THE RESTORATION.
During the first tenure of Rev. W. A. R. Goodwin as Rector of Bruton Parish, in 1905, the restoration of the church building to its early condition was begun. While no great alteration had ever been made to its exterior, the interior arrangements had been modified to such an extent as to make it scarcely recognizable. The entire arrangement, both within and without, was now returned, as nearly as available information permitted, to its condition after an enlargement that had been made in 1751.
During his second incumbency in Williamsburg, Dr. Goodwin became increasingly impressed with the possibility of preserving this old capital city as it was in its first period of importance. Only a few other cities in America had the importance of Williamsburg in the founding of our nation; and the others—Boston and Philadelphia—had long since been swallowed up in great commercial cities. Williamsburg, on the other hand, had remained for two hundred years very much the same both in spirit and in physical appearance. Through the years it had continued as the county-seat of an agricultural county and the trading center of another similar one; no industries, no skyscrapers, no conflagrations had changed it. To be sure, a few modern buildings would have to be removed and a considerable number of ancient ones rebuilt. But, at that, it remained the only center of colonial political importance where a thorough restoration was thinkable.
HOME OF ROBERT CARTER NICHOLAS
In connection with meetings of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Dr. Goodwin convinced Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of the soundness of his views in this regard and studied the situation with him in its broad features. The following year (1927) Mr. Rockefeller definitely determined to undertake, with the coöperation of the City, the restoration of the ancient part of Williamsburg to its condition as of mid-18th century—an undertaking which is probably the greatest educational accomplishment of the present century.
The restoration is not yet completed and it is unlikely that further construction will be possible during the war. It may be roughly estimated as within eighty or ninety percent of completion. The First Theater in America is the outstanding public building not yet reconstructed; the number of residences still awaiting attention is indefinite but not large.
BASSETT HALL
Not far from half the buildings now standing in the old part of the city are the identical buildings which have lasted through from pre-Revolutionary days. These buildings have been thoroughly repaired, any modern additions removed and their grounds planted with such trees and flowers as probably were there in the 18th century. These buildings are technically described as “restored” in distinction from those which had been destroyed and are “reconstructed.” A comparison of each restored building with its condition just before restoration would be interesting. The principal case available is that of the Cole Shop in which hangs an oil painting loaned by Mrs. Rockefeller and showing the interior of the shop in 1938 in contrast with its present condition which is supposed to be as it was in 1780.
The most apparent change resulting from the restoration is that of Duke of Gloucester Street itself. Prior to its restoration in 1935 there were two concrete roadways separated by a strip of grass in which were unpainted wooden poles carrying electric wires. The restoration of the street illustrates very well the type of compromises which have been necessary in order to keep Williamsburg an up-to-date community as it distinctly was in its first century. Thus, while the wires have been buried, the street has not been returned to its former condition of six inches of mud or dust according to the weather; but it has been finished with a hard surface nearly resembling gravel. The town has not reverted to flambeaux for the wealthy and darkness for the poor; but the electric street lights are as old-fashioned as possible. Most nearly impossible of all problems was that of fire prevention; it was solved by installing the least conspicuous hydrants in the grass and painting them green.
GEORGE WYTHE HOUSE
The first buildings to be restored were those of The College. The original building had suffered from three fires. These gave excuse for adding the beautiful wings, housing the Chapel and the Great Hall, but also gave opportunity for departure from the plans of Sir Christopher Wren; so that the architects estimate that the building as we know it (and as it was just before the Revolution) is about 50 percent Wren and 50 percent local adjustment. The cost of the third fire, which occurred while the building was in the hands of Northern troops, was reimbursed from the Federal Treasury on motion of Senator Hoar of Massachusetts.
ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE
The Botetourt Statue in the front campus has had a notable history. Lord Botetourt was the Royal Governor who had repeatedly to prorogue the Assembly for action inimical to the Crown. Nevertheless, the people of Virginia respected him deeply for his personal qualities and for his sincerely democratic sentiments, realizing that his public actions were such as he was obliged to take regardless of his sympathies. So, after his death in 1770, the Assembly had this statue made in London by Sculptor Richard Hayward. The statue was erected in the open corridor of the Capitol; but during the Revolutionary War feeling against all that was English ran so high that some of the 100 percent disloyalists threw it to the ground, with casualties that still are to be seen. When the excitement somewhat calmed, and after the Capitol had been abandoned as the seat of government, the Botetourt statue was set up in the College campus, somewhat nearer the building than at present. During the War Between the States the statue found refuge with the Eastern State Hospital, thereafter being brought back to its present location. Lord Botetourt’s body is entombed in the College Chapel.
A true MAPP of the Town of
WILLIAMSBURG
incorporated, 1722
at one time the CAPITAL of the Colony of
VIRGINIA.
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A. Wren Building, A.D. 1695 (pp. [4], [16], [20]) B. The Brafferton, 1723 ([p. 20]) C. The President’s House, 1732 ([p. 20]) D. The Cole Shop, c. 1756 (pp. [15], [24], [25]) E. Old County Prison, 1715. F. Travis House, 1765 ([p. 12]) G. Market Square Tavern, 1749. H. Bland-Wetherburn Tavern, c. 1700 ([p. 8]) I. Office of Secretary of the Colony, c. 1748 ([p. 25]) J. Raleigh Tavern, c. 1740 (pp. [7], [8]) K. Dr. Blair’s Apothecary Shop, 1717. L. Site of Virginia Gazette, 1736. M. Ludwell-Paradise House, 1716 (pp. [6], [27]) N. George Wythe’s Residence, 1755 (pp. [16], [27]) O. Deane House and Forge. P. Carter-Saunders House ([p. 28]) Q. Site of First Theater in America, 1716 ([p. 28]) R. St. George Tucker House, 1788 (pp. [17], [28]) S. Peyton Randolph House, c. 1715 (pp. [20], [28]) T. Coke-Garrett House, 1720 (pp. [21], [30]) U. Site of Second Theater, 1751. V. Bassett Hall, 1753 (pp. [15], [30]) W. Masonic Lodge. X. William Byrd’s Town House, 1769. Y. Modern Court House. Z. Tazewell Hall ([p. 30])
THE RANDOLPH HOUSE
The President’s House on the right as one faces the Wren Building and The Brafferton on the left, both date from early 18th century. The latter was originally a school for Indian boys and was supported by funds from the estate of the eminent chemist, Robert Boyle. In the 19th century, when it was no longer used by Indians, it became a home for faculty members, notably Patrick Kerr Rogers and his son William Barton Rogers who later founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Brafferton is one of the ancient buildings which has no record of a damaging fire. The President’s House was burned while it was being used by the French army and was restored by King Louis XVI.
The Palace, after the Capital was removed to Richmond, was transferred to the Army for use as a hospital, during which occupancy it was accidentally destroyed by fire. The southerly frontage of this property was later used for the city’s public school. In order to return the entire site to its original condition, as called for by the restoration program, a modern school building has been erected just west of the Palace grounds; also the railroad tracks, which ran through the Governor’s Garden area, have been relocated to the north; and the entire garden as well as the Palace itself has been reconstructed. The extremely interesting research which underlies the entire restoration is well illustrated in the case of the Palace. Information regarding the design and construction of the building was obtained in such diverse places as the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California, and the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Fortunately, the original foundations were still in good condition.
THE COKE-GARRETT HOUSE
The restoration of The Capitol was facilitated by the fact that the colonial legislature, in ordering its erection, determined the design down to details not only of building but of furnishing. The building itself, after various vicissitudes, was destroyed by fire in 1832. The foundations were covered over and preserved by a patriotic group of women who devoted themselves to saving important historical monuments, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. When the restoration of Williamsburg was undertaken, they presented this site to the Restoration organization.
