Williamsburg, Virginia

Founded in 1699, Williamsburg, Virginia was the capital of Virginia from 1698 until 1780, when the capital moved to Richmond. The city is known as the home of William & Mary, Eastern State Hospital, and Colonial Williamsburg.

In 1871, prompted by Virginia’s new state constitution, Williamsburg opened free public schools for blacks and whites.

In 1881, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built a rail line through and opened a depot in Williamsburg, with the promise of faster trips to market for the area’s produce and more convenient access for tourists.

In 1884, the General Assembly changed Williamsburg’s charter, creating a government of a popularly-elected mayor and city council to replace the unelected, self-perpetuating municipal corporation that had governed the city since 1722.

The Eastern Lunatic Asylum expanded, serving hundreds and eventually thousands of patients annually. Renamed the Eastern State Hospital in 1894, it was the town’s largest employer.

In 1888, William and Mary reopened. President Lyon G. Tyler hired six faculty members who would remain for many years; together, they became known as the “Seven Wise Men.” The student population grew from 0 in 1887 to 333 in 1919 and 1,692 in 1931-1932, with a concomitant increase in faculty and a tremendous expansion of the campus.

In 1889, locals Mary Jeffrey Galt and Cynthia Beverly Tucker Coleman co-founded the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. After initially focusing on Jamestown, the APVA bought and reopened the Powder Horn (today’s Powder Magazine) and protected the grounds where the Capitol once stood (and does again today).

In 1893, the Virginia Gazette resumed publication after a hiatus of more than twenty years.

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• Williamsburg, Virginia in the SCRC database.

References

• An Awakening Town: Williamsburg in the Late 1800s from the exhibit "A Most Thriving & Growing Place": Williamsburg Before the Restoration.

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.