Williamsburg,
A city and county seat of
James City county, Va., 3 miles from the
James River and 50 miles southeast of
Richmond.
The city was first settled in 1632; was the seat of the royal government prior to the
Revolutionary War; and afterwards was the
State capital till 1780, when the government was transferred to
Richmond.
The
capitol was completed in 1704, burned, rebuilt in 1752, and again burned about 1831.
Williamsburg is the seat of
William and Mary College (q. v.), of the
Eastern Lunatic Asylum of
Virginia, opened in 1773, and the oldest institution of its kind in the
United States; and of an Episcopal church dating from 1678.
The city was the scene of a noted battle in the
Civil War. See
Williamsburg, battle of.