THE COURT HOUSE OF 1770
Another ancient building which had been preserved (and is still owned) by the A. P. V. A. is The Powder Horn, more formally known as The Public Magazine. After the Revolutionary War this building was used for a variety of purposes, including religious worship, at which time stained glass windows were installed. When the Baptist Church became strong enough to build their own edifice just to the east of the Magazine, they tore down the surrounding wall and used the bricks for the foundation of the new church. This congregation has now removed to a newer part of the town and the Powder Horn has been restored to its original condition. In this building is a collection of Revolutionary arms.
Across the road from the Powder Horn is The Court House of 1770. This is now commonly called “the Old Court House” since the location of the still older seat of city and county government (in the rear of the Powder Horn) has been used for the present modern Court House. The Restoration of the Old Court House illustrates one of the guiding policies of the restoration which is to perpetuate the old part of Williamsburg as it was in the 18th century, by no means with the object of beautifying it. In 1910 the Old Court House was consumed by fire except as to the exterior walls. In rebuilding, the structure was distinctly improved in appearance by addition of columns to support the piazza roof; in its restoration the columns were omitted, thus securing authenticity at the expense of beauty. The intention has been to keep to this policy of authenticity throughout the restoration; it will be noticed, for example, that the planting in restored gardens is of 18th century plants, though in many cases modern culture has improved the species. Within the Old Court House may be seen a selection from the many tons of artifacts which have been recovered in the course of excavations about the ancient buildings.
THE PUBLIC GAOL
As early as 1701, while meeting in the Wren Building, the Virginia Assembly enacted legislation specifying details not only for the Capitol but also for a Gaol (pronounced gail, not goal) to be erected on the north side of the square which was reserved for these buildings and the office of the Secretary of the Colony. Parts of the Gaol were torn down after the removal of the state court to Richmond, for Williamsburg has always been quite law-abiding. The portions thus destroyed have now been re-added to the surviving building, as also the stocks and pillory outside the wall. So the whole may now be seen as it stood when Blackbeard’s men were imprisoned and hanged here.
The final restoration of Bruton Parish Church was made during the last days of Dr. Goodwin and he was able to visit it during all but the last stages. At the first service held in the completed edifice his body was buried beneath the floor of the church by the side of great men of colonial times. It has been suggested that an appropriate epitaph, referring not alone to the church but to the community, would be: If you would see his monument, look about you.
THE COLE SHOP
The Cole Shop [(D)] is believed to be the oldest store in America, having opened for business shortly after 1750. It was built by Charles Taliaferro, a coach and chair maker. Originally consisting of only one room, prior to 1782 another small building was moved up and joined to it on the west as a sort of lean-to, the roof-line which had theretofore been a symmetrical dormer being extended to cover the addition. At a later, but still early, date two rooms were added in the rear and the street elevation was finished off with a false front. In 1804 the shop was sold to Dr. Jesse Cole in whose family it remained until the death of his grandson in 1936.
There is no record of the type of goods carried under the Taliaferro management; but in 1827 a professor newly arrived in Williamsburg wrote thus of the Cole Shop: “I reached the Post Office which stands in the Center of Main St. It is one of the Curiosities of this Place.... There is not an Article whatever in the World which could not be found in it. It is a Book Seller’s Store in which you will find Hams and French Brandy; it is an Apothecary’s Shop in which you can provide yourself with silk Stockings and shell Oysters; it is a Post Office in which you may have Glisters and chewing Tobacco & in a Word it is a Museum of natural History in which we meet every Afternoon to dispute about the Presidential Election and about the Quality of Irish Potatoes.”
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COLONY
The discussion group referred to by Prof. De La Pena was the famous Pulaski Club which moves its sessions from indoors to the benches outside in favorable weather. George Washington, in his diary, refers repeatedly to attending the club at Mrs. Campbell’s Tavern (near the Capitol) but in modern times the meeting place has been at the Cole Shop. This is claimed to be the oldest men’s social club in the country; and whatever may be the members’ effect on the quality of Irish potatoes, they have effectively “saved the country” for a long time.
