Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994                   TAG: 9404130011
SECTION: TRAVEL                    PAGE: F-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JACK SEVERSON PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Long

AUTHENTICITY

That was my mother's euphemism for horse droppings. Road apples.

When I first, uh, stumbled upon them as I was strolling down the middle of Nicholson Street in Colonial Williamsburg, I was - elated!

Would you find road apples littering Main Street, U.S.A., in Florida's Walt Disney World? Never!

You'll find them here, though; and that fact says a lot about what Colonial Williamsburg is - and what it isn't.

For years, Colonial Williamsburg was burdened with a reputation - among a somewhat cynical group of travelers who, no doubt, thought of themselves as the cognoscenti - as a too-cute, too-contrived, Disneyesque re-creation of what was once the capital of the British colony of Virginia. A historical theme park.

But that is precisely what it isn't.

Yes, you'll see folks walking about the unpaved streets dressed in the fashion of 17th-century colonists. And yes, there are shops where you can buy tricorn hats and penny-whistles, along with other ersatz colonial goods.

But the only ``rides'' available are on the horse-drawn carts and carriages (sources of those road apples) that ply the town's auto-less streets, the rhythmic clip-clop of the horses' hooves lending more than a bit of authenticity to the Colonial ambience.

And it is authenticity that the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates the historical village, has sought since John D. Rockefeller Jr. began funding the restoration and reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in 1926.

Thus, coming here is not so much ``stepping back in time'' in some cutesified, Hollywood back-lot setting, as it is an educational experience, a chance to learn about a place - and its people - that was not only the seat of government of Colonial Virginia, but also a seedbed of the American Revolution.

It is important to note that 18th-century Williamsburg was not representative of Colonial American cities and towns. It was a carefully laid-out town, an exercise in urban planning undertaken when, for reasons of security and defense, the Colonial legislature decided in 1699 to move the capital inland from the coastal settlement of Jamestown.

Early Williamsburg differed from its Colonial American counterparts in another important way: It was decidedly more affluent. Home to the colony's government, it was thus populated by lawyers and politicians - office-holders who, by definition, were wealthy landowners, merchants and other men of substance.

On its 175 acres, Colonial Williamsburg today has some 500 buildings (only 88 of which are restorations of original structures; the rest are scrupulous reconstructions based on research of architectural and real estate records, drawings and maps). Many of the major buildings are quite grand, but even the simplest of homes is lavish when compared to the typical dirt-floor, log-construction dwellings that most Colonists elsewhere called home.

As a center of prosperity, Williamsburg attracted a host of highly skilled tradesmen and artisans who themselves prospered by providing the goods and services required by the wealthy populace.

Then, too, there were the slaves. At the height of pre-Revolutionary Williamsburg's prominence, fully 50 percent of the population was black.

There are any number of ways to tour Colonial Williamsburg. During my weekend visit, I paired simply wandering around - dropping in for a house tour here, a craft demonstration there - with a couple of organized walking tours conducted by knowledgeable staffers who are more educators than tour guides.

A recommendation: Check in at the visitor center, buy your tickets and the ``Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg'' (a must, and a bargain at $5), and view the 35-minute film ``Williamsburg - The Story of a Patriot.'' Then take the half-hour introductory guided tour that will give you the lay of the land. Your next move should be to head for the Lumber House and sign up for a tour called ``The Other Half: African American Colonial Life.''

I learned more about slavery - not just in Williamsburg or this country but throughout the Americas - on this 90-minute walk through Colonial Williamsburg than I had learned in all the American-history and civics classes I ever sat through.

But the tour offers more than simply an education about one of the sorrier chapters in the nation's history; it puts life in 18th-century Williamsburg into proper perspective. For, to a great degree, it was the large slave population that allowed this town's residents to maintain their atypically high-level colonial lifestyle.

As Arthur K. Johnson Jr., the excellent leader of my tour, put it: ``If, when you visit the large homes and other buildings here, you don't ask about the slaves - where they lived, what they did - then, you are missing out on fully 50 percent of your visit to Colonial Williamsburg. You're only getting half your money's worth.''

There are several other worthwhile tours (as with the ``Other Half'' tour, there are no fees, but you must make a reservation) offered daily, covering subjects ranging from religious life to the role of women in the colonies.

The heart of Colonial Williamsburg - today, as when the town was planned - is Duke of Gloucester Street, the nearly mile-long, 100-foot-wide central artery that stretches from the Capitol building at its eastern terminus to the Wren Building of the College of William and Mary on the west.

The Wren Building (so named because its design may have been influenced by the great London architect Christopher Wren), still in use as an office and classroom building, is worth a visit if only to scan the list of the college's notable alumni, among them Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, who received his surveyor's commission from the college in 1749.

They are just two of the many important figures in whose path you walk when you stroll down Duke of Gloucester Street toward the Capitol building. Along the way, you'll pass the Raleigh Tavern, the reconstructed building on the site where the House of Burgesses met in rump session after Virginia's Colonial legislature was disbanded by the colony's English governor. It was there that the first stirrings of the movement for American independence found root.

