Walls only left standing." With the encouragement of Governor William Gooch, the "Royal Fabric" was within a year ordered rebuilt, and a second capitol building was completed in 1753, incorporating the surviving walls of its predecessor but different in appearance. After the removal of Virginia's government to Richmond in 1780, the second building fell into disrepair and in 1832 it too was destroyed by fire.
       Before reconstruction could be undertaken, Colonial Williamsburg faced a dilemma: should the first or second capitol building rise again on the old foundations? The second Capitol was of greater historic interest since it witnessed the events of the years before the Revolution, but the first Capitol could lay claim to greater architectural distinction. Long searching of the architectural evidence disclosed that voluminous files would permit the accurate reconstruction of the earlier building, whereas few records were available for the later. It is the first Capitol which is here reconstructed. 
        The foundations for the original building were laid in 1701. During its construction under the supervision of "master builder" Henry Cary, Virginia's lawmakers met in the Wren Building of the College but moved impatiently into the new Capitol in 1704, a year before its final completion was symbolized by the surrender of the builder's keys to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses. 
      The period of the Capitol is signified by the coat of arms of Queen Anne emblazoned on its tower, and by the Flag of the Great Union (the eighteenth-century form of the British Union Jack) which flies proudly overhead. The style of architecture, with round and arched windows, and a cupola, is of the Renaissance but simplification was imposed by conditions in a young colony, as evidenced by the absence of colonnades or an elaborate façade. The H-shaped plan is an early example of an architectural design successfully devised for a specific purpose. It also reflects the make-up of Virginia's colonial government. One wing is taken up by the Hall of the House of Burgesses (on the first floor) and committee rooms for the burgesses (on the second). The other wing, finished and furnished much more elaborately, houses the General Courtroom (on the first floor), and the Governor's Council Chamber (on the second). Each wing has its own staircase. On the second floor - appropriately linking the two wings - is the Conference Room, where burgesses and councilors met together for morning prayer, or held joint conferences to resolve disagreements. The composition of the building is set off by the tall hexagonal cupola and is skillfully defined on Capitol Square by a sturdy brick wall. 
       The site and the original foundations of the Capitol were faithfully preserved over the years by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and were generously deeded by that organization to Colonial Williamsburg for the reconstruction. The rebuilt Capitol was opened in 1934 by the House of Delegates and the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, meeting in joint session. At this time a bill was passed enabling the General Assembly to convene in the colonial Capitol at times which might seem proper, a practice which in peace-time has been followed on some occasion during each session. At the dedication in 1934 the Assembly was addressed by Governor George C. Peery, and by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., whose discourse closed with the words: "What a temptation to sit in silence and let the past speak to us of those great patriots whose voices once resounded in these halls, and whose farseeing wisdom, high courage and unselfish devotion to the common good will ever be an inspiration to noble living."  

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       At the Williamsburg Capitol, May 15th 1776, delegates voted unanimously to inform representatives in the city of Philadelphia to declare the United Colonies free and independent states.
       When Parliament in England passed the Port Act, the Capital in Virginia, Williamsburg passed the resolution of solidarity and support for Boston rebels on May 30th 1774. 

Rapping and Singing To Remember Revolution:
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Colonial American Furnishings

Ladies having "tea."
       The furnishings of the Exhibition Buildings are drawn from both England and America. Household goods in large quantity were shipped to Virginia from England in payment for tobacco, and the general character of American furnishings of the eighteenth century was determined by English fashion. In the styles of Queen Anne's reign, much in evidence in Williamsburg, the cyma, or S curve, was an important departure, adding to the comfort as well as the grace of furniture. In the chairs, the curve of the cabriole leg was balanced by a curving back much kinder to the human frame than the stiff carved backs of the Jacobean period. In Queen Anne furniture, walnut replaced oak as the most favored wood. 
       During the eighteenth century, styles were for the first time identified with great craftsmen rather than reigning monarchs, and the style prevailing in America after about the middle of the century was known as Chippendale. The genius of Thomas Chippendale found its expression in mahogany - a wood well adapted to the rich carving and fine detail which, rather than any one form, characterized his work. Some pieces made from his designs are to be seen in Williamsburg, with both the cabriole and straight leg. Chair backs range from an adaptation of the solid, curving, Queen Anne splat to the elaborately pierced and "interlaced" splat backs. 
       A few examples have been included in the Exhibition Buildings of the work of Hepplewhite and Sheraton, expressing the lighter elegance introduced by the designs of the Adam brothers; this influence was not, however, extensively felt in America until after the colonial period. 
        Imported pieces were expensive to acquire and slow to arrive, and many of Williamsburg's furnishings were the work of local craftsmen. Cabinetmakers who boasted "a finer kind of joiner's work" were advertising in the Virginia Gazette by the middle of the century, and new impetus was given to their work when the colonists boycotted British imports. Benjamin Bucktrout, who owned a fine house on Francis Street, was probably the city's best-known cabinetmaker. 

