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User:Morgan Riley/Magazine (Williamsburg, Virginia)

< User:Morgan Riley
Magazine
View of the Magazine through the gate
LocationWilliamsburg, Virginia
Built1715
Architectural styleEnglish Baroque
Part ofWilliamsburg Historic District (ID66000925[1])
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966

The Magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia is a colonial era munitions magazine, today serving as a museum as part of Colonial Williamsburg. The octagonal brick building was used for the storage of arms and gunpowder for the Virginia Militia during the Colony of Virginia and American Revolutionary War. It is located across from the Courthouse, between Duke of Gloucester Street and the terminus of the northern end of South England Street.

History

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The Magazine was constructed in 1715.[2] Its design is attributed to Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood, who served as an amateur architect on various projects during the construction of the new capital at Williamsburg.[3]

In 1755, as a precaution due to the high quantities of munitions it housed as a result of the French and Indian War effort, a high brick outer wall was constructed.[4][5] The magazine could contain up to 3,000 muskets and some 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) of gunpowder.[6]

The Magazine was at the center of the Gunpowder Incident in the lead up to the American Revolutionary War. On April 20, 1775, following heightened political tensions, the Royal Governor of Virginia ordered the gunpowder removed from the magazine to be loaded on a nearby British frigate, provoking public unrest. It proved to be the last major incident in Virginia prior to the outbreak of war; the Battles of Lexington and Concord had been fought the day before the incident began, though news had yet to reach Virginia until days later. A militia force marched on the capital demanding that it be restored. In the end, the matter was settled by the governor paying the colony for the powder, and his subsequent flight to England, never to return.

After the capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780 during the war, the building was re-purposed. It survived in various guises, including as a market house, a Baptist church, and a livery stable.[7][8] In 1889 it was purchased by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA, now Preservation Virginia), who used it as a museum to house relics of early Virginia.[9] It was one of three early preservation projects undertaken by the APVA in Williamsburg, together with restoration work on Bruton Parish Church and conservation of the ruins of the capitol building.[10]

In the mid-20th century (1934-1935), it was further restored as a part of Colonial Williamsburg.[11] In 1986, ownership was officially transferred from the APVA to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.[12] Today, it serves as a museum displaying its original function for the storage of arms and gunpowder. Adjacent to the Magazine is a reconstructed guardhouse, which houses a replica fire engine from the mid-18th century.[13]

Notes

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Guy Wilson 2002, p. 367
  3. ^ Guy Wilson 2002, p. 367
  4. ^ Guy Wilson 2002, p. 367
  5. ^ Olmert 1985, p. 22-23
  6. ^ Olmert 1985, p. 22-23
  7. ^ Lindgren 1993, p. 80-81
  8. ^ Olmert 1985, p. 14, 22-23
  9. ^ Lindgren 1993, p. 80-81
  10. ^ Lindgren 1993, p. 79
  11. ^ Guy Wilson 2002, p. 367
  12. ^ Olmert 1985, p. 22-23
  13. ^ Olmert 1985, p. 22-23

References

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  • Olmert, Michael (1985), Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
  • Lindgren, James M. (1993), Preserving the Old Dominion: Historic Preservation and Virginia Traditionalism, Charlottesville, Virginia, University Press of Virginia
  • Guy Wilson, Richard (ed.) (2002), Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont, New York City, Oxford University Press
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