Le Maison des Foux (Eastern State Hospital for the Insane, to you), of which Dr. Jesse Cole was the Superintendent was founded by the Colony in 1769. It is on the site of the Custis estate where Martha Dandridge lived with her first husband. The only Custis building still standing is the small brick house which can be seen over the fence from Francis Street. This is generally known as “Martha Washington’s Kitchen.”
A PAPER MULBERRY TREE
THE WILLIAMSBURG INN
The Virginia Gazette office [(L)] has not yet been reconstructed. The Gazette, which is now published on Prince George Street, is the oldest newspaper in the South, having been established in 1736. It probably also operated the Post Office in the early days of that institution.
The Ludwell-Paradise House [(M)] now houses Mrs. John D. Rockefeller’s collection of American Folk Art, ranging from cigar store Indians to oil paintings. This house was owned and occupied in the early years of the 19th century by Mrs. Lucy Ludwell Paradise, daughter and granddaughter of two Ludwells who owned this and many other Virginia estates, including Green Spring. She and her husband held the unique distinction of maintaining their home in London as the social center of American sympathizers during the Revolutionary War.
George Wythe’s House [(N)] was erected in 1755 and has suffered remarkably little change in the intervening years. The outbuildings were destroyed and have been reconstructed and the restored house has been furnished throughout with genuine 18th century furniture. Aside from the Palace, this is the only restored residence which is open to public inspection, all others being occupied as private homes, many of them by descendants of the original owners. George Wythe was a very substantial citizen of the late colonial and early republican period. He was a Signer of the Declaration of Independence and, as first law professor in America, instructed such leaders of democracy as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Marshall and St. George Tucker.
The Carter-Saunders House, The Home of Robert Carter Nicholas [(P)], Treasurer of the Colony, being a fine house next to the Governor’s Palace, was close to the social center of the capital city and was always occupied by socially prominent citizens including more than one of the mighty Carters and by the Governor himself when his own residence was undergoing repairs. There is a fine garden which can be seen from the walk that connects Palace Green with West Scotland Street.
The First Theater in America [(Q)] has not yet been reconstructed but its location is marked on the ground. Some of the great English actors of that day came to play in this house and the social setting was gala indeed. As cited in a little book, The Sports of Colonial Williamsburg, Shakespeare, Addison, Steele, Ciber and Garrick were favorite authors in Colonial Williamsburg. This theater is the scene of Mary Johnston’s book, Audrey. The heroine was portrayed as an actress in this theater and as living in the delightful old house between the Theater and the Palace, which is therefore often called “the Audrey House” or The Brush-Audrey House, it having been built in 1718 by John Brush, armorer and gunsmith to the Governor and keeper of the Powder Magazine. In the rear of the Audrey House and the theater site is the oldest growth of box in Williamsburg; this should be approached from Scotland Street as the southerly portion of this box garden is so overgrown that it has been necessary to close it.
The St. George Tucker House [(R)], one of the most beautiful in Williamsburg, was ancient in its beginning and was enlarged to its present dimensions just after the Revolutionary War by St. George Tucker who came from Bermuda to study law under George Wythe and later succeeded him as law teacher and author. The house is now occupied by one of his descendants.
The Randolph House [(S)] was owned in 1742 by Sir John Randolph, the only native of Virginia to be knighted. This house was the residence of Gen. Rochambeau prior to the Battle of Yorktown and probably during the two years of waiting for the Treaty of Paris. Here, also, Lafayette was entertained on his return visit to America in 1824.
A PLEACHED ARBOR IN THE GOVERNOR’S GARDEN
The Coke-Garrett House [(T)] was begun in 1720 and added to at later times as shown by various floor levels. Altogether, it is one of the finest residences in Williamsburg and has a famous old garden which is second only to that of the Governor.
