The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Earned Media Coverage

February 20, 2014

Top places to discover something new about our presidents

By Eileen Ogintz

2.14.14

He quit going to school when he was 14. By the time he was 17, he was working on the frontier. Later in life he turned down the chance to be king—of the United States.

We’re talking about George Washington, of course. On Monday, as we celebrate Presidents Day, take the time to teach the kids—and yourselves—something you didn’t know about our presidents.

--Tour a presidential library . They are located around the country—from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, N.Y., the John F. Kennedy Library on Boston’s waterfront, Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. or the newest library, George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas.

--Visit the American Presidency exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It displays everyday objects that represent the lives and times of the country’s 42 presidents—from the desk Thomas Jefferson used to write the Declaration of Independence to George Washington’s battle sword and the top hat worn by Abraham Lincoln the night of the assassination.

--Tour the Lincoln Memorial at night in Washington, D.C. Visit theFord’s Theater Campus which includes the museum, theater and more. At the museum, you can explore Lincoln’s presidency until the night he arrived at Ford’s Theatre where he was assassinated, April 14, 1865.

--Time travel back to the 18th century at George Washington’s Mount Vernon home just 15 miles south of Washington D.C., where there is always a free family celebration on Presidents Day. You can see his tomb, his farm, his house and learn about the slaves who lived here.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/02/14/top-places-to-discover-something-new-about-our-presidents/

--Talk to Thomas Jefferson who might be walking the streets of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, where you can join life during Revolutionary times and experience firsthand the struggles of war. Nearby you can visit a Revolutionary War encampment at Yorktown Victory Center, where the climactic battle of the American Revolution ended with the British surrender Oct. 19, 1781.

--Tour Springfield, Ill. where Abraham Lincoln lived and practiced law before he became president and where he is buried. Visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Lincoln’s home, law offices and Lincoln’s tomb, among other sites.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/02/14/top-places-to-discover-something-new-about-our-presidents/

From N.J., authentic wood for colonial shingles

By Edward Colimore

2.18.14

When it comes to preserving and reconstructing the historic buildings of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, Garland Wood doesn't cut corners.

The master carpenter builds houses, sheds, and barns the way the colonists did - from the ground up, using the same tools.

But he's had problems finding one of the key building materials: Atlantic white cedar, a light, long-lasting, rot-resistant wood that colonists often used for shingles.

This year, Wood found what he needed in New Jersey, enough to eventually put an authentic 18th-century-style roof on the $1 million reconstructed Market House in the center of town.

The cedars - most of them from Double Trouble State Park in Berkeley Township, Ocean County - were knocked over by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and are being retrieved by Advanced Forestry Solutions of Pittsgrove, Salem County.

Their delivery may lead to future North-South cedar sales because the storm felled thousands of trees across South Jersey, officials in both states said.

"We have 100 more buildings to build here, big and small, and we will continue to need cedars," said Wood, who has worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for 30 years. "They're being salvaged from the hurricane, and I can't think of a better use than making them part of an 18th-century roof of the Market House."

http://articles.philly.com/2014-02-18/news/47415901_1_atlantic-white-cedar-shingles-market-house

Atlantic white cedars covered about 500,000 acres along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico during colonial times.

By some estimates, they now may occupy less than 50,000 acres, largely because of logging, development, and storms over the last three centuries.

The wood has been used since the first settlers arrived, for shingles, siding, and boats. Independence Hall is roofed with cedar shingles.

The Williamsburg project "is the outright preservation of our heritage, using wood products that the colonists actually used," said certified forester Bob Williams, vice president of forestry operations at Land Dimensions Engineering in Glassboro. "Any time you connect the restoration of natural resources to the preservation of cultural resources, that's a win-win."

The retrieval of the cedars from wetlands at Double Trouble State Park is the first step in the restoration of the forest. It got underway in January and is being overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection's Forestry Services. The 70-year-old trees are being removed to make way for new growth.

"I'll put the logs on a trailer and ship them" to Williamsburg, said Colin McLaughlin, operations manager for Advanced Forestry Solutions. "The first load will get there in about a month.

"They'll get a little bit at a time," he said. "Then, they'll hand-saw and hand-split them there."

