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Make a Gift tutelage of CWF Information History Restored CW Journal Careers at CWF News Releases One palaver to Colonial Williamsburg and it is hard not to stand back and be impress by what is indeed a thrilling and awesome achievework forcet. Once foundation to the budding ideas of independence and democracy and a catalyst to revolution, this historic townsfolk was literally restored from the ground up. Today it is a living and working town on 173 acres, with over 500 historic buildings. But more than retrisolelyive a snapshot of 18th-century life, Colonial Williamsburg serves as a testament to a time when colonists started down the path toward becoming Americans. The motivating force target the towns ongoing operation is the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, a group of dedicated men and women with shared values and a shared missionTo help the rising stop from the past... by preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg. by engaging, informing, and inspiring people a s they learn about this historic compound capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape our new nation. To ensure the Foundations goals, you must know Colonial Williamsburgs history After serving as the capital of Britains largest and most powerful colony and then as the indue of Virginias government, Williamsburg saw historys path veer away. When Richmond became Virginias new capital in 1780, Williamsburg was left a quiet country town with fond but fading memories. Later, the Civil War left scars in Williamsburg, but neither time nor war could extinguish its brilliance. The town stirred excitement in the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin when he arrived in 1903 as rector of Bruton Parish Church. On even walks, he sensed the patriots unseen presence. "They were glad and gallant ghosts," he wrote, "companions of the mute hour of reverie." Inspired, Dr. Goodwin pursued a dream of restoring his beloved town. In 1926, wholeness mans tir eless quest met anothers visionary generosity. Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., undertook restoration of the colonial capital on a scale never before move in American history. Legions of architects, archaeologists, and historians worked with masses of data. The earth yielded old foundations, walls, and cellars. Buried fragments of marble, brick, hardware, and tiles rendered reliable architectural and ornamental clues. When, in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to celebrate the completion of the firstly phase of the restoration, he told the nation, "The atmosphere of a whole glorious chapter in our history has been recaptured.