Taking-out the laundry.

       Authorities who furnished the Exhibition Buildings were greatly assisted by inventories. When Governor Fauquier died in Virginia, a record of his possessions was kept, and Governor Botetourt's executors prepared an itemized listing, room by room, including even minor accessories. Inventories of tavern furnishings have also been consulted, and appraisals of goods left by householders to their heirs or creditors. Accounts kept at local auctions have been found and many letters and orders specifying items to be sent from the Mother Country. Documentary and archaeological evidence together made possible fidelity not only in furniture but in fabrics, glass, china, and even in such intimate details as the silver-rimmed spectacles beside an open book or the playing cards laid out on a table ready for a game. Where definite evidence was lacking, precedents of the period have been relied upon, together with a knowledge of those who lived in the buildings. The Palace reflects the reigns of William and Mary, Queen Anne, and the Georges. The Capitol illustrates chiefly the style of the Queen Anne period, in which it was built, and earlier periods. The Wythe House and the Brush-Everard House, furnished by Virginians, con- tain many American-made pieces. The search for furnishings has been conducted throughout the world and still continues. The hand- some crystal chandelier in the Supper Room of the Palace, for example, was found in Canton, China. Reproductions are used rarely and are replaced as soon as originals can be located.

Norm Abram talks about the general characteristic 
features of Colonial Homes.

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The Restoration of Williamsburg

        Two men are responsible for re- creating eighteenth-century Williamsburg, the Reverend W. A. R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The former, late Rector of Bruton Parish, long cherished a dream of preserving the historic past of the old city. He communicated this vision to Mr. Rockefeller who made funds available and assumed leadership and direction of the restoration work. The project, which is generally known as Colonial Williamsburg, consists of two corporations-Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, a non-profit educational corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Williamsburg Restoration, Incorporated, which is concerned with business operations.
       Mr. Rockefeller provided funds in the amount of approximately $61,500,000 for the project. During many years the operating and maintenance costs were met in part by revenue from Williamsburg Inn and Lodge and their associated guesthouses and taverns; rentals; the Williamsburg Theatre; admissions to the Exhibition Buildings; and sales of authorized reproductions, gifts, and publications. Mr. Winthrop Rockefeller is chairman of the boards of both Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, and Williamsburg Restoration, Incorporated. The two corporations employed more than one thousand persons. 
       The work began in 1927. The Raleigh Tavern was opened to the public in 1932, followed by the Capitol (1934), Governor's Palace (1934), Ludwell-Paradise House (1935), Public Gaol (1936), George Wythe House (1940), and Brush-Everard House (1951). The Magazine, exhibited for some years by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, was leased and reopened as an Exhibition Building of Colonial Williamsburg in 1949. Restoration work was completed at the Wren Building in 1931 and at Bruton Parish Church in 1940. Of all these buildings, only three (the Capitol, Palace, and Raleigh Tavern) had to be entirely rebuilt. 
       Restoration was applied to buildings which were still standing in whole form or in major part and needed only to be repaired and stripped of later additions. Reconstruction was also applied to structures which had fallen victim to fire or dismantling and had to be entirely rebuilt on their original sites. In all, more than eighty two buildings have been restored, including a high percentage of those mentioned in house histories; approximately three hundred and seventy five were reconstructed prior to 1951, of which a large number were outbuildings. In both types of work, architects have been guided by archaeological remnants, maps, drawings, and daguerreo-types; data from insurance records, diaries, and wills; and any other source of evidence which research workers could discover to shed light on the city's past. Where no definite evidence is available, reliance has been placed on architectural precedents and an examination of surviving colonial buildings in the Tidewater area. 
Colonial games for children of that era.
       To complete the "restored area" a number of additional buildings are planned both for exhibition and private use, among them dwelling houses, taverns, and a windmill. Some day the First Theatre in English America will stand again on Palace Green as evidence of the rich heritage of the eighteenth- century stage. 
       During restoration work, modern conveniences and services were hidden rather than discarded. Telephone and electric wires were buried and fire hydrants made inconspicuous. Houses to be used for residential purposes have modern plumbing, insulation, and other features which would have startled the colonial owners. Occupants of some of these houses are Williamsburg residents who allowed their homes to be restored and modernized-or demolished-in return for a lifetime lease of a colonial dwelling. Some obvious concessions have been made also for the convenience of the twentieth-century visitor: cobblestones and pavement replace mud and dust in the city's streets, and a few signs have been necessary. 
       The business district on Duke of Gloucester Street, although designed in a manner to harmonize with colonial architecture, was developed to meet the modern requirements of the community. It should also be noted that the restored area, although conspicuous, constitutes only a portion of the City of Williamsburg. 
       Today there are about 15,900 persons living within the city limits, and many residents of near-by counties use Williamsburg as a business or marketing center. There are no large industries. Two distinguished institutions founded in colonial days continue to take their place in the community - the College of William and Mary (1693), and Eastern State Hospital (1770). Williamsburg was chartered as a city on July 28, 1722. Its present government is administered by a mayor, council, and city manager.
       Two other major American landmarks - Jamestown and Yorktown (historic here) - lie close by Williamsburg. At Jamestown, seven miles southwest of town, one may see the unrestored site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Twelve miles northeast of Williamsburg is Yorktown, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington in 1781 after the last decisive battle of the American Revolution. Within easy driving distance are several historic James River plantations which are open to visitors all year round. Route directions and other information may be obtained at the Colonial Williamsburg Travel Office in the Craft House.