McLaughlin's large, tank-like harvester clamps onto a tree near the ground, slices through it with a hydraulic chain saw, then strips off the branches in a series of quick moves.

"It's good for the health of the forest" to make way for new cedars, said McLaughlin, who hopes to sell more trees from the park and private lands. "So many people outside of the Williamsburg corridor have been looking for cedar shingles, so this may lead to other business."

Advanced Forestry Solutions got the Double Trouble job from the state with a bid of $15,100, McLaughlin said. Williamsburg expects to use at least 40 logs at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, Wood said.

The woodworking craftsmen of the colonial town will turn the logs into 3/4-inch-thick shingles measuring about five by 18 inches. They will be used to roof a faithful reconstruction of the open 1757 Market House, midway between the Capitol and the College of William and Mary.

The building - a wooden structure on a brick base measuring 20 by 40 feet - is being designed and materials are being collected for its construction in 2015. The site was a center of community life, with auctions and market sales, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

"We practice the period tradition of construction," Wood said. "We build the buildings while people watch, and getting the right wood is critical to what we do.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-02-18/news/47415901_1_atlantic-white-cedar-shingles-market-house

"When it's finished, we will build tables and butcher blocks like they would've had there. It will be a functioning market where people can visit and buy things."

Williamsburg has 88 restored original buildings and 400 reconstructed buildings, Wood said. About 75 families live in the town.

"Virginia and New Jersey had a lot in common in the 1770s," when colonists united against Britain, Wood said. "It wasn't until the New Jersey boys in blue uniforms [came to Virginia during the Civil War] that we started to have trouble - but everybody is getting along now.

"We're excited about the [cedar] opportunity in New Jersey," he said. "We'll begin making materials for the Market House next month."

http://articles.philly.com/2014-02-18/news/47415901_1_atlantic-white-cedar-shingles-market-house

Exhibition at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum Explores the Material Culture of the Early South

2.17.14

In the first exhibition of its kind in 50 years, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, is presenting the exhibition "A Rich and Varied Culture: The Material World of the Early South." The show, which features more than 400 objects drawn from the Colonial Williamsburg collections, will include a dozen categories of media and represent four geographic regions of the South – the Chesapeake region, the Carolina Low Country, the Backcountry South, and the Gulf Coast. Works from 10 other institutions and 14 private collections will also be exhibited.

Together, furniture, paintings, prints, metals, ceramics, mechanical arts and arms, architectural elements, archaeological objects, rare books, maps, costumes, accessories and musical instruments will tell the story of the region’s population from the 17th century through 1840 as it expanded westward and southward toward thefrontier. Each of the works on view has undergone exhaustive research, which has yielded some unexpected findings. For example, a painting of Frances Parke Custis, on loan from Washington and Lee University, was revealed to be the work of the Brodnax Limner, a little-known artist who worked in Virginia during the 1720s.

Ronald L. Hurt, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s vice president for collections, conservation, and museums and its Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator, said, “The early American South has long been depicted as a society that produced almost none of the objects used by its substantial populace. However, the opposite is true. Southern artists and artisans generated a vast body of material in virtually every medium. The abundanceand diverse cultural resonance of these goods will be powerfully conveyed by the objects assembled for this exhibition.”

http://www.afanews.com/home/item/2429-exhibition-at-the-dewitt-wallace-decorative-arts-museum-explores-the-material-culture-of-the-early-south#.UwNzdvldVzo

"A Rich and Varied Culture: The Material World of the Early South" was entirely funded by Williamsburg residents,Carolyn and Michael McNamara. The exhibition will be on view at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum for five years, until 2019.

http://www.afanews.com/home/item/2429-exhibition-at-the-dewitt-wallace-decorative-arts-museum-explores-the-material-culture-of-the-early-south#.UwNzdvldVzo

How to get a discount at Hampton Roads attractions

By Nicole Paitsel

2.15.14

Colonial Williamsburg

Late winter and early spring is a good time for locals to get deals at Colonial Williamsburg as well. The winter ticket price ($24.95 for adults) is valid through March 16.

Williamsburg-area residents can purchase a "Good Neighbor Pass" for $10, (under 12 are free), which allows unlimited admission and discounts on special programs and shopping.

To participate, visit colonialwilliamsburg.com/plan/tickets/pass-members/good-neighbor-pass to see which zip codes are eligible for the discount.

Spokeswoman Barbara Brown says Colonial Williamsburg will participate in the Blue Star program, which provides free admission to the art museums from Memorial Day to Labor Day for active duty members of the military.

Admission will be free for active duty, retired and reserve members of the military and their families both Memorial Day weekend and Nov. 9-11 for Veterans Day. There will be no special President's Day offer this year.

"We will have some special ticket offers for Virginia residents this spring and for Good Neighbor pass members, but we will announce those later," Brown says.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-02-15/features/dp-fea-peninsula-venue-discounts-20140215_1_busch-gardens-williamsburg-water-country-usa-free-admission

Special programs mark Black History Month

Special events throughout February

By Steve Vaughan

2.14.14

From leaving Africa to slaves who kept their literacy a secret from their masters, both theJamestown-Yorktown Foundation and Colonial Williamsburg are presenting programs throughout February to celebrate Black History Month.

Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center will focus on "From Africa to Virginia." Gallery exhibits and daily interpretive programs will highlight the west central African culture of the first known Africans to arrive in Virginia.

The programming will follow the story of Africans in Virginia, though 17-century Virginia and into the American Revolutionary era.

Colonial Williamsburg's Black History Month programming includes six interpretive programs in the Historic Area, seven programs at the Hennage Auditorium and one at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

"Freedom's Paradox" explores the views of the slaves of Peyton Randolph one of the leading advocates in Virginia for independence on what that fight might mean for them. It will be offered daily in February at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the Peyton Randolph House.

"The Examination of Joe & Dick, Black Loyalists" examines the trial of two slaves who ran way to join the British Army. It will be offered at 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Saturday at the Courthouse of 1770.

"Daniel's Dilemma," explores the life of an enslaved foreman who receives extra privileges on the plantation for himself and his family. He has a dilemma when his responsibilities conflict with his allegiance to the enslaved community. Offered 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Feb. 21 and 28 at the Mary Stith House.

Other programs in the Historic Area explore the life of a slave who had the chance to choose his own master, the importance of hair in the enslaved black society and a slave owner whose Christianity lead him to eventually opposed slavery.

Programs at the Hennage Auditorium include "Secret Keeps: Literacy Slavery and the Law," examining how secretly literate slaves used their literacy to chain their positions, practice their religion,

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-blackhistorymonth-0208-20140214,0,5440602.story

communicate with family, plan escapes and petition the government. It will be presented at 11:30 a.m., Feb. 19 and 26.

"My Daughter, My Mistress; My Mother, My Slave" explores the relationship between Betty Hemmings and Martha Jefferson, the young woman she raised who eventually becomes her mistress at Monticello. Presented at the Hennage Auditorium at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26.

Other Hennage programs include explorations of the affect of enslavement on bonds of family, African royalty impressed into slavery in America and the role of faith in the lives of both masters and slaves.

The work of African American artists and artisans will be featured in a program at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, offered at 10:30 am., on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout February.

Want to go? – A full listing of Colonial Williamsburg's Black History programming can be found at the foundation's website, http://www.history.org.

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-blackhistorymonth-0208-20140214,0,5440602.story

Historic Triangle Shuttle will cease trips to Jamestown, Yorktown

Colonial Williamsburg had paid for it

By Steve Vaughan

2.18.14

WILLIAMSBURG —Colonial Williamsburg announced Tuesday it was ending the Historic Triangle Shuttle, the bus route that ferried visitors from the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center to other attractions in the area.

The shuttle transported guests between Colonial Williamsburg's Visitor Center to Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens and Water Country USA since 2005. Its creation was part of regional cooperation leading up to he 2007 commemoration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary. That cooperation, according to Colonial Williamsburg President Colin Campbell, was one of the most important things to come out of the anniversary year.

Colonial Williamsburg officials said canceling the shuttle is not a step backward.

