W. A. R. Goodwin
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The Reverend Dr. William Archer Rutherfoord Goodwin (1869-1939) (or W.A.R. Goodwin as he preferred) was the rector of Bruton Parish Church who began the 20th century effort which resulted in the preservation and restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. He is known as "the Father of Colonial Williamsburg."
Williamsburg had been the capital of Virginia from 1699 until 1780. Aside from the College of William and Mary, founded in the 17th century, time had largely left the town of Williamsburg behind after the Capital was moved to Richmond late in the 18th century.
William Archer Rutherfoord Goodwin was born in Richmond, Virginia only four years after the end of the American Civil War. He was the son of a wounded Confederate captain who returned from grim warfare to grinding destitution on a hilly farm. The lad soon knew that only hard work could lead him to a better life. He was graduated from Roanoke College in 1889 with a bachelor's of arts degree and from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1893 with a divinity degree.
Dr. Goodwin became pastor of Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church in 1903. He was inspired by his historic parish with its many still-standing 18th-century buildings. Dr. Goodwin oversaw fund-raising, preservation and restoration of the aged and historic church building, using information gathered from town and church records. He completed the church's restoration in 1907, the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Episcopal Church in America.
He left to serve another church in Rochester, New York, and returned in 1923. In 1924, fearing that the other many historic buildings in the area would be destroyed as time went on, he started a movement to preserve the buildings in the district. As his primary source of funding, Dr. Goodwin was fortunate in this effort to sign on John D. Rockefeller Jr., the wealthy son of the founder of Standard Oil. He stimulated Rockefeller's interest in the old city and helped that bloom into the incredible generosity that financed the restoration. Together, they made Dr. Goodwin's remarkable dream of restoring the old colonial capital come true.
Today Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area occupies 173 acres (700,000 m²) and includes 88 original buildings and more than 50 major reconstructions. It is joined by the Colonial Parkway to the two other sides of the Historic Triangle, Jamestown and Yorktown. At Jamestown, England established its first permanent colony in the Americas, and at Yorktown the Continental Army under George Washington won a decisive victory to end British rule.
Virginia's Historic Triangle is one of the world's greatest tourist attractions, with Dr. Goodwin's Bruton Parish Church and Colonial Williamsburg as the centerpiece.
