Capitol (Williamsburg, Virginia): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 16:20, 5 September 2012
Capitol | |
 | |
| Location | Williamsburg, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Built | 1931-1934 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Part of | Williamsburg Historic District (ID66000925[1]) |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia housed the legislature of the Colony of Virginia from 1705, when the capital was relocated there from Jamestown, until 1779, when the capital was relocated to Richmond.
The name may refer to three separate buildings built on the same site. The first Capitol in Williamsburg was completed in 1704, and burned in 1747.[2] It was rebuilt in a new form in 1753; the second Capitol survived until it too burned in 1832, decades after the House of Burgesses had moved out of it.[2]
The first Capitol was reconstructed in 1931-1934,[2] and is today a centerpiece of Colonial Williamsburg and a notable work of Colonial Revival architecture.
History
First Williamsburg Capitol 1705-1747
In 1698, the Capitol building in Jamestown, Virginia burned. Following the fire, the government of Virginia decided to relocate inland, away from the swamps at the Jamestown site.
A grand new Capitol building was constructed by Henry Cary, a contractor finishing work on the College of William and Mary's Wren Building (the legislature's temporary home). Begun in 1701, the Capitol was completed in 1705, although the legislature moved in in 1704.[3] In 1714, the Governor's Palace between the College and the Capitol.
The Colonial Capitol was a two-story H-shaped structure, functionally two buildings connected by an arcade. Each wing served one of the two houses of the Virginia legislature, the Council and the House of Burgesses. The first floor of the west building was for the General Court and the colony's secretary, the first floor of the east for the House of Burgesses and its clerk.[2] As a result of the fires that had destroyed several prior Virginia capitols, Cary built the first Capitol without fireplaces. In 1723, chimneys were added for fireplaces to help keep the Capitol dry. On January 30, 1747, the building burned and only some walls and the foundation remained.[3]
Second Williamsburg Capitol 1753-1779
Governor William Gooch urged that the Capitol be rebuilt, but many legislators preferred relocating the government to a city more accessible to trade and navigation. In the meantime, the burgesses met again at the nearby Wren Building. Finally, in November 1748, reconstruction of the Capitol was approved (by only two votes: 40 to 38). The burgesses met inside for the first time on November 1, 1753.
In this building, Patrick Henry delivered his Caesar-Brutus speech against the Stamp Act on May 29, 1765. Henry, George Washington, George Mason, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and others played parts in the legislative maneuvering that ended in revolution. As fighting began in the North, the building featured discussion concerning Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, his Virginia constitution, and Jefferson's first attempt at a bill for religious freedom.
On June 29, 1776, Virginians declared their independence from Great Britain and wrote the state's first constitution, thereby creating an independent government four days before Congress voted for the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4.
The Capitol at Williamsburg served until the American Revolutionary War began, when Governor Thomas Jefferson urged it that the capital be relocated to Richmond. The building was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779, when the Virginia General Assembly adjourned to reconvene in 1780 at the new capital, Richmond.
After the capital of Virginia was moved to Richmond in 1780 at the beginning of the American Revolution, the old Capitol was used by British forces. After the Battle of Yorktown, and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, it fell into disrepair and was dismantled for its materials.
Reconstruction
The building that stands now in Colonial Williamsburg is the third Capitol on that site. Early in the 20th century, the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin undertook restoration of historic Bruton Parish Church (c. 1711) where he was rector. His dreams of restoring other buildings of the old colonial capital city led to his affiliation with Standard Oil heir and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the creation of Colonial Williamsburg. The reconstructed Capitol and Governor's Palace join the Wren Building of the College of William & Mary as the three main structures of the restoration.
The architects charged with the restoration of Williamsburg chose to reconstruct the first capitol based on superior documentation of its design and its unique architecture compared to the second Capitol.[3] [2] Later architectural historians have since concluded that parts of the reconstruction was embellished or conjectural, based more on contemporary architectural ideas than historic evidence, however the reconstructed Capitol is now itself valued as a Colonial Revival interpretation and work of architecture.[2]
See also
- Virginia State Capitol (Richmond)
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Wilson, Richard Guy (2002). Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont. Oxford University Press. pp. 363–364.
- ^ a b c Olmert, Michael (1985). Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. pp. 52–61. ISBN 0-87935-111-X.
External links