"Maintaining such relationships is a central objective now and always at Colonial Williamsburg. We have been in touch with our partners about this decision," spokeswoman Barbara Brown said.

The shuttle was initially funded by a transportation grant from the federal government to the National Park Service — which operates Historic Jamestowne and the Yorktown Battlefield on the previous shuttle route. The grant ran out in 2011. Colonial Williamsburg began funding shuttle service to Busch Gardens and Water County USA in 2010.

When the federal grant ran out, Colonial Williamsburg picked up the entire tab.

"This is purely and entirely a financial/business decision," Brown said. "Colonial Williamsburg provided the entire funding for the shuttle in 2012 and 2013 and for the Busch/Water Country shuttle since 2011."

A statement announcing the end of shuttle service spelled that out.

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-histtriangleshuttle-0219-20140218,0,2138559.story

Historic Triangle Shuttle will cease trips to Jamestown, Yorktown

Colonial Williamsburg had paid for it

By Steve Vaughan

2.18.14

WILLIAMSBURG —Colonial Williamsburg announced Tuesday it was ending the Historic Triangle Shuttle, the bus route that ferried visitors from the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center to other attractions in the area.

The shuttle transported guests between Colonial Williamsburg's Visitor Center to Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens and Water Country USA since 2005. Its creation was part of regional cooperation leading up to he 2007 commemoration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary. That cooperation, according to Colonial Williamsburg President Colin Campbell, was one of the most important things to come out of the anniversary year.

Colonial Williamsburg officials said canceling the shuttle is not a step backward.

"Maintaining such relationships is a central objective now and always at Colonial Williamsburg. We have been in touch with our partners about this decision," spokeswoman Barbara Brown said.

The shuttle was initially funded by a transportation grant from the federal government to the National Park Service — which operates Historic Jamestowne and the Yorktown Battlefield on the previous shuttle route. The grant ran out in 2011. Colonial Williamsburg began funding shuttle service to Busch Gardens and Water County USA in 2010.

When the federal grant ran out, Colonial Williamsburg picked up the entire tab.

"This is purely and entirely a financial/business decision," Brown said. "Colonial Williamsburg provided the entire funding for the shuttle in 2012 and 2013 and for the Busch/Water Country shuttle since 2011."

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-histtriangleshuttle-0219-20140218,0,2138559.story

A statement announcing the end of shuttle service spelled that out.

"Colonial Williamsburg is pleased to have provided this extended shuttle service for the Historic Triangle community over the last nine years. However, in light of other institutional priorities and pressures, the Foundation has reluctantly concluded that it is not feasible to continue the service in the future," according to the statement.

Colonial Williamsburg will continue to provide bus transportation between the Visitor Center and various locations in the Historic Area, the Williamsburg Lodge, the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg and Merchants Square.

The Historic Triangle Shuttle used Colonial Williamsburg's fleet of natural gas powered buses exclusively. There are no plans to reduce that fleet.

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, which operates Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, two former destinations of the Historic Triangle Shuttle, declined to say how many of their visitors used the service, referring the question back to Colonial Williamsburg.

"It has been a great service, and we appreciate Colonial Williamsburg's contribution of resources," said spokeswoman Debby Padgett.

Quite a few people rode those buses.

"Shuttle service to and from the various sites totaled approximately 100,000 riders and included Colonial Williamsburg guests, local residents and area visitors who rode these buses for a variety of reasons," Brown said Tuesday afternoon.

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-histtriangleshuttle-0219-20140218,0,2138559.story

"Colonial Williamsburg is pleased to have provided this extended shuttle service for the Historic Triangle community over the last nine years. However, in light of other institutional priorities and pressures, the Foundation has reluctantly concluded that it is not feasible to continue the service in the future," according to the statement.

Colonial Williamsburg will continue to provide bus transportation between the Visitor Center and various locations in the Historic Area, the Williamsburg Lodge, the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg and Merchants Square.

The Historic Triangle Shuttle used Colonial Williamsburg's fleet of natural gas powered buses exclusively. There are no plans to reduce that fleet.

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, which operates Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, two former destinations of the Historic Triangle Shuttle, declined to say how many of their visitors used the service, referring the question back to Colonial Williamsburg.

