HOW TO EXPERIENCE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
From 1699 to 1780 Williamsburg was the capital of England’s oldest, largest and
most populous North American mainland colony and the seat of power in the new
nation’s most influential state. Named in honor of William III, King of England and
designed by Royal Gov. Francis Nicholson, Williamsburg is one of the country’s oldest
planned communities.
Williamsburg is located 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., near Interstate 64
(exit 238). Guests can fly into Norfolk, Newport News/Williamsburg International and
Richmond International airports. All have rental cars and limousine services. Amtrak also
serves the Williamsburg Transportation Center with a connecting train from Washington,
D.C. The center is just blocks from the Historic Area and provides car rentals, a cab stand
and Greyhound Bus connections.
Operating Hours
Colonial Williamsburg’s operating hours generally are 9 a.m.–5 p.m. but vary by
season. Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area is open seven days a week, 365 days a
year.
Historic Area
Encompassing 301 acres, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area programming
portrays 18th-century Williamsburg on the eve of the American Revolution. Throughout
the city, an engaging mix of sights, sounds and activities help guests reconnect with
America’s past and become active participants in 18th-century life. Important Historic
Area sites include the Governor’s Palace, the symbol of British authority in the colony;
the Capitol, the seat of colonial power and site of Virginia’s vote for independence on
May 15, 1776, and home to the General Assembly from 1776 to 79; the Peyton Randolph
site, an “urban plantation;” Raleigh Tavern, where Virginia patriots met to discuss
independence in open defiance of the crown; George Wythe House, home of Thomas
Jefferson’s teacher and friend; and the James Geddy House and Foundry, site of an upand-
coming family business. The Historic Area is protected from modern intrusions by a
2,800-acre greenbelt.
Museums
Colonial Williamsburg operates the Museums of Colonial Williamsburg: the Public
Hospital, which provides exhibits that document the treatment of mental illness from the
hospital’s founding in 1773 to its destruction by fire in 1885; the DeWitt Wallace
Decorative Arts Museum that displays the Foundation’s exceptional collection of British
and American decorative arts; the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in expanded
quarters adjacent to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum with 11 galleries in
10,400 square feet of exhibition space. In addition, the Foundation also operates Bassett
Hall, the Williamsburg home of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr.
Accommodations
Colonial Williamsburg guests may choose from 1,000 guest rooms in five hotel
properties: the elegant Williamsburg Inn; 26 individual Colonial Houses–Historic
Lodging where guests can immerse themselves in the 18th century; the newly renovated
and expanded Williamsburg Lodge; the contemporary Woodlands Hotel & Suites, nestled
in the woods near the Visitor Center; and the moderately priced Governor’s Inn, located
four blocks from Merchants Square. Vacation packages include length-of-stay passes to
the Historic Area and special rates for evening programs. Details are available online at
http://www.ColonialWilliamsburg.com.
Conference Facilities
Meetings have been important in Williamsburg since members of the House of
Burgesses met in the Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern to protest British taxation of
the colonies. The renovated and expanded Williamsburg Lodge offers 45,000 square feet
of flexible meeting space and 28 versatile function rooms. Classic American furnishings
and folk art reproductions inspired by pieces in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art
Museum make the conference center unlike any other. The 11,200-square-foot Virginia
Room includes an elegant prefunction space with sweeping views of the countryside and
the Virginia Lawn, which can accommodate outdoor events. The 7,000-square-foot
Colony Room and Governor Jefferson executive board room provide additional options.
The Williamsburg Lodge conference center has hosted heads of state, brides,
corporations and government officials. It is located adjacent to the Historic Area and
across the street from The Spa of Colonial Williamsburg and the Golden Horseshoe Golf
Club.
Dining
Colonial Williamsburg operates four historic dining taverns in the Historic Area.
Each tavern offers unique 18th-century-style menus served in authentic colonial
surroundings.
Chowning’s Tavern
serves light fare and spirits in the style of a traditional
pit barbecue. After 5 p.m., Chowning’s becomes Gambols, an 18th-century alehouse,
serving beer, wines and other beverages and light fare and engaging guests in song and
18th-century games. Christiana Campbell’s Tavern
is the place for seafood. Shields
Tavern
is a coffeehouse serving light fare, coffee, tea and spirits.
King’s Arms Tavern is a full-service chophouse offering selections including peanut soup and roast prime rib
of beef. Guests looking for a more elegant setting also can dine in the Williamsburg Inn’s
award-winning Regency Room or the new Williamsburg Lodge restaurant, serving
regional favorites from the Chesapeake and local markets.
Recreation
The 45-hole Golden Horseshoe Golf Club includes the award-winning Gold
Course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr.; the Green Course, designed by his son, Rees
Jones; and Spotswood, a nine-hole executive course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Both courses were named to the 2006–2007
Zagat Readers’ Survey of “America’s Top Golf Courses.” Guests at Colonial Williamsburg’s hotels also can enjoy swimming pools, tennis courts, lawn bowling greens, lawn croquet, shuffleboard, bicycling and miniature golf.
