Date Thesis Awarded
5-2009
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
History
Advisor
Carl Lounsbury
Committee Members
Scott Reynolds Nelson
Edwin Pease
Abstract
In 1910 Williamsburg, Virginia was a small, quiet, Southern town. By 1935 the hamlet had become the site of the most extensive historic preservation effort of the twentieth century. An important part of this project involved the creation of Merchants Square, a shopping district displaying colonial architectural references built to house the businesses displaced as a result of the Williamsburg Restoration. Using sources such as Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, photographs, architectural drawings, newspaper articles, diaries, correspondence and official reports, this project analyzes the events leading up to the creation of Merchants Square, what made the center effective, how it changed life in Williamsburg, and how the center reflected architectural and planning trends outside of Williamsburg.
Recommended Citation
Morrill, Matthew, "The Development of Merchants Square: Colonial Imagery and the Consequences of Redevelopment in Williamsburg, Virginia and Other Small Towns, 1910-1955" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 249.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/249
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.