In 1930, Howard University captured Williamsburg before the restoration of the colonial capital. In 2014, representatives from Colonial Williamsburg drove the same route to film a side-by-side comparison of the changes.
Before the restoration, Williamsburg was a sleepy and mostly forgotten town until the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin of the Bruton Parish Church decided to bring it back to life. In 1907 he saved the church building but didn’t want to stop there. He pursued financial backing from John D. Rockefeller Jr and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and, through their beneficence and foresight, they created the restored 301 acre colonial area which has become “the most historic avenue in America.”
