Historical documentation also suggests, however, that the building may have been repurposed later as a guardhouse. “In July 1730 the Governor’s House was reported as being ‘very inconvenient for want of a covered way from the offices into the House’ and ‘a Sum not exceeding one Hundred Pounds’ was appropriated ‘for Building a Covered Way from the Offices belonging to the Governor’s House into the said House.” In 1745, historian Henry Howe apparently referred to the Palace’s Advance Buildings as “’…two small brick structures, the remains of the Palace…that on the right was the office, and the one on the left the guard house.’”
(Sources: A. Lawrence Kocher and Thomas T. Waterman, “Governor’s Palace Advance Outbuildings: Block 20, Buildings 3B & 3C Architectural Report,” [Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1952], 6-7; Ed Chappel, in-person communication in Special Collections Dept., John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, 11 April 2014, Williamsburg, Va.).
]]>Exterior of the western Advance Building of the Governor's Palace, 1933. Reconstructed between March 1932 and April 1934, the western Advance Building likely served varying functions over time. According to architectural historian Ed Chappel (the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Shirley and Richard Roberts Director of Architectural and Archaeological Research), the structure probably served originally as a kitchen in the Palace's early years. Based on archaeological evidence found in the western Advance Building's original eighteenth-century foundations, the hearth was found to be of a larger size, which would correspond to the functional needs of a kitchen. Today, the location of the present-day Palace Kitchen correlates closely with the site of what may have been a later eighteenth-century kitchen outbuilding within the Palace complex.
Historical documentation also suggests, however, that the building may have been repurposed later as a guardhouse. “In July 1730 the Governor’s House was reported as being ‘very inconvenient for want of a covered way from the offices into the House’ and ‘a Sum not exceeding one Hundred Pounds’ was appropriated ‘for Building a Covered Way from the Offices belonging to the Governor’s House into the said House.” In 1745, historian Henry Howe apparently referred to the Palace’s Advance Buildings as “’…two small brick structures, the remains of the Palace…that on the right was the office, and the one on the left the guard house.’”
(Sources: A. Lawrence Kocher and Thomas T. Waterman, “Governor’s Palace Advance Outbuildings: Block 20, Buildings 3B & 3C Architectural Report,” [Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1952], 6-7; Ed Chappel, in-person communication in Special Collections Dept., John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, 11 April 2014, Williamsburg, Va.).
The Grissell Hay Lodging House, Kitchen, and other outbuildings are located on the corner of Nicholson and North England Street, and are original structures dating to the eighteenth century. “The core of the house may date from around 1720, when it belonged to Dr. Archibald Blair, a Scottish physician and a partner in Williamsburg’s leading mercantile business, the Prentis Store. The present exterior probably dates from the second half of the eighteenth century. Apothecary Peter Hay, whose shop on Duke of Gloucester Street burned in 1756, lived here in the 1760s. After Hay’s death, his widow, Grissell, operated the dwelling as a lodging house. Widows who needed to support themselves and their children often kept lodging houses (the equivalent of today’s bed-and-breakfasts).”
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 48).
]]>Exterior of the Grissell Hay Kitchen, viewed from North England Street, 1933. The one and a half story structure with a large chimney is a typical form for a colonial kitchen, and provided a freestanding building for cooks to work in. This allowed the home to stay cooler during summer months and helped to prevent fires from spreading beyond the outbuilding. The Grissell Hay Kitchen stands behind the Grissell Hay Lodging House (not pictured here), which "…may be one of the first houses on Market Square."
The Grissell Hay Lodging House, Kitchen, and other outbuildings are located on the corner of Nicholson and North England Street, and are original structures dating to the eighteenth century. “The core of the house may date from around 1720, when it belonged to Dr. Archibald Blair, a Scottish physician and a partner in Williamsburg’s leading mercantile business, the Prentis Store. The present exterior probably dates from the second half of the eighteenth century. Apothecary Peter Hay, whose shop on Duke of Gloucester Street burned in 1756, lived here in the 1760s. After Hay’s death, his widow, Grissell, operated the dwelling as a lodging house. Widows who needed to support themselves and their children often kept lodging houses (the equivalent of today’s bed-and-breakfasts).”
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 48).
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 103-104).
]]>Exterior of the John Blair House, viewed from Duke of Gloucester Street, 1933. "The John Blair House and Kitchen on the north side of Duke of Gloucester Street was the home of a prominent family of Virginians. The Reverend James Blair (1655-1743), founder and first president of the College of William and Mary, came to Virginia in 1685....The original, easterly part of the John Blair House was built early in the eighteenth century. It is one of the oldest houses in Williamsburg. Town tradition has it that the stone steps at both doors came from the Palace Street theater. The steps were added when the house was lengthened twenty-eight feet to the west sometime during the second quarter of the eighteenth century."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 103-104).