Bassett Hall [(V)], the only Williamsburg house with the long straight avenue approach which was so common out in the country, was built in the middle of the 18th century. It was at times a residence, at times a tavern. It takes its name from Martha Washington’s nephew who bought it soon after the Revolutionary War. Later it was owned by Abel P. Upshur, a member of President Tyler’s Cabinet and it is believed that Vice-President Tyler was visiting here when he was notified of his succession. The estate is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rockefeller.
Tazewell Hall [(Z)] gets its name from an owner who purchased it after it had been forfeited by John Randolph, the Tory, when he fled to England at the outset of the Revolutionary War. This John Randolph (who later returned and was buried in the College Chapel) was the last Attorney General under the Crown and his son, who was born in this house, was the first Attorney General of the United States. The house was moved to its present position to facilitate a real-estate development to the south; it formerly stood squarely opposite the end of South England Street. As can be clearly seen, it has not yet been restored.
THE CAPITOL TOWER
SKETCH OF
“CITY OF WILLIAMSBURG”
VIRGINIA
1943
By Courtesy of the City Manager
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1—Episcopal Church 2—Methodist Church 3—Presbyterian Church 4—Baptist Church 5—Catholic Church 6—Masonic Lodge 7—U. S. O. 8—Post Office 9—The Lodge 10—Williamsburg Inn
New Williamsburg
Williamsburg never grew substantially beyond the limits defined in 1699 until the year 1900 when the boundaries were extended at both ends of the town to take in the development of population that occurred with the growth of the College. Repeatedly since then enlargements have been made, especially as the College grew during the presidency of Dr. J. A. C. Chandler. Of late there has been building in the Capitol Landing Road district and out Jamestown Road; but throughout the present century the principal growth has been along Richmond Road. Here all the churches except Bruton have built new edifices opposite the College. The Methodists, it is true, are just inside the ancient city limits, at the College Corner. At the outset of the restoration it was determined, whether wisely or not, that the westerly block on each side of Duke of Gloucester Street should not be restored, but developed for the convenience of the residents. The shops in these two blocks are designed to be in keeping with the ancient architecture but are in no way restorations.
Just within the southern boundary of old Williamsburg, the Restoration operates two modern hotels: the Williamsburg Inn and The Lodge. The former is, during the war, reserved for military and naval officers and their families; the Lodge is still open to the general public. In either case, reservations should be made in advance, especially for weekends. Persons planning to visit Williamsburg and desiring accommodations in private families should communicate in advance with proprietors of guest-houses or with the Room Registry jointly operated by the Chamber of Commerce and the U. S. O.; and an advance deposit should be made. The reason for this is that Williamsburg (as will be seen by the map on [page 2]) is a very small civilian island almost entirely surrounded by military and naval establishments populated by many thousands of service men whose relatives desire to visit them. It is this situation which leads to the uncertainty of reply when questions are asked as to the population of Williamsburg. Including the Hospital patients, the 1940 census showed about 4,000 residents. Up to opening of hostilities the population is supposed to have doubled.
All Williamsburg churches have regular meetings at 11 o’clock Sunday mornings; the Masons on the second Monday evening of each month; the Rotary Club every Thursday; the Lions on alternate Tuesdays. For information about other of their activities it will be well to telephone as follows:
Roman Catholic Church,
Rev. T. J. Walsh (tel. 411)
Episcopal Church,
Rev. F. H. Craighill (tel. 158)
Baptist Church,
Rev. A. F. Ward (tel. 178-W)
Presbyterian Church,
Rev. C. M. Pratt (tel. 309-R)
Methodist Church,
Rev. L. F. Havermale (tel. 384-J)
Christian Science Church,
Mrs. J. J. Montague (tel. 258-J)
Williamsburg Lodge No. 6, A.F. & A.M.,
Mr. B. C. Creasy (tel. 24)
Rotary Club,
Mr. M. W. Foster (tel. 270)
Lions Club,
Capt. W. H. Kelly (tel. 226)