Video showing "Williamsburg Restored" from 1951.

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Friday, October 30, 2026

Town Plan of Williamsburg and It's Architecture

       Williamsburg was the wartime capital of the young common-wealth from 1776 to 1780. Later, during the last decisive campaign of the war, it served as headquarters first for Cornwallis and, after he had established his army at Yorktown, for Washington and Rochambeau. Though never a battlefield, the city did not escape the impact of war. Many of its men were killed, and the wounded were carried on wagons over the twelve miles of muddy road from the battlefields at Yorktown to fill an improvised hospital at the Palace.
Colonial spinning wool. See process.
       After 1780, when the capital was moved to Richmond, Williamsburg stepped backstage in history, to resume its role only when restoration work was begun in 1927. In the years between, however, the city occasionally saw exciting days as when, in 1824, Lafayette returned to be feted by the community. During the Civil War Williamsburg's strategic position on the Peninsula placed it between contending armies and it became briefly the head-quarters of Confederate General Joseph Johnston and then of Union General George McClellan. Its Magazine, which had played a prominent part in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution, was once again called into use for storing powder. But through most of these years Williamsburg was a small college town and county seat. Its former importance was buried in history and memory, as well as in the weathered colonial buildings which survived to stir the imaginations of those men who envisioned the colonial city restored to its original beauty and dignity.
Gentleman in Colonial towns often wore wigs.
      Francis Nicholson, the governor (1698-1705) who promoted the new capital at Williamsburg, was justifiably proud of the town plan he devised. A wide, 99-foot central avenue, named for the heir presumptive, the Duke of Gloucester, was terminated at one end by the Capitol and at the other by the College of William and Mary. 
       The Governor allowed himself to be twice remembered in Francis and Nicholson streets which run parallel to Duke of Gloucester Street. Market Square, a spacious public green, stands at the mid-point of the plan. At a right angle to the main axis-Duke of Gloucester Street is a catalpa-bordered approach to the Palace. 
       The plan of Williamsburg proved highly successful. Governor Nicholson envisioned a "green country town," with every house allotted a half acre of land. An ordinance, to insure uniformity, required the building of each dwelling "within six Foot of the Street." These were advanced principles of town planning. Growing rapidly, the orderly new capital of Virginia, with its handsome public buildings, gracious homes, and tidy gardens, soon stood in marked contrast to Jamestown with its cramped and medieval row housing.
       Colonial fashions in architecture, as in dress, were imported from England and the Continent, but, in the words of a contemporary, were "adapted to the Nature of the Country by the Gentlemen there." The architectural vogue of the Mother Country was naturally more evident in public buildings and in costly private mansions than in more common dwellings, and yet even the most elaborate structures of eighteenth-century Virginia were substantially modified because of local uses and needs, the climate, the building materials available in the region, and the scarcity of skilled labor. 
       Many public buildings and a few private dwellings and shops were made of brick, baked at local kilns and laid in the prevailing patterns of Flemish or English bond. Most early Williamsburg houses, however, were fashioned of wood, which was far less costly and (most people thought) less susceptible to dampness. These frame houses were most often painted white on the outside, although other colors were also favored. In spite of the fire hazards of an era of candles and the open hearth, many wooden buildings have survived, remaining sufficiently well preserved to permit their restoration and dairy, with the privy, more obliquely known as the "necessary house," further removed. There were usually, in addition, a stable and coach house, and sometimes a lumber house or storehouse. 