"It has been a great service, and we appreciate Colonial Williamsburg's contribution of resources," said spokeswoman Debby Padgett.

Quite a few people rode those buses.

"Shuttle service to and from the various sites totaled approximately 100,000 riders and included Colonial Williamsburg guests, local residents and area visitors who rode these buses for a variety of reasons," Brown said Tuesday afternoon.

http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-histtriangleshuttle-0219-20140218,0,2138559.story

Southern Flair at the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum

By Emily Ridjaneck

2.14.14

Take a trip through the Chesapeake, Carolina Low Country, and southern Backcountry via this new exhibition of over 400 remarkable objects from the 17th century through 1840. Now open, A Rich and Varied Culture: The Material World of the Early South, features furniture, art, ceramics, metals, clothing and more, from Colonial Williamsburg’s collections and those of 10 sister institutions and a dozen individuals.

Click here for exhibit and ticket information and click here to view all exhibits on display at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/14/southern-flair-at-the-dewitt-wallace-decorative-arts-museum/

Hometown: New Exhibition at Colonial Williamsburg Shows Variety of Southern Products

By Hannah S. Ostroff

2.16.14

A new exhibition at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum uses a wide lens to the examination of material culture in the early south.

“A Rich and Varied Culture: The Material World of the Early South” opened Friday and features about 350 objects representing three southern geographic regions. The pieces in the exhibition, which covers the 17th century through 1840, come from most from the collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, as well as from 10 other institutions and 14 private collections.

“A Rich and Varied Culture” boasts a broad range of objects, from furniture and painting to maps and musical instruments. Together, they tell the story of the area’s population as it expanded westward and southward toward the frontier.

Many will be on public view for the first time in a museum setting.

Ronald L. Hurst – Colonial Williamsburg vice president for collections, conservation, and museums and its Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator – is one of two curators for the exhibition. He said in a news release the early American south is often depicted as a society did not produce the objects used by its people.

“However, the opposite is true,” Hurst said. “Southern artists and artisans generated a vast body of material in virtually every medium. The abundance and diverse cultural resonance of these goods will be powerfully conveyed by the objects assembled for this exhibition.”

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/16/hometown-new-exhibition-at-colonial-williamsburg-shows-variety-of-southern-products/

As guests move through the exhibition galleries, they will notice that variety from the Chesapeake region, through the Carolinas and Georgia, and into the Backcountry South, including the western reaches of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as West Virginia, the Georgia Piedmont and Kentucky and Tennessee.

In addition to objects and paintings made there, the exhibition will include a selection of materials imported to the South from New England, the Middle Atlantic colonies, Great Britain, Germany and China.

“A Rich and Varied Culture” can be seen during museum hours, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

For museum program information, call 220-7724.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/16/hometown-new-exhibition-at-colonial-williamsburg-shows-variety-of-southern-products/

Presidents Day: George and Martha Washington Share Connections to Williamsburg

By Hannah S. Ostroff

2.17.14

Several presidents, from the 18th century up to Barack Obama during his 2012 campaign, have walked streets throughout the Historic Triangle.

On this Presidents Day, George and Martha Washington — through their Colonial Williamsburg interpreters — share the first First Couple’s connections to Williamsburg.

Of the two, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington has the strongest ties to the area, as she was born just a few miles from Williamsburg in New Kent County, where her father was the county clerk. Her mother, Frances Jones Dandridge, had family in Williamsburg where Martha’s grandfather served as the first rector of Bruton Parish Church. The church is also the site where her first husband Daniel Custis and two of their children are buried.

In 1759, Martha married George Washington and became the main subject of history lessons to come.

All of those facts are recalled easily by Lee Ann Rose, a Colonial Williamsburg historical interpreter who portrays Martha Washington. She and Ron Carnegie, who plays George Washington, have done rigorous study of primary and secondary documents to become scholars in their own right.

Carnegie, who said the little knowledge he had of Washington had been mostly based on myths and folk stories, prepared for a full year before embodying the historical figure.

Now he and Rose recount dates and names as if they were details of their own lives.

