Michael McDonough
Guy getting tarred and feathered (Williamsburg)
Colonial Williamsburg is the historic district of the independent city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Colonial Williamsburg consists of many of the buildings that formed the original colonial capital of Williamsburg in James City County from 1699 to 1780 with all traces of later buildings removed.
Colonial Williamsburg is an example of a living history museum, an open-air assemblage of buildings populated with historical reenactors whose job it is to explain and demonstrate aspects of daily life in the past. The reenactors (or interpreters) 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 or Castell Henllys in the UK), Colonial Williamsburg is unusual for having been constructed from a living town whose inhabitants and post-Colonial-era buildings were removed. Unlike other living history museums, however, anyone can walk through the historic district of Williamsburg 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 the Revolutionary City programs.
Early in the 20th century, the restoration and recreation of Colonial Williamsburg, one of the largest historic restorations ever undertaken, was championed by the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who wanted to celebrate the patriots and the early history of the United States.
Some of the missing Colonial structures were recreated on their original sites during the 1930s. Many other structures were restored to the best estimates of how they would have looked during the eighteenth century. Most buildings are open for tourists to look through.
A main source of tourism to Williamsburg, Virginia and the surrounding area, Williamsburg is meant to be an interpretation of a Colonial American city with exhibits including dozens of authentic or accurately-recreated colonial houses, American Revolutionary War history exhibits, and the town jail, which includes an authentic stocks and pillory display. Other notable structures include the large Capitol and the Governor's Palace, each carefully recreated and landscaped as closely as possible to original 18th century specifications. Dependency structures and animals help complete the ambiance.
Colonial Williamsburg is owned and operated as a living museum by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the non-profit entity endowed by the Rockefeller family. Although it is not directly affiliated with the nearby Colonial National Historical Park, the nearby Colonial Parkway and attractions at Jamestown and Yorktown presented by state and federal entities are complementary adjuncts to the restored area of the colonial city. With Colonial Williamsburg as its centerpiece, the Historic Triangle of Virginia is a much visited tourist destination. However, attendance at Colonial Williamsburg peaked in 1985 at 1.1 million, and has been in decline ever since.[2]
Ada Louise Huxtable, noted architecture critic, wrote in 1965: "Williamsburg is an extraordinary, conscientious and expensive exercise in historical playacting in which real and imitation treasures and modern copies are carelessly confused in everyone's mind. Partly because it is so well done, the end effect has been to devalue authenticity and denigrate the genuine heritage of less picturesque periods to which an era and a people gave life."[1]
A more nuanced interpretation may be that of University of Virginia Professor of Architectural History Richard Guy Wilson, who notes that Colonial Williamsburg is a superb example of an American suburb of the 1930s, with its inauthentically tree-lined streets of Colonial Revival houses and segregated commerce.
*Wikipedia
Guy getting tarred and feathered (Williamsburg)
Colonial Williamsburg is the historic district of the independent city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Colonial Williamsburg consists of many of the buildings that formed the original colonial capital of Williamsburg in James City County from 1699 to 1780 with all traces of later buildings removed.
Colonial Williamsburg is an example of a living history museum, an open-air assemblage of buildings populated with historical reenactors whose job it is to explain and demonstrate aspects of daily life in the past. The reenactors (or interpreters) 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 or Castell Henllys in the UK), Colonial Williamsburg is unusual for having been constructed from a living town whose inhabitants and post-Colonial-era buildings were removed. Unlike other living history museums, however, anyone can walk through the historic district of Williamsburg 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 the Revolutionary City programs.
Early in the 20th century, the restoration and recreation of Colonial Williamsburg, one of the largest historic restorations ever undertaken, was championed by the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who wanted to celebrate the patriots and the early history of the United States.
Some of the missing Colonial structures were recreated on their original sites during the 1930s. Many other structures were restored to the best estimates of how they would have looked during the eighteenth century. Most buildings are open for tourists to look through.
A main source of tourism to Williamsburg, Virginia and the surrounding area, Williamsburg is meant to be an interpretation of a Colonial American city with exhibits including dozens of authentic or accurately-recreated colonial houses, American Revolutionary War history exhibits, and the town jail, which includes an authentic stocks and pillory display. Other notable structures include the large Capitol and the Governor's Palace, each carefully recreated and landscaped as closely as possible to original 18th century specifications. Dependency structures and animals help complete the ambiance.
Colonial Williamsburg is owned and operated as a living museum by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the non-profit entity endowed by the Rockefeller family. Although it is not directly affiliated with the nearby Colonial National Historical Park, the nearby Colonial Parkway and attractions at Jamestown and Yorktown presented by state and federal entities are complementary adjuncts to the restored area of the colonial city. With Colonial Williamsburg as its centerpiece, the Historic Triangle of Virginia is a much visited tourist destination. However, attendance at Colonial Williamsburg peaked in 1985 at 1.1 million, and has been in decline ever since.[2]
Ada Louise Huxtable, noted architecture critic, wrote in 1965: "Williamsburg is an extraordinary, conscientious and expensive exercise in historical playacting in which real and imitation treasures and modern copies are carelessly confused in everyone's mind. Partly because it is so well done, the end effect has been to devalue authenticity and denigrate the genuine heritage of less picturesque periods to which an era and a people gave life."[1]
A more nuanced interpretation may be that of University of Virginia Professor of Architectural History Richard Guy Wilson, who notes that Colonial Williamsburg is a superb example of an American suburb of the 1930s, with its inauthentically tree-lined streets of Colonial Revival houses and segregated commerce.
*Wikipedia