What is Colonial Williamsburg?

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CWF) is a nonprofit educational organization operating a 301-acre living history museum campus and two renowned art museums. It is also one of the world’s leading centers for researching early American history and culture.

From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most influential British colony in North America. Virginians gathered in Williamsburg to pass laws, hold trials, buy and sell goods, and debate ideas.

Radical ideas turned to revolutionary action in Williamsburg, propelled by leaders like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. In May 1776, Virginia’s leaders gathered at the Capitol to instruct the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to declare American independence.

Native peoples came to Williamsburg for education, trade, and diplomacy, stories now told at the American Indian Encampment, shown here.

Colonial Williamsburg researchers continue to learn more about this 18th-century community, and its world, every day. Through research, programming, and preservation, CWF advances the mission Rockefeller wrote in 1932, “That the future may learn from the past.”

CWF’s expert interpreters educate visitors about Williamsburg’s stories. Most interpreters in historic dress do not portray a specific 18th-century individual.

However, actor-interpreters, known as Nation Builders, research and portray historical figures like George and Martha Washington (pictured).

Colonial Williamsburg’s expert tradespeople educate visitors about more than 20 historic trades and skills, including wigmaking, blacksmithing, joinery, brickmaking, and printing. CWF is the only place in the world where some trades are still practiced in their 18th-century form.

Colonial Williamsburg preserves more than 600 historic buildings, of which 89 are original to the 18th century. Reconstructed buildings were created according to archaeological findings and extensive research into period architectural details.

The outdoor spaces of Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area are designed and reconstructed according to archaeological and documentary evidence. These garden spaces offer insight into how Williamsburg’s 18th-century community lived, worked, and ate.

Colonial Williamsburg’s Rare Breeds program preserves livestock breeds that thrived in 18th-century British America. Horses, oxen, sheep, and fowl all play a part in the living history experience, providing CWF’s trades with labor and materials like wool and manure.

Colonial Williamsburg’s extensive collections include more than 77,000 antiques and works of fine, decorative, mechanical, and folk art. Much of this vast collection is displayed in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.

Conservation professionals analyze and care for CWF’s buildings and collections, including over 19,000 architectural fragments and 60 million archaeological artifacts. This work spans seven media-specific labs, a material analysis lab, and North America’s largest Preventive Conservation lab.

Colonial Williamsburg’s research hub is the John D. Rockefeller Library, affectionately known as “the Rock.” Its collections include more than 70,000 books and journals, half a million photographs and other images, and over 11,800 rare books.

Teachers from across the U.S. gather in Williamsburg each summer for a one-of-a-kind experience allowing them to learn from CWF experts and bring their knowledge back to their students across all 50 states. Online and onsite programs engage educators throughout the year.

Colonial Williamsburg has long been a national leader in harnessing technology to reach those unable to visit. Millions of users experience this history through the CWF website, YouTube, educational games, social media, and the educator resource platform history.org.

Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area changes as new evidence emerges. The Williamsburg Bray School building, where hundreds of Black children were educated from 1760 to 1774, was rediscovered in 2020, moved to CWF’s Historic Area in 2023, and opened to the public in 2025.

Every day, Colonial Williamsburg’s expert researchers and interpreters collaborate to bring the story of this 18th-century community to life through programs, exhibits, and hands-on experiences. In doing so, they continue the unending work “That the Future May Learn from the Past."