Raleigh Tavern

78C3+JQ Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Virginia

state

James City

county

VA - Williamsburg

city

MUSEUM

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Rebuilt in 1930–31, it was both the first building to be reconstructed and to be opened as part of Colonial Williamsburg. Unlike several other taverns in Williamsburg that operate as restaurants or inns, the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern building serves as a museum, showing visitors how the tavern would have appeared.

SITE FEATURES

Reconstructions

On this site...

From 1699 to 1779, Williamsburg served as the capital of the colony of Virginia. As such, there were numerous taverns to host legislators and other visitors having business with the government while the House of Burgesses was in session. The original tavern is believed to have been built some time before 1735. It changed ownership and keepers numerous times, continuing in use as a tavern, eventually being acquired by local cabinetmaker Anthony Hay (father of jurist George Hay) in 1767.

TAVERN

EST. 1730

In May 1769, the Raleigh Tavern began its role as a center of sedition when Governor Botetourt dissolved the House of Burgesses, because of resolutions against the Townshend Acts. After its dissolution, the burgesses immediately convened in the Apollo Room as the 'late representatives of the people' and adopted the Non-Importation Agreement. The House of Burgesses was reconvened by the Governor in November that year.

This room was the frequent rendezvous of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other Revolutionary patriots. They met here in 1773 to develop intercolonial committees of correspondence. Dissolved by Governor Dunmore, the Burgesses met again in the Apollo Room in May 1774.

The Marquis de Lafayette was entertained at a banquet here in 1824, and the building remained in continual use as a tavern until it burned at the hands of an arsonist in 1859.