An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum .
78-734: The Wythe House is a historic house on the Palace Green in Colonial Williamsburg , in Williamsburg, Virginia , USA. Built in the 1750s, it was the home of George Wythe , signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of American jurisprudence. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970. The Wythe House once belonged to George Wythe's father-in-law, Richard Taliaferro . The house
156-430: A College of William & Mary fund-raiser and religious studies professor, as well as pastor of Yorktown 's Episcopal church and a chapel at Toano . He had maintained his Williamsburg ties, periodically visiting the graves of his first wife and their son, using William & Mary's library for historical research, and vacationing. He saw the ongoing deterioration of colonial-era buildings. He renewed his connections with
234-492: A beveled water table and the walls are laid in Flemish bond . The entrance is reached by a small flight of steps with a large door with raised panels and a transom window. The property has fine conjectural gardens and several outbuildings including a smokehouse , external kitchen, laundry, poultry house, lumber house, well, dovecote , and a stable. The gardens consist of brick paths and hedges with several small shrubs dotting
312-634: A different time and place and perform everyday household tasks, crafts, and occupations. The goal is to demonstrate older lifestyles and pursuits to modern audiences. Household tasks might include cooking on an open hearth , churning butter , spinning wool and weaving , and farming without modern equipment. Many living museums feature traditional craftsmen at work, such as a blacksmith , pewtersmith , silversmith , weaver , tanner , armorer , cooper , potter , miller , sawyer , cabinet-maker , woodcarver , printer , doctor, and general storekeeper . The North American open-air museum, more commonly called
390-416: A grid laid out by Theodorick Bland taking into consideration the brick College Building and the then decaying Bruton Parish Church buildings. The grid seems to have obliterated all but the remnants of an earlier plan that laid out the streets in the monogram of William and Mary , a W superimposed on an M. The main street was named Duke of Gloucester after the eldest son of Queen Anne . Nicholson named
468-577: A life tenancy upon his death in 1779. Elizabeth lived here until her death in 1787, and George moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1791 to serve as a judge. The house served as headquarters for General George Washington – September 14 to 17, and 22 to 28, 1781 – prior to the Siege of Yorktown . The house saw several subsequent owners. In 1926 the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin , Rector of adjoining Bruton Parish Church, established his offices on
546-604: A living-history museum, had a different, slightly later origin than the European, and the visitor experience is different. The first was Henry Ford 's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan (1928), where Ford intended his collection to be "a pocket edition of America". Colonial Williamsburg (opened in 1934), though, had a greater influence on museum development in North America. It influenced such projects through
624-723: A printing shop, a shoemaker, a blacksmith, a cooperage , a cabinetmaker, a gunsmith, a wigmaker, and a silversmith. There are merchants selling tourist souvenirs, books, reproduction toys, pewterware, pottery, scented soap, etc. Some houses are open to tourists, including the Peyton Randolph House, the Geddy House , the Wythe House, and the Everard House , as are such public buildings as the Courthouse,
702-605: A role. Goodwin returned to the Bruton Parish pulpit in 1926, keeping his college positions. Rockefeller's first investment in a Williamsburg house had been a contribution to Goodwin's acquisition of the George Wythe House for next-door Bruton Church's parish house. Rockefeller's second investment was the purchase of the Ludwell–Paradise House in early 1927. Goodwin persuaded him to buy it on behalf of
780-530: A son of Abby and John D. Rockeller Jr., was a frequent visitor and was particularly fond of Carter's Grove in the late 1960s. He became aware of some expansion plans elsewhere on the Peninsula of his St. Louis -based neighbor, August Anheuser Busch, Jr. , head of Anheuser-Busch . By the time Rockefeller and Busch completed their discussions, the biggest changes in the Williamsburg area were underway since
858-461: Is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings". In the loosest sense, an open-air museum is any institution that includes one or more buildings in its collections, including farm museums, historic house museums , and archaeological open-air museums . Mostly, "open-air museum" is applied to a museum that specializes in the collection and re-erection of multiple old buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of recreated landscapes of
SECTION 10