When I stopped by the Raleigh, ``Mr. Powell, Man of Business'' was holding forth before a group of about a dozen folks on several issues of the day. Mr. Powell is one of several figures whom Colonial Williamsburg describes as ``people of the past.'' They are costumed actors who portray 18th-century Williamsburgers, never stepping out of character as they purvey the wit and wisdom of their time.

They also provide the cast of characters for a variety of events, ranging from a re-enactment of a witch's trial to special tours and lectures, that are held throughout the day (although not every event is presented daily).

There are many other Colonial Williamsburg staffers in period dress throughout the town, but unlike the ``people of the past,'' they assume contemporary roles as docents, guides, merchants and craftspeople.

Ervin Diehl, who once worked for a Philadelphia electronics manufacturer, is one such personage. Diehl and his colleague, Eric Myall, staff the Harness and Saddlemaker Shop on Duke of Gloucester Street.

``We make all the harnesses for the wagons and coaches here in Williamsburg,'' Diehl told me, as he laboriously hand-stitched a leather harness fitting.

Indeed, there is a good deal of manufacturing going on here, from cabinet- and furniture-making to silversmithing and wheelwrighting. Some of what is made - particularly reproduction furniture, silver and jewelry - is produced for retail sale, while other items, such as the wooden wheels for carts and carriages, are manufactured for the purely practical purpose of maintaining Colonial Williamsburg.

As I wandered up and down Duke of Gloucester Street - and Nicholson and Francis streets, which run parallel to it - I kept noticing signs near the entrances to many of the wood-frame buildings, reading: ``Private Residence, Not Open to Public.''

Inquiring about these many homes, I learned that they either belonged to the foundation and were used as residences by staffers or were simply homes that were never purchased by the foundation and remained in private hands.

It is impossible to see and do everything Colonial Williamsburg has to offer in just a weekend. But, in addition to the ``Other Half'' tour, which I consider mandatory, there are three stops that I believe any visit here should include.

Heading my list is the Capitol building. It is the third building to rise on the site, the first two having been destroyed by fire. When Colonial Williamsburg decided to reconstruct it, the design for the first Capitol, which was destroyed in 1747, was used - even though the second building (destroyed in 1832) witnessed the significant events leading to the American Revolution.

Building design aside, it is still a moving experience to stand on the site where the fiery Patrick Henry and the scholarly Thomas Jefferson held forth on the subjects of political independence and individual freedoms.

A docent leads groups on a 35-minute tour of the Capitol, explaining the functioning of the bicameral Colonial legislature and the purpose of each of the major rooms. Don't miss the view down the length of Duke of Gloucester Street from the second-floor hallway window, a view of Williamsburg much the same as it would have appeared nearly three centuries ago.

My next suggested stop is at the Peyton Randolph House at Nicholson and North England streets. Peyton Randolph was a wealthy lawyer and politician (a speaker of the House of Burgesses who later presided over the First and Second Continental Congresses). It is in this home where visitors can get the best view of how Williamsburg's 18th-century gentry lived, dressed, ate and amused themselves.

There is no tour of this restored house, but entrance is limited to a manageable stream of visitors whose questions are answered by docents scattered throughout the rooms.

Finally, one block north and one block west of the Randolph house is the Governor's Palace, fronted by an expansive tree-lined green that runs to Duke of Gloucester Street. And by Colonial standards, it truly is a palace.

Standing in the entrance foyer, staring at the walls decoratively lined with swords, muskets and flintlock pistols mounted in an array of designs, it is easy to feel the power and wealth of Mother England that this building was meant to convey to all who entered.

A docent-guided tour of the building, reconstructed on the original palace foundations, provides a look at the lifestyle of one of the last of the royal governors of Virginia, Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botecourt, who, in 1768, began redecorating it in much the style you see today.

After independence, the palace became the residence of the first two governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1781, a year after Virginia's capital was moved to Richmond.

Take more than a few minutes to stroll through the palace's elaborate formal gardens and stop by the stable area, where the wheelwright will explain that some of the techniques of his craft date back to Chinese writings from the third century B.C.

What you choose to see and do on a visit to Colonial Williamsburg obviously depends largely on your particular interests and the time available.

You may want to take in the museums: The reconstructed Public Hospital, where the mentally ill underwent treatments ranging from the barbaric to the enlightened; the adjacent DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery, housing an extraordinary collection of English and American decorative arts and crafts from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries; and, the Winthrop Rockefeller Archaeology Museum, which records the excavation of and research into a small English settlement established in 1620 on the banks of the James River, seven miles from Colonial Williamsburg at a site now called Carter's Grove.

Or, you may want to simply do as I did on my visit - take the organized tours then just stroll the streets of this 18th-century town, popping into a shop here, a home there.

But remember, as you walk along, look down every so often.

Road apples, you know.