Travels in the 2nd half

Travel around the country, and you will find many places that offer “historical recreations.” Places where you will find actors in costumes demonstrating the manner in which people lived in a place, at a particular time. The grand-daddy of them all is Colonial Williamsburg , in Virginia. Williamsburg was the second capital of the Colony of Virginia, after the statehouse on Jamestown Island burned down in 1698. It was already home to William & Mary College, the second oldest college in the United States, so it was a natural choice. Williamsburg served as the capital for eighty-one years, until Thomas Jefferson moved the legislature to Richmond. The Royal Coach For the next one hundred and thirty years, Williamsburg was a sleepy, backwater, college town. It sat away from the major rivers and railroads in the state. The main businesses were the college and the Eastern Lunatic Asylum. Over time some colonial era buildings had been modernized, but many had been abandoned or h...

Signs are made to catch your eye, to draw you in to a business. In colonial times, when many people were not able to read, it was important that these signs conveyed the name and type of business visually.  Walking around Colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia, you notice that a lot of effort has been placed in recreating the types of signs that would have lined the streets four-hundred years ago. Here are some of my favorites. Barber Shop Cabinet Maker Carpenter Coffee Shop Tavern Grocer clothes shop Red Lion Inn Wetherburn Tavern