#1732775276858936-427: Is a 1930s beaux arts approximation of the 1705 building at the east end of the historic area. It was designed by the architectural firm Perry, Shaw & Hepburn , who had it rebuilt as they thought it should have been, not as it was, despite objections and archaeological evidence to the contrary. The modern reconstruction is off-center, its floorplan is skewed, and its interior is overly elaborate. The 1705 original
1014-435: Is built into the corner to the left of the fireplace. The dining room is across from the parlor, which it mirrors. A fireplace and bowfat are in the inside wall. Wainscot lines this room; there is a crown molding . A bedroom is located behind the dining room, with a door connecting the two rooms. A white chair rail divides the walls with a black base board . The floors are pine. The bedroom has another doorway leading into
1092-576: The Commonwealth of Virginia and later helped adapt its preferred features to the needs of the new United States. The government moved to Richmond on the James River in 1780, under the leadership of Governor Thomas Jefferson, to be more central and accessible from western counties and less susceptible to British attack. There it remains today. With the seat of government removed, Williamsburg's businesses floundered or migrated to Richmond, and
1170-977: The Raleigh Tavern , the Capitol , the Governor's Palace (all reconstructed), the Courthouse , the Wythe House , the Peyton Randolph House , the Magazine, and the independently owned and functioning Bruton Parish Church (all originals). Colonial Williamsburg's portion of the historic area begins east of the College of William & Mary 's College Yard. Four taverns have been reconstructed for use as restaurants and two for inns. There are craftsmen's workshops for period trades, including
1248-746: The Revolutionary City programs. The Visitor Center near the Colonial Parkway features a short film, Williamsburg: the Story of a Patriot , which debuted in 1957. Visitors may park at the Visitor's Center, as automobiles are restricted from the restored area. Wheelchair-accessible shuttle bus service is provided to stops around the perimeter of the Historic District of Williamsburg, as well as Jamestown and Yorktown, during
1326-677: The Second Continental Congress to propose national independence. Its likeness only exists in a period woodcut and in architectural renderings considered but shelved by the Restoration. The present building was dedicated with a ceremonial meeting of the Virginia General Assembly on February 24, 1934. Virginia's state legislators have reassembled for a day every other year in the Capitol. Of
1404-465: The malaria and the mosquitoes at the Jamestown Island site. Interested Middle Plantation landowners donated some of their holdings to advance the plan. Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg by Governor Francis Nicholson in honor of William III of England . Nicholson said that "clear and crystal springs burst from the champagne soil" of Williamsburg. He had the city surveyed and
1482-538: The 1600s, but it burned on October 20, 1698. The legislators consequently moved their meetings to the College of William & Mary in Virginia at Middle Plantation , putting an end to Jamestown's 92-year history as Virginia's capital. In 1699, a group of College of William & Mary students delivered addresses during graduation exercises endorsing proposals to move the capital to Middle Plantation, ostensibly to escape
1560-554: The 18th-century practice of using fireworks to celebrate significant occasions. In the 1990s, Colonial Williamsburg implemented the Teaching Institute in Early American History, and Electronic Field Trips. Designed for elementary and middle/high school teachers, the institute offers workshops for educators to meet with historians, character interpreters, and to prepare instructional materials for use in
1638-468: The 18th-century setting. At the same time, this preserves the natural environment around Queen's Creek and protects a significant archaeological site. It is a tangible and important example of how the Foundation is protecting the vital greenbelt surrounding Colonial Williamsburg's historic area for future generations". The Colonial Parkway, which includes a tunnel running beneath the historic area,
SECTION 20
#17327752768581716-651: The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, whose membership included prominent and wealthy Virginians, and he helped to protect and repair the Magazine. He and other William & Mary professors saved the John Blair House from demolition to make way for a gasoline station, and they turned it into a faculty club. In 1924, the college launched a building and fund-raising drive, and Goodwin adopted Barney's proposal for saving other houses in
1794-481: The Bruton Parish Church that was riven by factions. He helped harmonize the congregation and assumed leadership of a flagging campaign to restore the 1711 church building. Goodwin and New York ecclesiastical architect J. Stewart Barney completed the church restoration in time for the 300th anniversary of the founding of America's Anglican Church at nearby Jamestown, Virginia , in 1907. Goodwin traveled
