The Governor's Palace in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...

, was the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the royal governors of the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. It was also a home for two of Virginia's post-colonial governors,

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, until the capital was moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 1780, and with it the governor's residence. The main house burned down in 1781, though the outbuildings survived for some time after. The Governor's Palace was reconstructed in the 1930s on its original site. It is one of the two largest buildings at

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

, the other being the Capitol.

History

Williamsburg was established as the new capital of the Virginia colony in 1699, and served in that capacity until 1780. During most of that period, the Governor's Palace was the official residence of the royal governor.

Construction and design

The palace was funded by the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

in 1706 at the behest of Lt. Governor

Edward Nott Colonel Edward Nott (1657 – August 23, 1706) was an English Colonial Governor of Virginia. He was appointed by Queen Anne on either April 25, 1705 or August 15, 1705. His administration lasted only one year, as he died in 1706 at the age of 49. ...

. It was built from 1706 onward. In 1710, its first official resident was Lt. Governor

Alexander Spotswood Alexander Spotswood (12 December 1676 – 7 June 1740) was a British Army officer, explorer and lieutenant governor of Colonial Virginia; he is regarded as one of the most significant historical figures in British North American colonial h ...

who served as acting governor; the governor proper,

George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney Field Marshal George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, KT (9 February 1666 – 29 January 1737), styled Lord George Hamilton from 1666 to 1696, was a British soldier and Scottish nobleman and the first British Army officer to be promoted to the ran ...

, was absentee and is not known to have visited Virginia. Spotswood continued to improve on it until ca. 1720–1722, adding the forecourt, gardens, and various decorations. Under Lt. Gov.

Robert Dinwiddie Robert Dinwiddie (1692 – 27 July 1770) was a British colonial administrator who served as lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia from 1751 to 1758, first under Governor Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, and then, from July 1756 ...

, from 1751 to 52, it was repaired and renovated, including the addition of a large rear addition featuring a

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

. The exterior of the Governor’s Place inspired the design of the Sigma Nu Theta Chapter fraternity house at the University of Alabama.

Occupants

The seven governors who lived in the original palace included: *Alexander Spotswood *

Francis Fauquier Francis Fauquier (1703 – 3 March 1768) was a lieutenant governor of Virginia Colony (in what is today the United States), and served as acting governor from 1758 until his death in 1768. He was a noted teacher and close friend of Thomas Jeffers ...

Lord Botetourt Baron Botetourt ( ) is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ of summons on 19 June 1305. It became abeyant in 1406, was recalled from abeyance in 1764 for Norborne Berkeley. However, it became abeyant again on his dea ...

Hugh Drysdale Colonel Hugh Drysdale (died 22 July 1726) was an American governor of colonial Virginia. He was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College Dublin. More officially, his title was ''Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony and ...

* William Gooch *Robert Dinwiddie *

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809), known as Lord Dunmore, was a British people, British Peerage, nobleman and Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies, colonial governor in the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies ...

Home to a colonial mayor: *

John Amson John Amson (1698 – death unknown, possibly 1765) was an English physician and amateur botanist who moved to Virginia and served as alderman and mayor of Williamsburg, during the Colonial period, from 1750 to 1751. Biography Amson owned lo ...

, 1750-1751 It was also home to the post-colonial governors: *

, 1776-1779 *

, 1779-1780

Destruction

Around 1779, Governor Thomas Jefferson proposed the remodeling of the Palace in manner in keeping with his neoclassical ideals. The proposal would have added a temple-like portico to the front and back. However, in 1780, Jefferson urged that the capital of Virginia be relocated to

for security reasons during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The new lodging for the governor adjacent to the current

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...

building in Richmond is more modest in size and style, and is called the Governor's Mansion. On December 22, 1781, the main building was destroyed by a fire. At the time, it was being used as a hospital for wounded American soldiers following the nearby

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

. Some brick outbuildings survived the fire, but were demolished during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

so they could be salvaged for building materials by occupying forces. In the 1880s, as the

C&O Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

was building the

Peninsula Extension The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an ...

east to

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, due to difficulties in acquiring right of way along the preferred route, temporary tracks were laid along Main Street/Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, passing through the area of the former Palace.

Reconstruction

Gardens and Governor's Palace Williamsburg Virginia by Frances Benjamin Johnston

Through the efforts of Reverend Dr.

W.A.R. Goodwin William Archer Rutherfoord Goodwin (June 18, 1869 – September 7, 1939) (or W.A.R. Goodwin as he preferred or "the Doctor" as commonly used to his annoyance) was an Episcopal priest, historian, and author. As the rector of Bruton Parish Church, ...

, rector of

Bruton Parish Church Bruton Parish Church is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony, and remains an active Epis ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...

, whose family provided major funding, the elaborate and ornate palace was carefully recreated in the early 20th century. The reconstruction was based on numerous surviving pieces of evidence. Archaeological excavations of the site revealed the original foundations and cellar, together with architectural remnants that had fallen in during the fire. Jefferson's drawings and plans from his proposed renovation have survived, conveying the interior plan. In 1929, while the project was already in planning, a copperplate engraving nicknamed the

Bodleian Plate The Bodleian Plate is a copperplate depicting several colonial buildings of 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as several types of native flora, fauna, and American Indians. Following its 1929 rediscovery in the archives of the Bodleia ...

was discovered in England's

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. The plate included renderings c. 1740 of the exterior of the palace, along with the Capitol and the Wren Building. Additional evidence included original artifacts and

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

records. The house, outbuildings, and gardens opened as an exhibition on April 23, 1934. In early 1981, the Governor's Palace underwent significant interior renovation and refurnishing to reflect updated scholarship of the building and its furnishings. The renovation reduced the influence of the Colonial Revival style in favor of historical evidence, including records found at

Badminton House Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to th ...

in the UK.

References

External links

Colonial Williamsburg, Governor's Palace web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Governors Palace Colonial architecture in Virginia Houses in Williamsburg, Virginia Colonial Williamsburg Historic house museums in Virginia Museums in Williamsburg, Virginia Palaces in the United States Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth 1710 establishments in Virginia Historic district contributing properties in Virginia Rebuilt buildings and structures in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Williamsburg, Virginia Baroque palaces Governor of Virginia Former governors' mansions in the United States