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Open Government Performance Summary. With nowhere for the government to function, many colonial officials soon began lobbying to move the capital from Jamestown to Middle Plantation; however, the Crown was not keen to move the capital away from the James River. As Middle Plantation continued to develop, Jamestown met with further troubles. Not long after the new statehouse was completed, it was again destroyed by fire on October 20, This time the outcry to move the capital away from Jamestown had two key champions: Francis Nicholson and the Reverend James Blair.
Nicholson had served briefly as lieutenant governor of Virginia — , and was a cofounder, with Blair, of the College of William and Mary. After being appointed governor of Virginia in , Nicholson continued to be a key supporter of the College of William and Mary and, by extension, Middle Plantation. Blair, meanwhile, used his position as president of the college to gain influence over the House of Burgesses, and on May Day five students presented orations to the House—written by Blair and Nicholson for the purposes of lobbying the burgesses—extolling the benefits of moving the capital to Middle Plantation.
Soon after the General Assembly voted to establish a new capital at Williamsburg, Nicholson undertook a massive public building campaign. Theodorick Bland conducted a survey and divided the land into half-acre lots, setting some aside for public buildings and green space. The Duke of Gloucester Street—named for William, Duke of Gloucester, the son of the future Queen Anne and the cousin of King William III—was expanded from a horse path to a ninety-nine-foot-wide street that connected the college to the new capitol building completed in when the government began functioning in that space and brick jail the Public Gaol one mile to the east.
While taverns and storefronts appeared on the Duke of Gloucester Street to support those workers involved in construction efforts, construction of the new capital was slow to gain momentum.
The developing city suffered two setbacks in , when Nicholson was removed from office and the College of William and Mary caught fire for the first time. As a result, the General Assembly in amended its act in an effort to encourage more construction efforts in the city. Building efforts were renewed when a new lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, arrived in Williamsburg during the summer of Spotswood championed many important projects in Williamsburg, including the rebuilding of the College of William and Mary; the construction of the brick powder magazine, which stored arms and black powder and was erected in the city center in ; and the enlargement of the Bruton Parish Church, also completed in The merchant William Levingston built the first theater in colonial America in Williamsburg, and Spotswood himself sponsored its first play in On July 28, , the Crown granted the city a royal charter, which granted Williamsburg a Crown-appointed mayor, John Holloway, as well as six aldermen, a common council, and a representative in the House of Burgesses.
The charter also made provisions for a public market, to be held on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Market Square, located at the center of the city near the magazine. The period from to was a tenuous one for Williamsburg. While the city saw many important developments during this period, such as the founding of the Virginia Gazette by the printer William Parks in , it saw devastation as well.
On January 30, , the capitol building burnt down to its foundations. The next year a smallpox epidemic raged throughout the city. Gooch reopened the General Assembly in October , when members met to discuss whether to move the capital away from Williamsburg in light of the capitol building suffering from extensive fire damage.
The historian Mark R. For instance, the tailor Robert Nicolson, the wheelwright Benjamin Powell, and the silversmith James Geddy all either purchased or expanded their homes during this period. In the Associates of Dr. Bray , a group formed in by the Anglican clergyman Thomas Bray to proselytize and educate African Americans and Native Americans, established a school in Williamsburg.
On May 29, , the House of Burgesses adopted five resolutions put forward by Patrick Henry condemning the Stamp Act—which taxed colonists by requiring them to purchase stamps for virtually every piece of paper—as a violation of their rights as Englishmen. A few months later, the Stamp Act provoked another act of protest, this one on the east end of the Duke of Gloucester Street.
George Mercer, the appointed stamp distributer for Virginia, described the event in a letter written to the people of Williamsburg and dated October 31, Virginia was divided into 8 shires or counties in In working small and middle-sized tracts, the early colonists foretold the upper James City County farms of today. Williamsburg was founded as the capital of the Virginia Colony in The original capital, Jamestown was the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World founded in Colonial leaders petitioned the Virginia Assembly to relocate the capital from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, five miles inland between the James and the York Rivers.
Williamsburg celebrated its th Anniversary in A succession of beautiful capitol buildings became home to the oldest legislative assembly in the New World. The young city grew quickly into the center of political, religious, economic and social life in Virginia. Williamsburg also became a center of learning. The first hospital established in America for the care and treatment of mental illness was founded in Williamsburg in General George Washington assembled the Continental Army in Williamsburg in for the siege of nearby Yorktown and the winning of American independence.
The Capital was again moved in , this time up the James River to Richmond, where it remains today. Williamsburg reverted to a quiet college town and rural county seat. Rockefeller, Jr. National attention soon focused on the restoration effort. During a landmark visit in , Franklin D. The peninsula became a center for troop training and embarkation, munitions manufacturing, and supply storage.
Neighboring York County became the site of Penniman, a quickly built munitions town of 15, inhabitants that is now only a memory. Williamsburg was the base of supplies and rail center for the new town, and James City County was called upon in many ways to provide food, services, and wartime housing.
By the s, automobile travel had begun to revolutionize the economy. When work was initiated to restore the old capital of Williamsburg, thousands came to see the surviving eighteenth-century buildings and reconstructions of other major governmental properties. Since the National Park Service came on the scene in , the 2 organizations have worked together to protect and develop the island as an important historical site. A scenic parkway was planned to link Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.
The National Park Service in initiated a comprehensive archaeological assessment of Jamestown Island to locate and evaluate its cultural resources for management purposes and for interpretation. Growth A unique County business, the Williamsburg Pottery, had its beginnings in Families of military and civilian workers moved to the area to be near their loved ones. Grove community was settled by Black Americans when the Naval Weapons Station and Camp Peary needed the property on which their homes were located.
After the war, many military and civilian families remained, making their permanent homes in Grove. By the s the economy was growing away from its agricultural heritage and toward manufacturing and service-oriented businesses.
Student enrollment more than doubled from to , leading faculty, administrators, and students to seek new housing areas beyond the city limits. Anniversary Celebration The year was the th anniversary of the arrival of the Jamestown Settlers in , and it marked a dramatic increase in travel to the area. The Colonial Parkway was completed, linking these 3 historical places by a limited access, landscaped byway.
A new surge of tourism was brought to the County by travelers visiting the mansion and grounds. The first lots of the Kingsmill planned community were offered as quality homesites. It has experienced steady growth. Kingsmill was developed starting in Fords Colony opened and started lot sales in James City County also realized that industrial and technology-based businesses were emerging as strong elements of the local economy during this last decade of the Twentieth Century.
Today, James City County is home to over 70, residents and is Its residents and visitors continue to enjoy the proud history of this diverse County. One of the top 15 cities in the U. His easy-going, friendly demeanor has always put us at ease. His knowledge of the area is amazing!
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