Mission

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation operates the world's largest living history museum in Williamsburg, Virginia - the restored 18th-century capital of Britain's largest, wealthiest, and most populous outpost of empire in the New World. Here we interpret the origins of the idea of America, conceived decades before the American Revolution. In Colonial Williamsburg's 301-acre Historic Area stand hundreds of restored, reconstructed, and historically furnished buildings. Costumed interpreters tell the stories of the men and women of the 18th-century city - black, white, and native American, slave, indentured, and free - and the challenges they faced. In this historic place, we help the future learn from the past.