Historic Area

The Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg stretches over 301 acres, and includes 88 original 18th-century structures. Hundreds of houses, shops and public outbuildings are reconstructed on their original foundations. Some buildings are open to the public, while others are private residences and administrative offices. A flag at a building's entrance indicates that the site is open. Learn more about how this sleepy town transformed into a window on history.

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  Political sites

  Mere brick and mortar contained the combustion of ideas that were catalyst to the American Revolution. The opulent Governor's Palace was the embodiment of British order in the colonies. The Capitol was witness to the vote for America's move to independence. The Raleigh Tavern's neutral setting encouraged free debate. The Magazine held the colony's guns and ammunition, standing as a literal symbol of self-reliance. Learn more in our online feature, Tour the Town.

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  Homes and public buildings

  Nose through the homes of the elite gentry class and everyday middling sort. Period furnishings and knowledgeable costumed interpreters let history surround you in three dimensions. See where Virginia's first signer of the Declaration of Independence, George Wythe, slept. Experience the connection between life and land at Great Hopes Plantation. Walk the rooms where middling gaolkeeper Peter Pelham and his family spent their days. Learn more in our online feature, Tour the Town.

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  Great Hopes Plantation

  Experience 18th-century rural farming on a Virginia plantation. See African American slave life interpreted through interactive programs and demonstrations. Learn more.

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  Gardens

  Plants and blooms authentic to Virginia in the 18th century unfurl with the seasons in Historic Area gardens. Take a walking tour of gardens both decorative and functional, or stroll at your own pace to see what's blooming. Learn more about Colonial Williamsburg's gardens and landscapes.

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  Nation Builders

  Don't just walk the same streets as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry— walk alongside them. Costumed interpreters undertake years of study to render the founding fathers in first person every day. See them in Revolutionary City's street-theater scenes, or ask your questions during "Conversation With a Founding Father" programs.

  Alongside these giants of American history, meet people whose faces you won't find on coins or bills. The everyday people you'll encounter in the Historic Area made contributions as momentous as the founding fathers'. Without money, title, property or power, many remarkable individuals influenced the course of America's experiment in self-governance. Meet these preachers, servants, farmers, and craftsmen and hear their stories.

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  Historic Trades Shops

  Practicing tradesmen make Colonial Williamsburg a living town, ringing with clanging hammers and tinged with the smoke of industry. Visit the blacksmith, see what the saddler is working on, smell what's cooking in the kitchens, and more. Twenty trades are practiced with 18th-century methods and tools, learn more about them all.

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  Rare Breeds

  Hoofs and horns have as large a role in making the Historic Area authentic as human hands. The rare breeds program populates Williamsburg's pastures and pens with animals that would have been here 200 years ago: the sheep, cows, horses, oxen, chickens and fowls that scratched the dirt and loped the lanes. See them throughout the town, and learn more online.