Shopping
Guests can purchase authentic reproductions, Colonial Williamsburg foods and
other products in Historic Area shops, at the Colonial Nursery, and from merchants’
booths at Market Square. Outside the Historic Area, Colonial Williamsburg operates
retail stores that range from WILLIAMSBURG Booksellers
at the Visitor Center to
WILLIAMSBURG At Home
, the flagship store for WILLIAMSBURG
home furnishings, decorative accessories and gifts, located in Merchants Square.
Recognized as one of the first planned shopping malls in the United States,
Merchants Square is home to over 40 shops and restaurants, including local and national
specialty stores and a variety of dining options. It also is operated by The Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation.
Specialty Products
The WILLIAMSBURG brand offers fresh, spirited designs in all categories of
home and gift. With products inspired by the 18th century and designed for today’s
lifestyle, WILLIAMSBURG is the preeminent leader of American style. The Colonial
Williamsburg Products Program includes 60 licensees producing more than 7,000
products under the WILLIAMSBURG and WILLIAMSBURG Reserve brands. It
operates 24 retail stores, a mail-order catalog and an ecommerce site. Sales of
WILLIAMSBURG products support the preservation, research and educational programs
of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the not-for-profit organization that oversees
the restored colonial capital in Williamsburg, Va. For more information, call
1-800-414-6291 or visit http://www.WilliamsburgMarketplace.com.
Historic Trades
Archaeological Research
Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Archaeological Research oversees the
largest colonial period archaeological collection in the United States, consisting of
several million objects and fragments recovered during more than 70 years of excavation
and extensive comparative historic period faunal and archaeobotanical collections. The
department offers extensive interpretations of ongoing excavations, guided behind-thescenes
tours of laboratories and public participation programs including school group
visits. For more information on the Foundation’s archaeological department and
excavations taking place onsite, visit
http://research.history.org/Archaeological_Research.cfm.
Colonial Resources
Colonial Williamsburg’s John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library is committed to
advancing knowledge of colonial British America, the American Revolution and the early
United States. Through a specialized collection of books, journals, manuscripts, visual
resources and online services, linked with fellowship and conference programs, the
library supports and encourages research in late 17th- and 18th-century colonial America,
the Revolutionary War era and the early republic, including the colonial Chesapeake,
African American studies, the decorative arts, archaeology, architectural history and
historic preservation. A cornerstone of the Bruton Heights School Education Center, a
30-acre complex of research and collections storage facilities near the Historic Area, the
John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library serves scholars, advanced students, the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation staff and the public.
The Foundation offers several ways to access collections online. One of the most
comprehensive online databases for 18th-century primary documents, “Eighteenth-
Century Collections Online” (ECCO), now is available at Colonial Williamsburg’s John
D. Rockefeller Jr. Library. ECCO gives scholars, students and the general public access
to a library of more than 150,000 printed volumes and 26 million pages to aid them in
research. A map-based, Internet research tool, eWilliamsburg, can be accessed online at
research.history.org/ewilliamsburg. Users pull up the map on a computer screen, roll their
cursor over a building in the Historic Area, get a description of it, including an image and
a list of reports starting with the most recent and working back chronologically from
newest to oldest. For more information on the Foundation’s historical research
department, visit http://research.history.org/Historical_Research.cfm.
General Information:
1-800-HISTORY (1-800-447-8769)
Web site:
A Master Planned Golf Community Greensprings West offers a wide range of custom builders, new and resale homes Located in James City County/Williamsburg, 
Virginia on the grounds of the historic Green Spring Plantation it is built around the award winning Williamsburg National Golf Course. New homes currently start in the $400,000’s to $600,000’s, with resale home prices starting in the $300,000’s. Greensprings West offers golf course, waterfront, and wooded lots starting in the mid-$100,000’s.
courts, playground and a beautiful clubhouse. An active homeowner association has many social events throughout the year.
and home choices. From 3 bedrooms to 5 bedroom models. Square footage ranges from 2000+ to over 5000 square feet.
Around 250 homes have been completed so far.
From the chart below you will see that sale prices in 2008 ranged from$355,000 to $663,802. List prices as of today range from $389,000 to $675,000. The average days on market for homes in Greensprings West in the last 12 months was 117 days . The average price per square foot on homes sold in Greensprings West in the last 12 months was $157.00 . 19 homes sold in Greensprings West in the last 12 months. 14 are currently for sale. Current Sales activity in Greensprings West (Statistics from Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors (WAAR) WMLS)
Recently voted the number one master planned community in the United States, Ford’s Colony in historic Williamsburg, Virginia is a relaxed and gracious
community offering a variety of home styles and amenities.
proceed.”In our own community, projects have basically stopped,” said Council Member Paul Freiling. “Here we have a property owner willing to invest what I think is a large amount of money in this development.
Research the area at 
The developers are also seeking a zoning change from the RM-1 district, which allows eight units per acre, to RM-2, which allows 14.
Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia 