Williamsburg

Twentieth-century residents of Williamsburg have witnessed dramatic changes in their community. First, before World War II, was the re-creation of the Historic Area-the fulfillment of a vision seen by a clergyman and financed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. In recent decades there has been an ongoing burst of construction to accommodate the influx of visitors and newcomers. Once an almost forgotten, out-of-the-way place, Williamsburg has become a thriving city and one of America's most popular tourist destinations. With photographs from the archives of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and local newspapers, Williamsburg presents a record of building activity and the restoration that returned the city to the eighteenth century and made its streets into pathways to the past. Included are the transformations of the city's two principal institutions, the College of William and Mary and Eastern State Hospital, as well as a photographic curtain call for Paul Green's outdoor drama The Common Glory. The people who have participated in making Williamsburg a vibrant, modern community and the famous visitors who have celebrated its heritage are highlighted in this fitting tribute to an American landmark.