Virginia Gazette

The Virginia Gazette is the local newspaper of Williamsburg, Virginia. With the first edition put out in 1736 by pioneering publisher William Parks, the newspaper's original motto was "Containing the freshest Advices, Foreign and Domestick."

1736: founded by William Parks

The Virginia Gazette was the first to be published in the area south of the Potomac River in the colonial period of the United States. William Parks published the first four-page edition on August 6, 1736. Three years earlier, he had founded The Maryland Gazette in Annapolis. In 1743, Parks built a paper mill in Williamsburg. He purchased the raw material to create newsprint from Benjamin Franklin.

As Williamsburg was the center of growing tensions in the Virginia Colony which led to the American Revolution, the newspaper was one of the centers of activity in the capital of Virginia, and dutifully published accounts. When at the urging of Gov. Thomas Jefferson the capital was relocated to Richmond in 1780, the newspaper followed.

Hiatus: 1780-1930

In Richmond, there were many newspapers already established. With the capitol gone, Williamsburg lost its prominence. Early 19th century transportation was largely by canals and navigable rivers. It was not located along a waterway like many early communities in the United States. Early railroads beginning in the 1830s also did not come its way. With the exception of some activity during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 during the American Civil War, the coming of Collis P. Huntington's Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (with mostly through-coal traffic) in the 1881 and the ongoing activities of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg became a sleepy and somewhat forgotten town through much of the 150 years following the American Revolution. This very lack of rebuilding and expansion laid the groundwork for the dreams of the Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin of Bruton Parish Church for restoration of the colonial capital city.

1930: Return to Colonial Williamsburg

Initially, Dr. Goodwin wanted to save his historic church building, and this he accomplished. However, he began to realize that much of the other colonial era buildings also remained, but were at risk. He sought financing from a number of sources before successfully drawing the interests and major financial support of Standard Oil heir and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife, which resulted in the creation of Colonial Williamsburg, today one of the world's major tourist attractions. Dr. Goodwin was in the early stages of the work at the Wren Building when he suggested to the owners of The Virginia Gazette that the colonial-era newspaper return to Williamsburg. They agreed, and the first issue was published January 10, 1930.

The paper won Virginia’s prestigious Copeland Award three times for community excellence in publishing, in 1969, 1980 and 1994. Long a weekly newspaper, the Gazette expanded to twice-weekly in 1984. It is now owned by the Daily Press, a Tribune Co. daily in Newport News.

Copies dating to the August 6, 1736 first issue have been preserved in the Library of Congress.

To assist researchers of colonial life and issues on the Internet, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation provides online editions of the original Gazette, complete with index.

Sources

• History of the Virginia Gazette
• Library of Virginia
• University of Mary Washington, Virginia Gazette webpage
• Library of Congress

External links

• The Virginia Gazette web site
• Digital Virginia Gazette, 1736-1780
• Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Links to Virginia Gazette related web sites