       Frame dwellings in Williamsburg have, characteristically, a steep-pitched A roof, a gambrel roof, or a hipped roof. Gambrel-roofed houses often have a ground plan which is nearly square, whereas A roofed houses usually have a rectangular ground plan, most commonly 20 by 40 feet. These houses are one or two rooms deep, with either a central or side hall. A broad-based brick chimney is almost always found at one end, and frequently at both. Outside shutters for frame houses and inside shutters for brick houses became increasingly common, offering privacy as well as protection form the midsummer sun. Interiors were often painted in strong colors and were enriched by mantels, molded cornices, chair rails, and sometimes by paneling. Walls were rarely papered until the second half of the eighteenth century.
Colonial kitchens usually in separate buildings.
       As protection against the odors and heat of cooking during summer weather, the kitchen was usually situated in a separate building at some distance from the house. Other outbuildings, customarily placed between the house and garden, included the smokehouse, well, and dairy, with the privy, more obliquely known as the "necessary house," further removed. There were usually, in addition, a stable and coach house, and sometimes a lumber house or storehouse.
       Most of the city's public buildings, with the exception of the Wren Building at the College, were built soon after the turn of the century when Virginia's seat of government had been moved to Williamsburg. became increasingly common, offer-period; it was built in 1695-1698 and has stood ever since at the center of the college yard and college life. Bruton Parish Church and the Courthouse had also at the time of thier restoration maintained their function continuously since colonial times, as has the President's House and the Brafferton Building on the College grounds. Though variously employed, the buildings of the Public Gaol, Magazine, and Public Records Office, too, withstood the challenge of time. Of the public buildings, only the Capitol and the Palace had to be completely reconstructed.
       These buildings resist definite classification in a single style. English and Dutch influences are conspicuous. Interest in the English Renaissance can be seen in the detail of graceful wood towers, modillion cornices, and arched windows, and in the symmetrical arrangement of interiors. This was, however, an architecture modified and modeled by local abilities, interests, and tastes. It was produced by talented master builders and local craftsmen, joiners, and bricklayers, who relied on experience and the simple architectural handbooks of the day rather than on formal drawings. Most buildings acquired a native expression, free from the ostentation which might have resulted from strict adherence to formal architectural orders.

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Thursday, October 29, 2026

Gardens of Williamsburg

       The gardens of Williamsburg, large or small, are generally formal, reflecting the symmetrical character of eighteenth-century architecture. Such mannered gardens must also have provided a pleasant contrast to the wilderness which surrounded the early colonists. A kitchen garden and pleasure garden, with a few carefully selected fruit trees, were arranged in a balanced fashion and linked by marl or brick paths to the associated house, outbuildings, and service areas. Thus the typical Williamsburg layout was a miniature plantation compressed to fit within the bounds of a city lot. 
Gardens for cooks were connected to the
kitchen by brick paths.
       Most gardens are based on English precedents, and offer strong evidence of the Dutch influence introduced into England by William and Mary. The designs, whether square, circular, oval, or rectangular, are usually outlined with fences, walls, or hedges of evergreen material such as box and holly; this extensive use of evergreen gives a distinctive character to Williamsburg gardens. Through most of the year color is added by flowers or by flowering trees and shrubs. Decorative walls, gates, and vases are used in the more elaborate gardens, and many include topiary work (trees or shrubs clipped to formal or quaint shapes). 
       In restoring Williamsburg gardens, landscape architects relied on excavations, manuscripts, old maps of the town and other southern colonial towns, and on studies of surviving colonial gardens in this general area. Only plants known to the colonists in the eighteenth century have been used.