Rose can report how Martha was known as the “belle of the balls of Williamsburg” in her teenage years and name the seven properties in town Custis owned.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/17/presidents-day-george-and-martha-washington-share-connections-to-williamsburg/

Despite Martha’s strong connection to Williamsburg, Rose does not believe many people know Washington’s wife as a local. Rose turned down the role at first, believing Martha to be a dull counterpart to the national hero.

“Half my time is spent talking about the husband,” Rose said.

But she soon found Martha to be her own vibrant individual who also contributed to the war effort by raising large sums of money to support troops. In 1777, she was honored with a medal, and Williamsburg was illuminated in her honor.

George Washington did spend his fair share of time in the area, coming to the city for business and receiving his surveyor’s license from the College of William and Mary. He frequented the taverns and theater during his visits, and George and Martha honeymooned in Williamsburg.

Once the Revolutionary War began, though, his visits ceased with only a few exceptions.

Washington was in Williamsburg in 1781, gathering troops to prepare to battle British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, where the British surrendered within three weeks. There is no documentation of Washington returning to the area afterward. He served as the College’s chancellor from afar from 1788 to 1799.

Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg today can make these and many other new discoveries about Martha and George Washington, and even ask their questions in person to Carnegie and Rose. Guests can also stop into the Washingtons’ old haunts, some of which — like the Wythe House — remain as original buildings.

By retracing their steps, visitors to Colonial Williamsburg carry on the legacy of America’s first president and his wife in Williamsburg hundreds of years later.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/17/presidents-day-george-and-martha-washington-share-connections-to-williamsburg/

Revolutionary City Returns March 17

By Emily Ridjaneck

2.18.14

Take to the streets for more activities and excitement—get ready for Spring in the Revolutionary City! Each afternoon, the shopkeepers, townsfolk, and tradesmen of Colonial Williamsburg will join you in the streets to engage in conversation, activities, and more. Experience daily life in Williamsburg in the midst of a revolution. You’ll need a ticket to join all the action, then you can freely explore our whole Revolutionary City.

Click here to learn more about Rev City.

A $10 Good Neighbor pass gets you in to Rev City and so much more in Colonial Williamsburg. Residents in the following zip codes are eligible for the Good Neighbor Pass: 23089 • 23090 • 23127 • 23168 • 23185 • 23186 • 23187 • 23188.

Click here to find out how to get your Good Neighbor pass today.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/18/revolutionary-city-returns-march-17/

Colonial Williamsburg Free Shuttle Service to Area Attractions Discontinued

By Brittany Voll

2.19.14

Colonial Williamsburg’s free shuttle service that carts visitors from the Colonial Williamsburg Regional Visitor Center to various other area attractions will cease after nearly 10 years.

From 2005 until last year, riders could stop by the visitor center from mid-March through October to hop on a free bus that would carry them to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown. A second bus ran during the Busch Gardens and Water Country USA seasons, including in December for Christmas Town.

About 100,000 people took advantage of the free service each year, said Barbara Brown, a spokesperson for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

The shuttle buses, which are owned by the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority but paid for by Colonial Williamsburg, will now be used to carry Colonial Williamsburg ticket-holding visitors around the historic area on 20-minute intervals as part of a service that has been running since July 1949.

Before the 400th anniversary of Jamestown’s 1607 founding, Colonial Williamsburg began running the shuttle service to connect visitors to other area attractions. Originally designed to carry around Colonial Williamsburg hotel guests, the policy was never enforced and the shuttle became a free service to anyone who wanted to use it.

Prior to 2012, the service was funded through a federal transportation grant to the National Park Service. When the grant funding ended in 2011, Colonial Williamsburg picked up the tab and paid more than $300,000 each year in driver salaries and fuel costs. Additional costs included service and maintenance for the buses; Brown did not provide a total for these costs.

Now, in the face of other “institutional priorities and pressures,” the shuttle is ending, according to a news release. Brown said investments in programs, curriculum development and marketing have taken precedence over the shuttle service.

With the shuttle service now ended, buses will still carry visitors between the visitor center, the Williamsburg Lodge, the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, Merchants Square and various other locations in the historic area.

http://wydaily.com/2014/02/19/colonial-williamsburg-free-shuttle-service-stops-this-year/