Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Virginia

• Short List

Kendall-Gardner Site

During the summer of 2003 the Department of Archaeological Research, with assistance from students from the College of William and Mary, excavated an eighteenth-century sawpit just west of the George Wythe property, north of the Bruton Parish Churchyard. Though vacant today, Colonial Lot 241 was occupied successively, during the late 1760s and early 1770s, by two carpenters, Joshua Kendall and James Gardner. Advertisements printed in the Virginia Gazette provide accounts of the types of work that Kendall and Gardner performed-everything from painting and gilding to sash-making and plumbing. Yet, the appearance of this carpenter’s yard remains sketchy. The purpose of the 2003 excavation was to gather physical evidence for the Kendall-Gardner trade site, enabling Colonial Williamsburg to reconstruct an historically-accurate carpenter’s yard sometime in the future.

Rich Neck Plantation

In summer 2000, for the seventh year, Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists examined a fascinating seventeenth-century plantation complex about a mile west of the Historic Area. Rich Neck Plantation, home of Philip and Thomas Ludwell in the 1660s and 1670s, was among the great plantations that have become a hallmark of early Tidewater Virginia and Maryland. One of the founding plantations of the area known as Middle Plantation (the community that preceded Williamsburg), Rich Neck’s architectural sophistication and elaborate layout set it apart from nearly all of its colonial neighbors.

John Page Site

In 1989, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation acquired the Bruton Heights School property on the outskirts of the Historic Area and began an ambitious construction program culminating in the opening of the Bruton Heights School Education Center (BHSEC) in 1997. Archaeological excavations on the property revealed one of the most exciting archaeological sites yet discovered in Williamsburg—the seventeenth-century home and property of wealthy planter and councilor John Page. The story below was taken from the site’s archaeological report, "‘Upon the Palisado’ and Other Stories of Place from Bruton Heights," by John Metz, Jennifer Jones, Dwayne Pickett, and David Muraca (Colonial Williamsburg Research Publications, 1998).

James Wray Site

In October 2002, Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists completed a nine-month excavation at the James Wray Site prior to the construction of a parking facility for the City of Williamsburg. The archaeological evidence spans the centuries from seventeenth-century Middle Plantation to the modern era. The archaeological research, in conjunction with historical documents such as maps, deeds, accounts, and inventories, are beginning to elucidate the rich and varied history of the artisan activities undertaken at the Wray Site during the eighteenth century.

Douglass-Hallam Theater Site

Colonial Williamsburg’s ambition to reconstruct an eighteenth-century theater is now six decades old. Archaeologists from the foundation are currently excavating the remains of Williamsburg’s last colonial theater, which stood from 1760 until approximately 1780. Located on the eastern side of the Capitol, the Douglass/Hallam Theater, the name by which it is referred to today, was a large two or three story wood and brick structure. The ongoing archaeological work on the playhouse is seeking to provide ideas about what this complex structure looked like. In addition, the research will also shed light on how the theater functioned within Williamsburg’s colonial landscape.

James Anderson Site

Excavations on the site of James Anderson’s blacksmith shop were held between June 2000 and February 2001. The excavations were intended to help us understand the activities taking place in and around two small outbuildings on the southern half of the property.

Peyton Randolph Site

In July 1982, Colonial Williamsburg’s newly-formed Office of Excavation and Conservation started its first undertaking: the archaeological investigation of the Peyton Randolph back lot. It was this project that built the foundations upon which the Department of Architectural and Archaeological Research has based its long-range research program and where it developed the methods and techniques needed to carry that program out. It wasn’t the first time archaeology had visited the Peyton Randolph property, however. That was over 60 years ago.