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 by Yaqui
You have to experience this exhibit and the many artifacts to understand fully. They do warn you as you enter the first exhibit you may feel a surge of emotion because of the state these patients once had to indure. It was nice to know that later around 1863 they discovered a much better approach to mental illness. The hospital diffently has a interesting past.
Your greeted by a very nice gentleman who made me at least giggle before entering the exhibit.
From the west wing an underground concourse leads to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.
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 Courthouse by deecat
This area was set aside as an area for fairs and markets. At the time, farmers would bring their wares to town and using makeshift counters to display their goods, they sold eggs, butter, milk, meat, fruits, vegetables, and fish to the housewives, cooks, and kitchen slaves. Afterward, the farmers would visit one of the many taverns to drink and gossip.
Sadly, auctions of slaves also took place in Market Square. When we were there, the very first reinactment of a slave auction took place. It was really a big deal, and all the TV stations were there to record this historic moment. I must say, as a person in the crowd, I was quite uncomfortable when humans were being auctioned as though they were "things".
The most heartbreaking moment was when a young man was sold and literally torn away from his mother. I was actually crying...it all seems so real, and of course, it was a real "low" moment in American history
Market Square is the location of the Courthouse which is T-shaped. It has round-headed windows and an octagonal cupola with the original weather vane.
Back then, two courts met regularly in this Courthouse: The James City County Court and the municipal court which was called the Hustings Court (for the city of Williamsburg.
All cases that involved slaves were tried before the county court. Those people who were convicted were usually punished immediately after the verdict. Just outside the Court House was the Whipping Post, which was often used as punishment.
The Court House was my husband Allan's favorite place at Williamsburg. He spent a few hours there on a couple of different days. I only went once, and I did find it quite interesting.
Note: This photo was taken from the brochure because I did not take my camera to the Courthouse Leave a Comment
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 Unicorn guard at entrance
to Governor's Palace by deecat
It took 16 years of construction before it was officially complete. As the third great public building of Williamsburg after the Wren Building of the College of William & Mary & the Capitol, it was only built because of the insistence of Governor Nott who persuaded Virginia General Assembly to authorize its construction.
After Nott died, Governor Spotswood replaced him & really pushed for the Palace to be completed. Spotswood got "caught up" in decorating the Palace & the gardens & the accused by The House of Burgesses of spending too much money, so he stopped his lavish ways.
It's not as lavish as the great European palaces, but it is, by far, the most lavish place in Colonial Williamsburg. It has three floors & each floor has over 3,000 square feet.
The beautiful gate is guarded by a stone unicorn on one side (see my photo) & a stone lion on the other. There are two "advance buildings with gabled roofs that run perpendicular to the main structure. A magnificent formal garden is found beyond the house.
Also beyond the advance buildings are the laundry, stable, kitchen, scullery, carriage house, & an octagonal bathhouse!
It took 25 servants & slaves to take care of this property. These people included maids, cooks, footmen, butlers, laborers, gardeners, & laundresses. Among the nine governors who lived in the original palace were Patrick Henry & Thomas Jefferson.
Many elegant & festive galas & gatherings were held at the Palace, but once the government moved to Richmond, Virginia, the Palace was no more. It did serve as a hospital, but fire destroyed it in 1781.
This ruined site was given to the College of William & Mary . They built 2 school buildings. Then in 1928 Colonial Williamsburg purchased the property, and archaeological investigation began. They reconstructed the Palace, & you should know that the wheelwright works in the Palace's eastern service yard. Leave a Comment
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 Prentis Store on Duke of
Gloucester Street by deecat
Often referred to as the "main street", it was to be 99 feet wide and run nearly a mile straight from the College of William and Mary on the west to the Capitol on the east.
There were general stores, specialty shops, taverns, and accommodations for visitors. Today, this area appears more residential because the homes today do not serve as interchangeable shop, store, or tavern and residence. But you can see such places as the James Geddy House, the Mary Dickinson Store, Ludwell-Paradise House, the Prentis Store, the Milliner, the Silversmith, the King's Arms Tavern, and the Pasteur & Galt Apothecary Shop.
