COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG. Twin curved turrets and a majestic white cupola are the structural elements that characterize the Capitol building dominating the end of Duke of Gloucester Street. But the momentous events that occurred on this site make up an even bigger part of its personality. The first structure to be named Capitol in America, the burgesses met here for the first time in 1753 and Patrick Henry delivered his impassioned speech against the Stamp Act in 1765. When the center of Virginia government was moved, the building was used for admiralty court, a law school, a military hospital, a grammar school, and a female academy. The building you see today is a faithful representation of the original, and if you listen closely, you just might here the whispers of history.

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