~ A DAILY PHOTO BLOG ~

~ AN ALMOST DAILY PHOTO BLOG ~

~ A DAILY PHOTO BLOG ~

Welcome to an almost daily peek at our beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia which includes the "Historic Triangle" consisting of Colonial Williamsburg -the world’s largest living history museum- Yorktown and Jamestown.

February 22, 2011

Customs House, Yorktown, Virginia



The Customs House in Yorktown was built about 1720 to collect taxes on items shipped into the colonies.  Yorktown was the largest deep water port between Charleston, South Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In addition to collecting taxes, the building has housed British and French troops during the Revolutionary War, Union soldiers during the Civil War, the African-American physician who also served in the state legislature, was used as a school for African-American children, a general store, a bank, a barber shop, as military housing during World War I, and finally ended up in the care of the Daughters of the American Revolution who restored it for their use and operate it as a public museum on Sundays and holidays.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmark Register.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Buildings full of history.
Glad to see your posts again.
Costas.

Elettra said...

Great building with great historical value with multiple uses, now a wonderful museum

KaHolly said...

You know, you could make a book of all your posts and sell it to the tourists!! Your photos are beautiful and your info is succint, yet very interesting. I so enjoy my visits. ~karen

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