The first public printer in the colony of Virginia was William Parks. There was light industry at the back of the James Anderson property where Anderson had a blacksmith shop. He employed several smiths to man the seven forges. Because this area was not as commercial as the east end, today the block appears to have more open space There was a haystack sign that announced Peter Hay's Shop, the apothecary. The Prentis Store is williamsburg's finest example of a colonial store.
Prentis & Company ran a successful general store in this original building from 1740 until the Revolution. The gable end faced the street. Through the door above, merchandise could be lifted to the loft. The rear windows would light the counting room, and the front walls, without windows were good for shelving in the sales area.
Would you believe that the Prentis store survived into the 20th Century, but as a gas station. Today, you are able to purchase 18th-century goods at this store. Leave a Comment
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 The Capitol by deecat
The 1705-1747 Capitol was reconstructed by the Colonial Williamsburg & refurnished using 18th-century documents as a guide. It was dedicated in 1934, & since that time, the legislators have reassembled for a day every other year in the Capitol here at Colonial Williamsburg!
Henry Cary (a contractor) supervised the building of the Capitol.
It was a two-story H-shaped structure; two buildings & an arcade. The building today is a representation of that 1st building. Within the walls of the Palace was a stable, a kitchen, & the gardens. Today, all of these still exist.
At first, there were no fireplaces allowed to prevent fires, & candles & pipes were also barred. Thus, the building was cold & damp. Because of all the complaints, chimneys were added for fireplaces, & wouldn't you know it, the place burned down! It was rebuilt.
In this second building, Patrick Henry delivered his "Caesar-Brutus speech" against the Stamp Act. It was last used as a capitol in 1779 because Richmond became the new capital.
The building was then used as a military hospital, grammar school, & a female academy. Sadly, the west wing was sold for its bricks & demolished; the east side burned.
Thank goodness it was reconstructed! Not only was it reconstructed but so were the beautiful gardens. There were 900 feet of green to the gates of the Governor's Palace. Its purpose was to focus the eye on the executive authority in Virginia. It's certainly a source of city pride, & it stands today as it was in the 18th century. Leave a Comment
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 The Lila Acheson Wallace
Garden by deecat
The late DeWitt Wallace provided the funds to build the gallery. Dewitt Wallace is the founder of Reader's Digest. 26,000 square feet of the museum is devoted to English and American decorative arts which date from the 17th century to the early 19th century, including ceramics, silver, furniture, textiles, painting, prints, domestic objects, and costumes.
There are two symmetrically positioned glass roofed garden courts beside the main floor, and they allow sunlight to illuminate the galleries.
I found that the objects in the galleries helped me to understand how the Enlish lifestyle influenced the American lifestyle.
There's an auditorium named for June S. and Joseph H. Hennage where lectures, musical exhibitions and the like are presented.
There is also a gallery cafe where you can have light refreshments, tea, or a lunch.
What I really like was the Lila Acheson Wallace Garden, a formal, enclosed garden that you can enter from the main floor of the Wallace Gallery. It opened in 1986 and honors Dewitt Wallace's wife, Lila.
It's a contemporary garden with bronze furniture and relief-molded stoneware pots. There's a beautiful reflecting pool that is fitted with bronze bird fountains at the corners and a statue of "Diana" (Artemis), goddess of the moon, the hunt, and protector of children.
There's tropical, semitropical and perennial plantings. There's also hedges of yaupon holly, and in the pool there are water lilies, aquatic cannas, and iris. It's just magnificent. Leave a Comment
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 Bed Chamber in the Peyton
Randolph House by deecat
The orginal home was built in 1715, but the Colonial Williamsburg restoration began in 1938 and was completed by 1940. They did more restoring in 1967. The construction of outbuildings did not begin until 1997.
This Peyton Randolph House is one of the oldest and most historic homes in Colonial Williamsburg. It's really three houses in one. The first house (west wing) was built for Peyton's father, John. John added on to this first house. Peyton built the two-story central section between the other two houses.