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Colonial Craft Shops

       Restored Williamsburg reflects the social history of colonial and Revolutionary America. It attempts to tell the story of men of "the middling sort" who conducted respectable if unpublicized businesses, and who provided support for the new nation in the making; support, that is, not only in the form of the boots or bayonets they manufactured for the army, but also in the form of votes and military service and loyalty and belief in self-government. 
       One of the most effective ways to peer into this everyday world is to visit the craft shops of Colonial Williamsburg. Here, in the costume of his or her predecessor, the craftsman works with the sturdy tools of colonial days, fashioning articles of beauty, character, and utility. Some trades represented are those of the cabinet-maker, blacksmith, cobbler, silversmith, printer, book-binder, and baker. The modest businessman of the eighteenth century may be found at work again in the apothecary shop and at the wigmaker's. On the distaff side may be seen the milliner and the weaver. 

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Williamsburg and Revolution

       Restored Williamsburg has dual heritage. It recalls not only those years when Williamsburg served as the seat of government for Britain's largest colony in America, but also the turbulent period when it was the political headquarters for Virginia patriots who were to have an important part in overthrowing the rule of the Crown. It is an irony of history that the capital of Britain's "Old Dominion" is best known to posterity as a center of protest against British authority. 

Virginia's Elite become Catalysts for Independence:
Freedom of Press Begins.
       In the crucial decades before the Revolution, Williamsburg was a training and proving ground for leaders. Here George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee met and debated with other gifted contemporaries; their discussions and their written words did much to shape the course of America. When Williamsburg's own liberty bell in the trim belfry of Bruton Parish Church rang out the news of the Declaration of Independence, a significant period of transition came to an end; a transformation was complete. The city was changed from the proud capital of a crown colony to the even prouder capital of a new commonwealth in a new nation. 
       But, of wider importance than the concerns of one state or one country, eighteenth-century Williamsburg embodied concepts of lasting importance to all men everywhere. The concept of the integrity of the individual. During the eighteenth century, man's respect for his fellow man grew. Politicians and philosophers alike shared a new awareness of the inherent dignity of every person. In colonial Virginia, this concept was best represented and expressed by Thomas Jefferson, although within the terms and conspicuous limitations of his time. As documents and debates of the period indicate, this appreciation of the importance of the individual was continuous and fundamental in the struggle for freedom and self-government. It remains today the essential motive of any free society. The concept of responsible leadership. Virginia's planter aristocracy, trained to leadership from youth, accepted public obligations without question. The ruling class, composed of the larger plantation owners, merchants, and professional men, felt a deep responsibility for the welfare of the colony. They willingly served as legislators in Williamsburg, as justices of the peace, and as vestrymen in their own parishes. Washington, for example, was conscientious both in attending sessions of the House of Burgesses and meetings of the vestry of Truro Parish. Such services were rendered whether or not they proved costly to private business ventures or inconvenient to personal plans. These characteristic qualities of experience and leadership in public affairs were of immeasurable importance in developing the generation of Virginia patriots who took an important part in the Revolution and in the formation of the new republic. 
       Belief in self-government. From 1619, when the first representative assembly in America met at Jamestown, Virginians increasingly came to believe themselves capable of handling their own public affairs. They recognized the traditional over-all authority and prerogative of the Crown, but resented any interference in their internal government on the part of a distant Parliament. Thus Patrick Henry dared to speak heatedly against the Stamp Act at the Williamsburg Capitol in 1765. Ultimately, when legal and constitutional means had failed to secure enough political autonomy for Virginians, the colonial leaders saw revolution and independence as the only means to achieve their ends. This devotion to the principles of self-government was the chief cause of the Revolution in Virginia. 
       The concept of individual liberties. Virginians believed that they, as British subjects, possessed important individual liberties and rights rooted in Magna Carta. The protection of these rights by colonial legislation culminated in the Virginia Declaration of Rights. This great document, drafted by George Mason and adopted unanimously in 1776 by the legislators assembled at the Capitol, asserted that "all men are by nature equally free and independent," and set forth in sixteen articles such fundamental rights as freedom of religion and the press; trial by jury; free elections; and the subordination of military to civil authority. Virginia's Declaration of Rights influenced the Declaration of Independence and later became the basis for the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. It is the greatest single document to be associated with Williamsburg, and has been influential in all free nations of the world. 
Freedom of opportunity begins...
And, somebody asks - do we need a King?
       The concept of opportunity. The colonization of Virginia is a chapter in the story of mankind's old dream of establishing a more abundant life in a new land. Those who undertook the hazardous and costly voyage did so chiefly because they wanted a better chance for themselves and their children. Virginia offered a new measure of individual and political freedom, a class structure less rigid than that of England, the opportunities of a growing colony, and the lure of new lands and a frontier pushing westward. 
       These five concepts were fused and given deeper significance by an underlying appreciation of the moral and spiritual values of life. The great Virginians of eighteenth-century Williamsburg faced personal or public problems with an abiding faith in God and their fellow men. This faith was basic to their life and work. 
How to shape a young republic?
       Today, Williamsburg stands as a symbol of one of the most impressive eras of the American past: an era of ideas as well as actions which together helped to shape a young republic. There is much in Williamsburg to recall the color and drama of the colonial city, and the eventful everyday life of Virginia's capital. There is also the opportunity to see Williamsburg as an affirmation of the spiritual vigor which must underlie any strong democratic society. 
       Prelude to Independence Each year, from May 15 through July 4, the Prelude to Independence period is celebrated, in tribute to those crucial days in 1776 when Virginia's legislators made their greatest contributions to America's heritage. The Virginia Resolution for American Independence, adopted unanimously at the Capitol on May 15, set in motion the momentous events which culminated on July 4 in the Declaration of Independence itself, drafted largely by Virginia's red-headed young statesman, Thomas Jefferson. And, on June 12, 1776, George Mason's Declaration of Rights was adopted, also without a dissenting vote, later to become the basis for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution-the Federal Bill of Rights.

