Williamsburg was established as the new capital of the Virginia colony in 1699, and served in that capacity until 1780. During most of that period, the Governor's Palace was the official residence of the royal governor.
Construction and design The palace was funded by the
House of Burgesses in 1706 at the behest of Lt. Governor
Edward Nott. It was built from 1706 onward. In 1710, its first official resident was Lt. Governor
Alexander Spotswood who served as acting governor; the governor proper,
George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, was absentee and is not known to have visited Virginia. Spotswood continued to improve on it until ca. 1720–1722, adding the forecourt, gardens, and various decorations. It was also home to the post-colonial governors: •
Patrick Henry, 1776–1779 •
Thomas Jefferson, 1779–1780
Destruction Around 1779, Governor Thomas Jefferson proposed the remodeling of the Palace in manner in keeping with
his neoclassical ideals. The proposal would have added a temple-like portico to the front and back. However, in 1780, Jefferson urged that the capital of Virginia be relocated to
Richmond for security reasons during the
American Revolution. The new lodging for the governor adjacent to the current
Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond is more modest in size and style, and is called the
Governor's Mansion. On December 22, 1781, the main building was destroyed by a fire. At the time, it was being used as a hospital for wounded American soldiers following the nearby
Siege of Yorktown. Some brick outbuildings survived the fire, but were demolished during the
American Civil War so they could be salvaged for building materials by occupying forces. In the 1880s, as the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was building the
Peninsula Extension east to
Newport News, due to difficulties in acquiring right of way along the preferred route, temporary tracks were laid along Main Street/Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, passing through the area of the former Palace. ==Reconstruction==