The Quarterpath Williamsburg property has seen centuries of dramatic American history, from the time Algonquin Indian tribes roamed the area, to the centuries after the first permanent English settlement was established at nearby Jamestown in 1607.
Established in the 17th century, Quarterpath Road was the most direct route linking Williamsburg to Burwell’s Landing on the James River, which was one of the Colony’s main waterways.
During the Revolutionary War in 1775, British troops used Quarterpath Road to reach the Magazine in Williamsburg in order to steal gunpowder and munitions.
During the Civil War in 1862, a significant battle was fought in Williamsburg. Union forces were on the move from Fort Monroe with a plan to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. The Confederate Army used elaborate delaying tactics to foil the plan. The two sides engaged in the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th. Today, a few outlying redoubts – defensive earthworks built by the Confederates – have been preserved from that dreadful spring day, when combined Union and Confederate casualties totaled nearly 4,000.
Quarterpath lies in the center of the Historic Triangle comprised of Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown. Minutes away, you can walk the streets of Colonial Williamsburg, where Jefferson, Washington and Patrick Henry created the idea for a new country. Tour Jamestown, the first English settlement in the new world, and Yorktown, where America’s independence was secured. The College of William & Mary, founded in 1693, is the alma mater of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Tyler — and more recent celebrities such as actress Glenn Close and comedian John Stewart. Nearby Kingsmill put Williamsburg on the map as a place to live, and history continues to be made there through international meetings and sporting events such as the LPGA tour.
