The history of Williamsburg, Virginia dates to the 17th Century. First named Middle Plantation, it changed its name to Williamsburg in 1699.
Seventeenth Century
Prior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area that became Williamsburg was largely wooded, and well within the territory of the Native American group known as the Powhatan Confederacy. In the early colonial period, navigable rivers were the equivalent of modern highways. For ease of travel, and security from conflicts with Native Americans, early colonial settlements were established close to rivers.
By the 1630s, English settlements had grown to dominate the lower (eastern) portion of the Virginia Peninsula. The Natives had abandoned their villages nearby, such as Kiskiack (also spelled "Chiskiack"), and settled in more remote locations, but continued to intermittently attack the colonists. To protect the lower peninsula's farming and fishing communities, the colonists built a stockade across the lake.
Lying along the center-line of the Virginia Peninsula, the area that became Williamsburg was some distance from both the James River and the York River, and the ground's elevation gradually decreased as it approached the shore of each. Near Williamsburg, College Creek and Queen's Creek fed into one of the two rivers. By anchoring each end on one of these two creeks, the land area was only about wide at that point, much less than at other locations.
The area that became Williamsburg was settled in 1638 and called Middle Plantation, for its location on the high ground about halfway across the peninsula. The cross-peninsula defensive palisade completed in 1634 was an integral part of the settlement's creation. Its exact route is unknown, but archaeologists recently discovered remnants of it on the Bruton Heights School property, adjacent to the site of the house of Governor John Page, while working on a Colonial Williamsburg archaeological research project.
Jamestown, originally the capital of Virginia Colony, remained as such until it burned down during the three events of Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Immediately after Governor William Berkeley regained control, temporary quarters for the functions of the seat of government were established about away on the high ground at Middle Plantation while the Statehouse at Jamestown was rebuilt. The members of the House of Burgesses found the surroundings safer and more environmentally pleasant than Jamestown, which was muggy and plagued with mosquitoes.
A school of higher education was a long-held aspiration of the colonists. An early attempt at Henricus failed after the Indian Massacre of 1622. The location at the outskirts of the developed part of the colony left it more vulnerable to the attack. In the 1690s, the colonists tried again and sent Reverend James Blair to England. After several years of lobbying, he obtained a royal charter for the new school, named the College of William and Mary in honor of the current monarchs. When Blair returned to Virginia, the new school was founded in a safe place, Middle Plantation, in 1693. Classes began in temporary quarters in 1694, and the College Building, a precursor to the Wren Building, was soon under construction.
Four years later, the rebuilt statehouse in Jamestown burned again (in 1698), this time accidentally. The government once again relocated temporarily to Middle Plantation, but now enjoyed use of the college's facilities in addition to the better climate. After the fire, the students of the college made a presentation to the House of Burgesses, and the colonial capital was permanently moved to Middle Plantation in 1699. A village was laid out, and Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg in honor of King William III of England, befitting the town's newly elevated status.
Eighteenth Century
Following its designation as the Capital of the Colony, immediate provision was made for construction of a capitol building and for platting the new city according to the survey of Theodorick Bland.
At the time the main street was rechristened after the Duke of Gloucester, it was a simple horse path that veered through a set of swampy ravines and was obstructed at one point by houses and an oven. On April 27, 1704, Francis Nicholson asked the House of Burgesses to allow purchase of four old homes on the site so they could be demolished. On May 5, Henry Cary and his workers tore the homes down, and gave the owner of the property, Col. John Page, £5 and let him have the bricks from the razed homes. The transaction may be the first documented condemnation proceeding in American history.