THE RESTORATION OF WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA By Alexander J. Wall The idea of restoring and preserving the colonial city of Williamsburg, Va., originated with the Rev. W. A. R. Goodwin, Rector of Bruton Parish Church, in that town, where George Washington frequently attended services. Since the project was considered one-third finished in January, 1931, at an'expenditure of seven million dollars, it is interesting to record the facts in this, the greatest restoration work ever undertaken in the United States, and to tell of the objectives in this monumental program. In colonial America, Williamsburg held a very important place as the capital of the Virginia Colony from 1700 to 1779, and the home of William and Mary College, chartered in 1693. Among the residents were some of the most distinguished men of the day, and many events of historic significance occurred there as well as at Yorktown and Jamestown nearby. Dr. Goodwin spoke, in 1925, on "The College of William and Mary and its Historic Environment" at a meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, held in New York City, at which Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was present. At subsequent meetings of these two gentlemen in Williamsburg, a plan for the complete restoration of the city was discussed with the result that Mr. Rockefeller decided to undertake it. Thereupon the Williamsburg Holding Corporation was created which eventually acquired about ninety per cent, of the property that comprised the colonial city. In August, 1931, when the writer visited the city, 321 buildings of modern construction had been torn down; 22 had been moved and relocated outside of the restoration area; 34 of the original structures had been restored, and 18 repaired. The plan is to reconstruct only the area comprising the colonial city—not the later expansion—and to restore or reproduce the buildings which existed there between the years 1699 and 1840. This area includes the Duke of Gloucester Street, extending from the College of William and Mary to the colonial capitol site— 3