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 132).
]]>Exterior of the John Orrell House, viewed on the south side of Francis Street, 1933. "Probably built between 1750 and 1775, the Orrell House takes its name from John Orrell, who acquired the property about 1810. The entrance hall, or 'passage,' of the house, an otherwise typical gambrel-roofed dwelling, is not centered, so all the living quarters are to one side of the passage. The house forms on plan an exact square whose sides measure twenty-eight feet, and, because the roof ridge is twenty-eight feet above the top of the basement wall, it is proportioned as an ideal geometric cube. Today, it is a hotel facility."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 132).
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 133).
]]>Exterior of the Masonic Lodge, viewed from Francis Street, 1933. "The...Masonic Lodge on the north side of Francis Street stands where 'the ancient and loyal society of free and accepted Masons' met in the late eighteenth century. The Williamsburg chapter, which had been meeting at local taverns since mid-century, received a new charter in 1773. Its members included Peyton Randolph, Peter Pelham, Bishop James Madison, St. George Tucker, and James Monroe. In the 1770s, the lodge held its regular meetings at Market Square Tavern and patronized Christiana Campbell's Tavern for balls and special entertainments. The Masons leased a portion of this lot and met in a building on this property from the 1780s onward."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 133).
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 164-165).
]]>Proposed addition to the Williamsburg Inn, view from the southeast looking northwest, 1938. This proposed addition was never built. "Abby and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. were involved in every aspect of the design, construction, and furnishing of the Williamsburg Inn. They created one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. When the famed philanthropist first built the Inn in 1937, he insisted that 'the most possible has been made of each room as regards comfort, convenience and charm.' In 2001, Colonial Williamsburg continued to fulfill Rockefeller's original vision through the most extensive interior renovation in the Inn's history spanning the landmark's public spaces and guest rooms, reducing the number from 100 to 62. ...The Williamsburg Inn has welcomed hundreds of VIPs, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, President and Mrs. Jiang Zemin of China, and countless American presidents" and world dignitaries.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 164-165).
The Raleigh Tavern was the frequent scene of both jollity and consequence, and was "....the foremost of Williamsburg's taverns in the eighteenth century. Established about 1717, the Raleigh Tavern grew in size and reputation through the years. Letters, diaries, newspaper advertisements, and other records indicate that the Raleigh was one of the most important taverns in colonial Virginia. It served as a center for social, commercial, and political gatherings; small private and large public dinners; lectures and exhibitions; and auctions of merchandise, land, and the enslaved." Burned to the ground in 1859, the tavern was reconstructed from published illustrations, insurance policies, and archaeology that uncovered most of the original foundations.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60).
]]>Exterior of the Raleigh Tavern, view of the front entrance looking north from across Duke of Gloucester Street, 1933. The tavern's signboard stands in the foreground to the left, while in the background, a gowned female costumed interpreter (once referred to as a "hostess") is shown standing to the right of the building's entrance. A lead bust of Sir Walter Raleigh, the noted navigator-explorer, is featured in the broken pediment above the tavern's front doors.
The Raleigh Tavern was the frequent scene of both jollity and consequence, and was "....the foremost of Williamsburg's taverns in the eighteenth century. Established about 1717, the Raleigh Tavern grew in size and reputation through the years. Letters, diaries, newspaper advertisements, and other records indicate that the Raleigh was one of the most important taverns in colonial Virginia. It served as a center for social, commercial, and political gatherings; small private and large public dinners; lectures and exhibitions; and auctions of merchandise, land, and the enslaved." Burned to the ground in 1859, the tavern was reconstructed from published illustrations, insurance policies, and archaeology that uncovered most of the original foundations.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60).
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60).
]]>Exterior of the Raleigh Tavern, view looking northeast from across Duke of Gloucester Street, 1933. The Raleigh Tavern was the frequent scene of both jollity and consequence, and was "....the foremost of Williamsburg's taverns in the eighteenth century. Established about 1717, the Raleigh Tavern grew in size and reputation through the years. Letters, diaries, newspaper advertisements, and other records indicate that the Raleigh was one of the most important taverns in colonial Virginia. It served as a center for social, commercial, and political gatherings; small private and large public dinners; lectures and exhibitions; and auctions of merchandise, land, and the enslaved." Burned to the ground in 1859, the tavern was reconstructed from published illustrations, insurance policies, and archaeology that uncovered most of the original foundations.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60).