Merchants Square, A & P Store

Dublin Core

Title

Merchants Square, A & P Store

Subject

Block 15.
A & P Store (Williamsburg, Va.)
Merchants Square (Williamsburg, Va.)
Historic buildings -- Virginia -- Williamsburg
Stores -- Retail -- Virginia -- Williamsburg
Craft House (Williamsburg, Va.)

Description

Exterior view of the A & P Store (south side of Merchants Square), from the corner of Duke of Gloucester Street and North Henry Streets, 1935.  The A&P Food Market, which was later converted into the Craft House, stands at the street corner.  Next door is the National Barber Shop and Rose's 5-10-25 Store.  A group of residents are relaxing on benches along the sidewalk while several others converse with occupants of automobiles parked along the edge of the shopping district.

When Colonial Williamsburg first opened as a museum in the 1930s, Duke of Gloucester Street consisted of a combination of exhibition buildings and commercial establishments, and several grocers operated small food markets in restored or reconstructed structures. The A&P Food Market, shown here in Merchants Square on the southwestern corner of South Henry Street and Duke of Gloucester Street, offered a place for town residents and tourists to pick up refreshments.

Merchants Square, a "retail village" located at the far western end of the Historic Area on Duke of Gloucester Street "...near the Wren Building of the College of William and Mary...was America's first shopping center and remains a national landmark."

(Source: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg, A Pocket Guide: Essential Information for Touring the Historic Area [Williamsburg, Va.: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2011], 74).

Creator

Lincoln, F.S.

Date

1935

Date Created

1935

Rights

This material is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). For reproduction queries: Rights and reproductions

Format

jpeg

Type

Image

Identifier

LC365P5

Rights Holder

Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Gelatin or collodian printing out paper with platinum toning, mounted on board

Physical Dimensions

8x10 inches

Citation

Lincoln, F.S., “Merchants Square, A & P Store,” John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, accessed March 29, 2024, https://rocklib.omeka.net/items/show/307.