1872-846: The Capitol, the Magazine, the Public Hospital, and the Public Gaol . Former notorious inmates of the Gaol include pirate Blackbeard 's crew who were kept there while they awaited trial. Colonial Williamsburg operations extend to Merchants Square , a Colonial Revival commercial area designated a historic district in its own right. Nearby are the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum , operated by Colonial Williamsburg as part of its curatorial efforts. The Jamestown statehouse housed Virginia's government in
1950-669: The Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations; and John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller . Along with Jamestown and Yorktown , and the Colonial Parkway , Colonial Williamsburg is part of the Historic Triangle in Virginia, The site was once used for conferences by world leaders and heads of state. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark District . The core of Colonial Williamsburg runs along Duke of Gloucester Street and
2028-626: The East Coast raising money for the project and establishing philanthropic contacts. Among the 1907 anniversary guests was J. P. Morgan , president of the Episcopal church's General Convention meeting that year in Richmond. Goodwin accepted a call from wealthy St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York in 1908, and pastored there until his return in 1923 to Williamsburg to become
2106-517: The Future: Colonial Williamsburg's Animals , explains the importance of, as well as details how interpreters are a part, of this program. Colonial Williamsburg is a partly pet-friendly destination. Leashed pets are permitted in specific outdoor areas and may be taken on shuttle buses, but are not permitted in buildings except the visitor center. The Grand Illumination is an outdoor ceremony and mass celebration involving
2184-835: The Kingsmill planned resort community, and McLaws Circle, an office park. Anheuser-Busch and related entities from that development plan comprise the area's largest employment base, surpassing both Colonial Williamsburg and the local military bases. With its historic significance to American democracy , it and the surrounding area was the site of a summit meeting of world leaders, the first World Economic Conference in 1983, and hosted visiting royalty, including King Hussein of Jordan and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Queen Elizabeth II paid two royal visits to Williamsburg during her reign, once in October 1957 and again, in May 2007, both to celebrate
2262-646: The Nordic Museum. Skansen, opened to the public in 1891, was a more ambitious undertaking, including farm buildings from across Sweden , folk costumes, live animals, folk music, and demonstrations of folk crafts. The second open-air museum in the world to open its doors was also in Sweden: Kulturen in Lund in 1892 . In 1894 the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History ( Norsk Folkemuseum )
2340-521: The Palace Green that extends north and south perpendicular to it. This area is largely flat, with ravines and streams branching off on the periphery. Duke of Gloucester Street and other historic area thoroughfares are closed to motorized vehicles during the day, in favor of pedestrians, bicyclists, joggers, dog walkers, and animal-drawn vehicles. Surviving colonial structures have been restored as close as possible to their 18th-century appearance, with traces removed of later buildings and improvements. Many of
2418-545: The UK), Colonial Williamsburg is unusual for having been constructed from a living town whose inhabitants and post-Colonial-era buildings were removed. Also unlike other living history museums, Colonial Williamsburg allows anyone to walk through the historic district free of charge, at any hour of the day. Charges apply only to those visitors who wish to enter the historic buildings to see arts and crafts demonstrations during daylight hours, or attend scheduled outdoor performances such as
Wythe House - Misplaced Pages Continue
2496-477: The Visitor's Center. In addition to considerations regarding highway travel, Williamsburg's brick Chesapeake and Ohio Railway passenger station was less than 20 years old and one of the newer ones along the rail line, it was replaced with a larger station in Colonial style that was located just out of sight and within walking distance of the historic area, on the northern edge of Peacock Hill . Farther afield
2574-592: The anniversaries of the founding of nearby Jamestown . Colonial Williamsburg is an open-air assemblage of buildings populated with historical reenactors (interpreters) who explain and demonstrate aspects of daily life in the past. The reenactors work, dress, and talk as they would have in colonial times. While there are many living history museums (such as Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts , Old Salem in Winston-Salem , or Castell Henllys in
