"building the Capitol"

Obscure Henry Cary gave form to a design hailed as "an ornament and honor to the Country" - by Harold B. Gill, Jr.

The Capitol in Williamsburg

The Capitol in Williamsburg viewed from the Duke of Gloucester Street

AFTER THE STATEHOUSE at Jamestown burned down on October 20, 1698, the time seemed ripe to move the capital to a new site—one that was healthier and possibly luckier: Middle Plantation. In his address to the House of Burgesses on May 3, 1699, Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson recommended “such a Pile of Buildings Erected so soon as possible as may not be only larger, but more conveniently serve the public Uses than that which was unfortunately burnt last fall.” Fifteen days later, he again encouraged the burgesses to build the new state house at Middle Plantation. He said it should be “nigh his Majesties Royall Colledge of William and Mary which I think will tend to Gods Glory, his Majesties Service, and the welfare and Prosperity of your Country in General and of the Colledge in particular.” That same day the House of Burgesses voted that the state house should be built at Middle Plantation, and the next day the Council concurred.