Public Magazine - Williamsburg, VA
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NorStar
N 37° 16.258 W 076° 42.001
18S E 349271 N 4126286
The Public Magazine is an octagonal structure that is now part of Colonial Williamsburg, and was the site of a confrontation between residents and the provincial governor of Virginia in April 1775.
Waymark Code: WM82EK
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 01/15/2010
Views: 26
In Williamsburg, within the section of the city called Colonial Williamsburg, stands an octagonal brick building surrounded by an octagonal brick wall. This building is the public magazine, and it is open for tours, though you need an admission ticket from Colonial Williamsburg to tour (see their website). The outside is visible from main roads and you can walk up to it.
The American Guide Series for Virginia has the following about this building:
15. The PUBLIC MAGAZINE (open 10-5 daily; adm. $0.25, children $0.10), lately called 'Powder Horn,' stands in the southern part of Market Square. The octagonal building, with brick walls two feet thick, has a peaked roof and an encircling wall ten feet high. It was built in 1715-16 under the 'overseership' of John Tyler and the supervision of Governor Spotswood to store 'all Arms, Gun-Powder, and Ammunition, now in the Colony, belonging to the King.' The protecting wall, recently restored, was built in 1755 during the alarms of the French and Indian War, and was pulled down in 1855. Early on the morning of April 20, 1775, Governor Dunmore removed powder stored here, precipitating the outbreak of revolution in Virginia. Patrick Henry, leading Hanover County troops, compelled payment of twice the powder's equivalent in sterling.
--American Guide Series: Virginia - A Guide to the Old Dominion, p. 320
Today
The structure today is in better shape and fully restored to its colonial appearance. At the time the book was published, the building had recently been recently rebuilt by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The building was then owned by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. According to the Colonial Williamsburg web site, in 1946 Colonial Williamsburg leased the building and started full restoration. It was reopened as an exhibition in 1949. In 1986, the building was sold to Colonial Williamsburg.
If you have bought a ticket and get inside, you will walk up a flight of spiral stairs to the next floor. A tour guide will be there to tell about the room and the items on display. Large glass windows provide a nice view of the nearby courthouse.
Virginia Historical Society:
Visit Site
XRoads.Virginia.edu (Text Version of The American Guide Series: Virginia - Williamsburg):
Visit Site
Colonial Williamsburg (Public Magazine):
visit Site