2652-457: The approximately 500 buildings reconstructed or restored, 88 are labelled original. They include outbuildings such as smokehouses, privies, and sheds. The foundation reconstructed the Capitol and Governor's Palace on their 18th-century foundations and preserved some below-ground 18th-century brickwork, classifying them as reconstructions. It rebuilt William & Mary's Wren Building on its original foundation, which burned four times in 230 years and
2730-573: The city entered a long, slow period of stagnation and decay, although the town maintained much of its 18th-century aspect. It was captured by General George McClellan in 1862 and garrisoned during the Civil War , so the town escaped the devastation experienced by other Southern cities. Williamsburg relied for jobs on The College of William & Mary, the Courthouse, and the Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital ); it
2808-487: The city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia ; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction. In
2886-442: The classroom. Electronic Field Trips are a series of multimedia classroom presentations available to schools. Each program is designed around a particular topic in history and includes a lesson plan as well as classroom and online activities. Monthly live broadcasts on local PBS television stations allow participating classes to interact with historical interpreters via telephone or internet. Living-history museum Open air
2964-703: The college for housing in the event that Rockefeller should decide to restore the town. Rockefeller had agreed to pay for college restoration plans and drawings. He later considered limiting his restoration involvement to the college and an exhibition enclave, and he did not commit to the town's large scale restoration until November 22, 1927. Rockefeller and Goodwin initially kept their acquisition plans secret because they were concerned that prices might rise if their purposes were known, quietly buying houses and lots and taking deeds in blank. Goodwin took Williamsburg attorney Vernon M. Geddy, Sr. into his confidence, without exposing Rockefeller as silent partner. Geddy did much of
3042-541: The continent as Mystic Seaport , Plimoth Patuxet (formerly Plimoth Plantation), and Fortress Louisbourg . The approach to interpretation tends to differentiate the North American from the European model. In Europe, the tendency is to usually focus on the buildings. In North America, many open-air museums include interpreters who dress in period costume and conduct period crafts and everyday work. The living museum is, therefore, viewed as an attempt to recreate to
3120-407: The door, and five windows in alignment with the bottom windows on the second floor. The hip roof has brick chimneys rising from the side slopes of the roof. The roof is supported by a modillion cornice. The lighter-colored bricks framing the windows and doors are called "rubbed bricks," as the masons would rub one side of the bricks against each other until a rosy color became evident. The house has
3198-405: The first floor windows but contain the same amount of panels (18) and a double sash. Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia . Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when
Wythe House - Misplaced Pages Continue
3276-557: The first of two periods. He was born in 1869 at Richmond to a Confederate veteran and his well-to-do wife and reared in rural Nelson County at Norwood. He was educated at Roanoke College , the University of Virginia , the University of Richmond , and the Virginia Theological Seminary . He first visited Williamsburg as a seminarian sent to recruit William & Mary students. He became rector at age 34 of
3354-455: The founding of Williamsburg, occupation by British forces, or visits from Colonial leaders of the day, including General George Washington . Some of the costumed interpreters work with animals. The Colonial Williamsburg Rare Breed Program helps to preserve and showcase animals that would have been present during the colonial period. John P. Hunter's book on the topic, Link to the Past, Bridge to
3432-508: The fullest extent conditions of a culture , natural environment , or historical period . The objective is immersion, using exhibits so that visitors can experience the specific culture, environment or historical period using the physical senses. Performance and historiographic practices at American living museums have been critiqued in the past several years by scholars in anthropology and theater for creating false senses of authenticity and accuracy, and for neglecting to bear witness to some of
3510-459: The historic section of the town for use as student and faculty housing. He worked for two years to interest individuals such as Henry Ford and organizations such as the Dames of Colonial America to invest. He eventually obtained the support and financial commitment of John D. Rockefeller Jr. , the wealthy son of the founder of Standard Oil . Rockefeller's wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller also played