film by Colonial Williamsburg

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Williamsburg Becomes The Capital

       The site of Williamsburg was first occupied in 1633 by Middle Plantation, a stockaded settlement erected against Indian attack by hard-pressed colonists from near by Jamestown. Although the College of William and Mary was founded here in 1693, Middle Plantation was only a small village throughout the seventeenth century. In 1699 it consisted of the main college building, several houses, an ordinary, two mills, a smith's shop, and a few stores, clustered around a brick church and graveyard. 
Colonists looking forward to time spent in
Williamsburg...
       In 1698 the Statehouse at Jamestown was leveled by fire, and the following year the legislators decided to move their capital to Middle Plantation, which they renamed Williamsburg in honor of the reigning English king, William III. Jamestown at that time was a crowded, cluttered town surrounded by brackish swamps which bred disease. It is easy to see why Williamsburg, serenely located on a broad ridge between the York and James rivers, was preferred. 
       From 1699 until the dark war year of 1780, when the capital was moved to Richmond, Williamsburg was the political, social, and cultural center of the entire colony. Here the royal governor lived, the Assembly convened, and the courts sat. Twice each year, when the general court was in session, crowds came to Williamsburg for "Publick Times." The population of the town (normally only about 2000) doubled almost overnight. Taverns were jammed. Shops were stocked with the latest goods imported from London. There were horse races, fairs, and formal balls. Auctions were held at various taverns and at Market Square. For several weeks the city hummed with activity. 
       In Williamsburg's new H-shaped brick Capitol - the first statehouse to be called a "capitol" since Roman times-laws were passed affecting a vast territory which stretched westward to the Mississippi. Virginia was the largest and most populous of all the British colonies. Although distant settlements could never be fully controlled, every person in the enormous British domain of Virginia was subject to the government at Williamsburg - large planters and small freeholders in the Tidewater and Piedmont; merchants and dock hands at the busy wharves in Norfolk; settlers searching for pitch, tar, and turpentine in the Dismal Swamp on the North Carolina border; German immigrant ironworkers in Spotsylvania; tenants on Lord Fairfax' baronial estate of five million acres of the Northern Neck; frontiersmen and the agents of land speculators deep in Indian territory on the banks of the Ohio. 
       Williamsburg was chiefly a planters' capital, however. The ruling class of Virginia was largely dependent upon the growth and sale of tobacco, that broad-leafed "Imperial weed" which John Rolfe had learned to cure in 1612. Some of the planters lived in the Piedmont, rolling country beyond the fall line of the rivers, but most of the leaders of this aristocracy came from the Tidewater. Presiding over a plantation which was a miniature village, the large planter lived most of the time in his mansion house, usually close by one of the many convenient waterways. But he spent many weeks of the year in Williamsburg, where he sometimes built or rented a town house for convenience when called to the city by politics or business. Otherwise he stayed in one of the numerous taverns, many of which were located along Duke of Gloucester Street near the Capitol. 
A German immigrant blacksmith works on anvil.
       The brief "house histories" which constitute the main text of this guidebook may offer some insight into the life of this bygone century. It was a crude life by modern standards. The death rate of children was appalling. The "average" man - perhaps the small freeholder-had little formal education. Wives had few legal rights. Boys were apprenticed to a trade when only fourteen. The brutal slave trade flourished. Besides the slaves, there were many white "indentured servants" (those who sold their services for a period of years in exchange for passage from England), living in a state of virtual bondage. Some of these were criminals whose sentences had been commuted to deportation. 
       Yet life in colonial Virginia had many rewards. The advancing frontier offered opportunities. Even those who were indentured could look forward to freedom and a future brighter than could usually be attained in England. It was also a hospitable period. There were country jigs as well as minuets; there was plenty to eat and drink; and the hand of authority did not bear too heavily on most Virginians. It was an age of change, activity, and promise.