Interestingly, the roof of the west wing was designed to funnel rain to two concealed two-log gutters that was carried to a cistern.
I really admired the center section which contains the best surviving paneling, and the floor is mostly made of original edge-cut pine.
The photo shows the wonderful red oak paneling from floor to ceiling in the bedchamber. The chairs in this room were made in Williamsburg about 1770. It's quite a nice room.
Who was Peyton Randolph? He was Speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses in the years that lead to the Revolution. His home served as a "hub of political activity". Peyton was elected the presiding officer of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia. Peyton and his wife Betty had no children, and after their deaths, the home was sold at auction. Leave a Comment Directions: Corner of Nicholson and North England Streets.
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 Bruton Parish Church by deecat
These first churches stood near the center of Williamsburg's original survey map drawn 15 years later. It must have been important to the community life because it's in such an important location. The third church was made of stone/brick. It had a soaring ceiling, and many galleries were built beneath that ceiling. One gallery that the William and Mary students sat in still stands today.
Would you believe that the church served as a storehouse or hospital or maybe both during the Battle of Yorktown.
In 1840, the town clock was installed in the steeple. In the Battle of Williamsburg, the church served as a Union hospital for both Northern and Confederate soldiers.
When the famed Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin became the rector in the early 1900s, he took over the restoration, and he raised funds to restore the church to close to its original form. He undertook another restoration in 1937.
A brick wall was built in 1754 to surround the church, and there are many graves located in the churchyard. We had fun trying to read these old gravesites.
I was amazed to learn that Blacks in the parish also worshipped at Bruton Church! Of course, they sat apart in the north gallery and the back benches. More than 1,000 slaves (mostly infants) were baptized in Bruton Church.
This church is owned by and still serves the 3-centuries-old parish! The walls, windows, west gallery are all original. It is said that the baptismal font was brought from an earlier church at Jamestown. Admission to the church is by donation. Leave a Comment
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 George Wythe House by deecat
He also was appointed to the chair of law at the College of William and Mary. Sadly, he was poisoned by George Wythe Sweeney, a grandnephew who wanted to inherit his money. Wythe lived in agony for 2 weeks and changed his will so the nephew received nothing.
Even though George Wythe was a very important man, his spacious house is quite simple in plan. It has two rooms on each side of the central hall on both floors. Fireplaces are in all eight rooms. Behind his home is a symmetrical garden that divides the property into distinct areas. There's a smokehouse, kitchen, laundry, lumber house, poultry house, well, and stable.
There is a wonderful "pleasure garden" that is lined with tree box topiary and has a lovely arbor. There's also two "Neccessary houses" (outhouses) nearby. On the south side is an orchard and the "kitchen garden".
We saw a demonstration in the kitchen and loved it. But, what we loved was a special night play by torch/candle light about slavery and master/slave relationships. We were in a group of six, and there were 4 groups. The groups moved from rooms and outside the house as the play progressed. It was absolutely fantastic. Leave a Comment Directions: West side of Palace street
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 Public Gaol Cell by deecat
Most people who stayed at the Public Gaol were people awaiting trial. We learned that the most notorious criminals kept here were the 15 henchmen of the pirate Blackbeard.
I became a little sick to my stomach when I heard about the conditions at the Public Gaol...unheated cells, overcrowded, chained and manacled prisoners, dirty and often filled with pestilence called Gaol fever (typhus).
There was straw strewn on the floor to serve as a bed, and wooden buckets were used as a toilet. At times it even served as a "madhouse" (until the Public Hospital opened in 1773) and as a military prison.
The first Gaol only had two cells and an exercise yard, but soon two debtors' cells were added, and it appears today as it did in 1722 with 8 cells, an exercise yard and a room or two for the "gaoler' (jailer).
The Public Gaol is located just north of the Capitol on Nicholson Street.
Photo from Official Guide Leave a Comment Directions: Located just north of the Capitol on Nicholson Street
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