3588-652: The history of everyday living by people from all segments of society. The idea of the open-air museum dates to the 1790s. The first proponent of the idea was the Swiss thinker Charles de Bonstetten , and was based on a visit to an exhibit of sculptures of Norwegian peasants in native costumes in the park of Fredensborg Palace in Denmark ,"Valley of the Norsemen". He believed that traditional peasant houses should be preserved against modernity, but failed to attract support for
3666-713: The idea. The first major steps towards the creation of open-air museums was taken in Swedish union ruled Norway in 1881, when the Swedish union King Oscar II transferred four historic farm buildings and the stave church from Gol to the royal manor at Bygdøy near Oslo (Christiania) for public viewing. This, in turn, in 1884 and 1885 inspired Artur Hazelius , founder of the Nordic Museum in Stockholm , to establish his own open-air museum Skansen , adjacent to
3744-403: The landscape. The property is contained by a simple white fence with hedges trimming the edges of the gardens. The house is a standard center-passage, double-pile plan. A staircase rises on the left side of the passage. The hall contains four door lead to the various rooms. The room interpreted as a parlor by Colonial Williamsburg is to the left before the staircase. A bowfat, a china cupboard,
3822-408: The last to be forced out was a locally popular drugstore complete with lunch counter. Beginning in the earliest period of the restoration, Colonial Williamsburg acquired acreage in Williamsburg and the two counties which adjoin it, notably to the north and east of the historic area to preserve natural views and facilitate the experience of as much of the late 18th-century environment as possible. This
3900-641: The late 1920s, the restoration of colonial Williamsburg was championed as a way to celebrate patriots and the early history of the United States. Proponents included the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin and other community leaders; the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now called Preservation Virginia ), the Colonial Dames of America , the Daughters of the Confederacy ,
3978-453: The main hall to the rear of the house. The room interpreted as Wythe's office is located behind the parlor. The room contains a fireplace with a blue mantel and plastered firebox. The floors are pine. The second floor is similar in layout to the first. A central hall runs the length of the house with four bedrooms in the corners of the house. Each of these rooms has a fireplace. The windows on this upper floor are actually slightly smaller than
SECTION 50
#17327752768584056-482: The once missing colonial structures were reconstructed on their original sites beginning in the 1930s. Animals, gardens, and dependencies add to the environment, such as kitchens, smokehouses, and privies. Some buildings and most gardens are open to tourists, with the exception of buildings serving as residences for Colonial Williamsburg employees, large donors, the occasional city official, and sometimes College of William & Mary associates. Prominent buildings include
4134-498: The opening of the first town museum, The Old Town in Aarhus , Denmark , in 1914, town culture has also become a scope of open-air museums. In many cases, new town quarters are being constructed in existing rural culture museums. Living-history museums, including living-farm museums and living museums , are open-air museums where costumed interpreters portray period life in an earlier era. The interpreters act as if they are living in
4212-404: The past, and often including living history . Such institutions may, therefore, be described as building museums. European open-air museums tended to be sited originally in regions where wooden architecture prevailed, as wooden structures may be translocated without substantial loss of authenticity. Common to all open-air museums, including the earliest ones of the 19th century, is the teaching of
4290-747: The peak summer season. The costumed interpreters have not always worn Colonial dress. As an experiment in anticipation of the Bicentennial , in summer 1973 the hostesses were dressed in special red, white, and blue polyester knit pantsuits. This confused and disappointed visitors, so the experiment was dropped at the end of summer, and for the Bicentennial, docents wore historical costumes. Many reenactments by Colonial Williamsburg's historical interpreters wearing period costumes are posted online. In addition to simple period reenactments, Colonial Williamsburg, at various times, features themes, including
4368-502: The position of a butterfly pinned to a card in a glass cabinet, or like a mummy unearthed in the tomb of Tutankhamun ?" To gain the cooperation of people reluctant to sell their homes to the Rockefeller organization, the restoration offered free life tenancies and maintenance in exchange for ownership. Freeman sold his house outright and moved to Virginia's Middle Peninsula . Rockefeller management decided against giving custody of