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The Doll's Virtual Vacation To Colonial Williamsburg

A free carriage ride print for your dollhouse.

       Each visitor to Williamsburg today steps back across the bridge of years to the little city which for nearly a century was capital of the Virginia Colony and focus of a proud plantation society. Eighteenth-century buildings, furnishings, and gardens again take their original form in this significant community. Trim carriages once more roll along Duke of Gloucester Street, a broad public way described by the late President Roosevelt as "the most historic avenue in all America." Since 1927, when the first colonial house was acquired, the American past has been brought to life in an area nearly a mile in length. This work has been carried out by Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, a non-profit organization dedicated to the purpose "That the Future May Learn from the Past." The visitor to Williamsburg will see the neat, weather-boarded houses of colonial days, with their broad brick Virginia chimneys, set in formal gardens, together with handsome English and American furnishings in the many buildings open to the public. Restoration work has been carried out to the smallest detail, whether in a modillion cornice, in the selection of authentic plants for each herb garden, or in accessories such as the "chagrine case of Raisors" in the governor's bedroom at the Palace. Every effort has been made not only to exhibit all this evidence of the past, but also to re-create a living community. The blacksmith works with ancient tools in shaping his metal, and the hostesses in the Exhibition Buildings wear appropriate farthingales. These buildings and their landscaped gardens offer a laboratory in which the life and times of Washington, Jefferson, George Mason, Patrick Henry, George Wythe, Peyton Randolph, and other leaders may better be understood. Thus along with the texture and the fabric of physical restoration should go understanding of the way of life of colonial Virginia and appreciation of the heritage created amid these impressive surroundings.
This map may be studied for the descriptions and locations of primary architecture of Williamsburg
 prior to 1955. There are new buildings that have been added in current history that are not present
 on this version of the map, but it is still good for dolls and kids to print
for their own play experiences.

Dolls small enough to fit in a child's pocket, backpack or purse.
American Girl mini dolls travel easy, cost less, and are fun to
make all kinds of accessories/furnishings for! I purchased
our mini dolls from a second-hand market. Throughout our
virtual vacation, I will be making historical crafts for
these mini Felicity and Elizabeth dolls.
       For the visitor's convenience in identifying buildings wherever she may find herself in Williamsburg, the house histories in this Guidebook have been grouped by streets. (Reimagining Historic House Museums - for parents, teachers, and adults developing curriculum.)
       Because of their architectural, historical, or practical interest a few additional locations which do not fall within the above map, have been included in the listing below as well. 
Take Virtual Walking Tours of Colonial Williamsburg:.

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