Williamsburg
is a city located on the
Virginia Peninsula in the
Hampton Roads area of
Virginia. As of the
2000 census, the city had a total population of 11,998. It is bordered by
James
City County and
York County,
and is an
independent city. The
Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Williamsburg with James
City County for statistical purposes.
Williamsburg, in the center of the
Historic Triangle of Virginia (which includes Jamestown and Yorktown), is
well-known for the restored colonial area of the city,
Colonial Williamsburg, and for the
College of William and Mary which is situated mostly within the city of
Williamsburg. The newspapers of record are the
Daily Press, published in
Newport News, and the bi-weekly The
Virginia Gazette, published in Williamsburg.
History
Originally known as
Middle Plantation, the
settlement that developed into Williamsburg was established in the 1630s by
colonists seeking to escape the marshy, malarial confines of
Jamestown.
The Royal Charter granted to the College of William and Mary in 1693 and the
burning of the State House in Jamestown led the government to move the capital
to Williamsburg in 1699. For nearly the next century, until 1780, Williamsburg
was the capital of colonial Virginia.
1782 Frenchman's Map of the City of Williamsburg
The 18th century was the glorious apogee of
Williamsburg, as it expanded to include the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol
building, the College and various taverns, Inns and businesses that catered to
“Publick Times,” when the legislature met. The patriots who conceived and
founded the United States – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick
Henry – strolled its streets and debated the issues that finally led to the
decision to declare independence.
In 1780 Virginia’s Governor, Thomas Jefferson,
decided to move the capital to
Richmond,
above the fall line and out of reach of British warships. Lacking the excitement
of Publick Times, Williamsburg entered a period of slow, genteel decline.
The glories of the Colonial age departed, but the memories remained.
During the Civil War the armies of North and
South met at the
Battle of Williamsburg in McClellan’s 1862 Peninsula Campaign. Union troops
burned the College and occupied the city for the duration of the war.
Afterwards, Williamsburg remained intact, battered and dilapidated, but still
proud.
| The Renaissance of the city began in the mid-1920s when the
Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin attracted the interest of
John D. Rockefeller,
Jr. in restoring the historic buildings and ambience of 18th –century
Williamsburg. Over the next several decades Colonial Williamsburg emerged
and the colonial city emerged again from the ruins to new prominence.
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JD Rockefeller |