4446-486: The project remained keen. Colonial Williamsburg dedicated its headquarters in 1940, naming it The Goodwin Building. About 30 years later, when Interstate 64 was planned and built in the 1960s and early 1970s, from the designated "Colonial Williamsburg" exit, the additional land along Merrimack Trail to Route 132 was similarly protected from development. Today, visitors encounter no commercial properties before they reach
4524-404: The project to the state-run college, ostensibly to avoid political control by Virginia's Democratic Byrd Machine , but they restored the school's Wren Building , Brafferton House , and President's House. Colonial Williamsburg pursued a program of partial re-creation of some of the rest of the town. It featured shops, taverns, and open-air markets in a colonial style. The first lead architect in
4602-485: The project was William G. Perry of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn , with Arthur Asahel Shurcliff as the chief landscape architect. An Advisory Board of Architects was selected to provide guidance for the project. Prominent architects who served on the advisory board included Robert P. Bellows, Fiske Kimball , A. Lawrence Kocher , Philip N. Stern, Merril C. Lee, W. Duncan Lee , Marcellus E. Wright Sr. , Edmund S. Campbell, Orin M. Bullock Jr. , and R. E. Lee Taylor. During
4680-403: The remains of 1620s Wolstenholme Towne , a downriver outpost of Jamestown. The Winthrop Rockefeller Archaeology Museum, built just above the site, showcased artifacts from the dig. Colonial Williamsburg operated Carter's Grove until 2003 as a satellite facility of Colonial Williamsburg, with interpretive programs. The property has since been sold. Between Carter's Grove and the Historic District
4758-571: The restoration began 40 years before. Among the goals were to complement Colonial Williamsburg attractions and enhance the local economy. The large tract consisting primarily of the Kingsmill land was sold by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to Anheuser-Busch for planned development. The Anheuser-Busch investment included building a large brewery, the Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park,
SECTION 60
#17327752768584836-487: The restoration, the project demolished 720 buildings that postdated 1790, many of which dated from the 19th century. Some decrepit 18th-century homes were demolished, leading to some controversy. The Governor's Palace and the Capitol building were reconstructed on their sites with the aid of period illustrations, written descriptions, early photographs, and informed guesswork. The grounds and gardens were almost all recreated in authentic Colonial Revival style. The Capitol
4914-549: The second floor after the Parish acquired the building for church use. Dr. Goodwin is known as the "Father of Colonial Williamsburg." Colonial Williamburg officially obtained the property in 1938, and in 1939 the interior was restored to the form and appearance the Wythe family would have known. The facade is constructed of red brick with white woodwork and is perfectly symmetrical, with the first floor having two windows on each side of
4992-468: The simultaneous activation of thousands of Christmas lights each year on the first Sunday of December. The ceremony, Goodwin's idea, began in 1935, loosely based on a colonial (and English) tradition of placing lighted candles in the windows of homes and public buildings to celebrate a special event, such as the winning of a war or the birthday of the reigning monarch. The Grand Illumination also has incorporated extravagant fireworks displays, loosely based on
5070-427: The street north of it Nicholson Street, for himself, and the one south of it Francis Street. For 81 years of the 18th century, Williamsburg was the center of government, education, and culture in the Colony of Virginia . George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Patrick Henry , James Monroe , James Madison , George Wythe , Peyton Randolph , Richard Henry Lee , and others furthered the forms of British government in
5148-529: The title research and legal work related to properties in what became the restored area. He later drafted the Virginia corporate papers for the project, filed them with the Virginia State Corporation Commission , and served briefly as the first president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. That much property changing hands was noticed by newspaper reporters. After 18 months of increasingly excited rumors, Goodwin and Rockefeller revealed their plans at county and town meetings on June 11 and 12, 1928. The purpose
5226-458: Was Carter's Grove Plantation . It was begun by a grandson of wealthy planter Robert "King" Carter . For over 200 years, it had gone through a succession of owners and modifications. In the 1960s after the death of its last resident, Ms. Molly McRae, Carter's Grove Plantation came under the control of Winthrop Rockefeller 's Sealantic Foundation, which gave it to Colonial Williamsburg as a gift. Archaeologist Ivor Noel Hume discovered in its grounds
