Evening star., 1941-02-23
The Travellers Notebook
The williamsburg Scene Changes, Offering New
Interest to Those Who Have Visited the Tidewoter
Capital of the Virginia Colony Before

Oh gloucester street. horses ana
carriages, not an unfamiliar sight
on the streets during the big tourist
season, will then become a more
intimate part of the picture.
1t is not uncommon for repeat"
visitors to the Tidewater Capital to
note the changes during their abb
Sence. "Oh, you've restored such
and such," they say, giving officials
and guides testimony that the Will
liamsburg adventure Is well re-
membered.
Travis House, then, will be one of
the new treats for many repeat
visitors. Open during the spring
and summer season, the restored
place is operated in the manner of
an 18th century Ordinary. Cos
TUNED walters there serve in the
style of long ago meals that are
concocted from Colonial recipes.
Missing, of course, will be such
famed appetizers as arrack punch,
for which the Raleigh Tavern was
famous in its heyday.
Completely restored and refur-
nished in the 18th century style to
such an extent that present-day
parishioners complain of the back
breaking pews is Bruton Parish
Church. Constructed 1710-17l5, it
is presented as the Oldest Episcopal
church in America where services
have been conducted regularly.
Seeing it as it was in olden times,
with its dias-raised, inclosed chair
from which the Governor listened to
the service; its gallery for slaves,
and the names of famous Americans
listed on the plates of the pews, the
church is another item for repeat
visitors to check on their new list.
Adjoining the church is another
prominent Colonial home recently
opened-the restored George Wythe
house and garden.
Reconstructed shops, where artis-
ans dress as they did when they
served England's noblemen, have
been added from time to time. Be-
tween the church and Wythe
house, which faces on the Palace
Green, Is dolllike structure houS-
ing an old loom and other crude
contraptions on which women OF
the day made their linen and wool
fabrics. On Duke of Gloucester
street is a one-room factory" of
the boot and shoemaker. 1t is
going concern, for here are made
by hand the trim but blocky foot
wear used by today's cast on the
Williamsburg scene. Down the
street toward the Capitol is the
barber and peruke makers shop,
reproduced as in the time when
BARRIERS served the community also
as doctors through skillful and none
too skillful use of their bleeding
knives. Here are produced the wigs.
Farther toward the Capitol is the
Sign of the Golden Ball, where a
pewterer fashions bright. silver
appearing condlesticks, bowls. vases.
cups and similar articles. On Fran
els street, south of the CAPITOL, the
furniture maker repairs the worn
and broken Williamsburg pieces at
the AyScouch shop.
Facing the Palace Green is a va
cant lot that looks as forgotten as a
similar piece of property in any
other city, except that it is inclosed
by a rough fence of boards. 1t is a
spot for visitors to watch, for 1t is
the site of the first theater in the
Capital, constructed in 1716. The
precise role of the building has been
going through the throes of deci-
sion. The exterior, of course. will
be as authentic as research can
make it; so, too, will be the seats,
the raised stage, the fixtures and
the crude props. The policy is un-
decided-Whether to open it again
as living theater, with plays staged
from time to time strictly in the
Colonial manner.
Also scheduled to appear in the
restoration scene is the Red Lion
Inn, or tavern, with an old-fash-
ioned taproom and bar keep. and
similar structure, the Sign of
the Edinburgh Castle.
So the Williamsburg scene changes
from year to year, with this impress
sive record so far: 586 modern
buildings eliminated from the Co.
lonial area, either demolished or
removed; 176 Colonial buildings re-
constructed. mostly on original
sites: 70 Colonial buildings restored
or given major repairs.
The restoration has been and is a
big business, and yet the Colonial
area is not "blacked out" when the
disappearing sun brings a close to
Office hours of the enterprise In
another one of those rare touches
that impart life to the community,
the restoration not only permits
but arranges for families to live in
some of the Colonial homes it con-
trolls. The scene is thus vital, not
static; lights glow through the win
dows at night as they did in the
o,-1ry TITi11i