5304-406: Was an H-shaped brick statehouse with double- apsed , oarsmen-circular southern facades, but it burned in the 1740s and was replaced by an H-shaped rectangular edifice. In the second building, Patrick Henry protested against the Stamp Act and first spoke against King George. George Mason introduced the Virginia Bill of Rights there, and from it Virginia's government instructed its delegates to
5382-422: Was constructed between 1752 and 1754 and was conceived as a whole with no additions made to the rectangular two story structure. The house was built during a period of time when the Governor's Palace was being renovated. The house remained as the sole household of Taliaferro when his daughter Elizabeth married George Wythe in 1755. The couple received the house as a wedding present from Taliafero and they received
5460-406: Was described as a "rural, wooded sense of arrival" along corridors to the historic area. In 2006, announcing a conservation easement on acreage north of the Visitor Center, Colonial Williamsburg President and Chairman Colin G. Campbell said its restrictions protected the view and preserved other features: "This viewshed helps to set the stage for visitors in their journey from modern day life into
5538-439: Was founded in Oslo by Hans Aall , inspired by Skansen. Aall bought a large tract of land adjacent to King Oscar's royal collections, probably with a merger between them in mind. The open-air Norsk Folkemuseum was opened at Bygdøy in 1902. In 1907 the royal collections were incorporated after the death of King Oscar and the dissolution of the union with Sweden . Most open-air museums concentrate on rural culture. However, since
5616-421: Was instrumental in such efforts. Nevertheless, some in the Rockefeller organization, regarding him as meddlesome, gradually pushed Goodwin to the periphery of the Restoration and by the time of his death in 1939 Colonial Williamsburg's administrator, Kenneth Chorley of New York, was indiscreetly at loggerheads with the local reverend. Goodwin's relationship with Rockefeller remained warm, however, and his interest in
5694-402: Was much modified; it saved some above-ground brickwork and classified the result as original. On the western side of the city, beginning in the 1930s, retail shops were grouped under the name Merchants Square to accommodate and mollify displaced local merchants. Increasing rents and tourist-driven businesses eventually drove out all the old-line community enterprises except a dress shop. One of
5772-564: Was planned and built through farmland and woods about a mile north of town. Shortly thereafter, when Route 143 was built as the Merrimack Trail (originally designated State Route 168) in the 1930s, the protected vista was extended along Route 132 in York County to the new road, and two new bridges were built across Queen's Creek . Goodwin, who served as a liaison with the community, as well as with state and local officials,
5850-419: Was planned and is maintained to reduce modern intrusions. Near the principal planned roadway approach to Colonial Williamsburg, similar design priorities were employed for the relocated U.S. Route 60 near the intersection of Bypass Road and North Henry Street. Prior to the restoration, U.S. Route 60 ran down Duke of Gloucester Street through town. To shift the traffic away from the historic area, Bypass Road
5928-598: Was said that the "500 Crazies" of the asylum supported the "500 Lazies" of the college and town. Colonial-era buildings were modified, modernized, neglected, or destroyed. Development that accompanied construction of a World War I gun cotton plant at nearby Penniman and the coming of the automobile blighted the community, but the town kept its appeal to tourists. By the early 20th century, many older structures were in poor condition, no longer in use, or were occupied by squatters. The Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin became rector of Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church in 1903 for
6006-428: Was the largely vacant Kingsmill tract, as well as a small military outpost of Fort Eustis known as Camp Wallace (CW). In the mid-1960s, CW owned land that extended from the historic district to Skiffe's Creek , at the edge of Newport News near Lee Hall . Distant from the historic area and not along the protected sight paths, it was developed in the early 1970s, under CW Chairman Winthrop Rockefeller. Rockefeller,
6084-460: Was to obtain the consent of the citizens and enlist them in the project. The restoration project required a new high school and two public greens. The city retained ownership of its streets, an arrangement that forestalled later proposals to raise revenue by charging an admission fee. Some townsmen had qualms. Major S. D. Freeman, retired Army officer and school board president, said, "We will reap dollars, but will we own our town? Will you not be in
#857142