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Brett and Leslie Schultz
Brett and Leslie Schultz live with their three daughters on family property in Williamsburg, Virginia.
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Photo used courtesy of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance.
New Town Avenue
New Town, Williamsburg, offers the “new urbanism,” where residents can live, shop, eat and play in the same neighborhood, just as they did in colonial times, albeit with modern conveniences.
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Photo by TJ Sewer
Jennifer Raines of Quirks of Art
Jennifer Raines is passionate about promoting the musical and artistic talents of others.
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Photo used courtesy of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance.
Carriage ride through Colonial Williamsburg
If Williamsburg is defined by its history—former colonial capital of Virginia, renowned culturally rich right angle of the Historic Triangle, home of the famed Colonial Williamsburg streets where Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and company plotted a young nation’s future—let history show it is redefining itself.
It was 2004. Leslie Henderson-Schultz had left her hometown of Williamsburg, graduated from Virginia Tech, was living and working in Northern Virginia to gain experience in the construction industry and just waiting. Waiting. Working. Learning. And waiting some more…to get the call.
Raised in Williamsburg, today Schultz is the Vice President of Henderson, Inc., the nearly sixty-year-old construction firm headquartered just off of Mooretown Road. Founded by her grandfather, David, and expanded by her Dad, Pete, Henderson, Inc. literally helped build today’s Williamsburg. They constructed the foundation for Williamsburg’s first water tower and some of the early, modern buildings across the College of William and Mary campus and Colonial Williamsburg. In more recent years, Henderson, Inc. built some of Busch Garden’s most recognizable attractions, like the Roman Rapids water ride, the Griffon roller coaster, the Dark Castle multi-dimensional experience and themed eateries.
As a little girl, growing up around all of this, Schultz dreamed of following one day in her father’s footsteps and carrying the family business on to another generation.
“But my Dad was smart and very clear,” Schultz said. “Part of the agreement before coming to work for the family business was that we needed to work for a company outside the family business. So my first job outside of college was with a medium size general contractor in Northern Virginia. I worked there for three years.”
That is, until that day in 2004 when she got that call.
“It was Dad,” Schultz said, still getting chills thinking about it, “and he just asked if I was ready to come home. My grandparents were raised here in the 40s and 50s, my parents were raised here, and I wanted to get back as quick as I could to one day raise my family here.”
And that’s just what Schultz is doing.
In many ways, the Williamsburg of today, Schultz said, is not unlike the city where she grew up.
“I feel like Williamsburg today, you don’t have to go very far,” she said. “Everything is here. At one point, you can be hanging out with horses and George Washington and another time you can be on a roller coaster. That part has never changed, and that’s what I love about Williamsburg.”
But in other ways, the Revolutionary-era city has evolved. Schultz is an illustration of a movement of young professionals and families not only choosing to stay and raise their children in the small Tidewater city but also helping it evolve from a town known for its colonial charm to a modern mecca that is attracting younger adults.
“As you get older and mature,” Schultz said, “you start to see all the opportunities that Williamsburg offers for people of all ages.”
The Evolution of a Revolutionary-era City
If Williamsburg is defined by its history—former colonial capital of Virginia, renowned culturally rich right angle of the Historic Triangle, home of the famed Colonial Williamsburg streets where Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and company plotted a young nation’s future—let history show it is redefining itself.
The second draft of Williamsburg history is taking form, a Williamsburg 2.0 version with innovative, user-friendly apps. It’s like an art gallery crawl through Williamsburg’s burgeoning arts scene; or a group jog on a three-mile course that meanders through Colonial Williamsburg every Monday evening, beginning and ending at DoG Street Pub on Merchant’s Square; or the partaking of the “new urbanism” of New Town, where residents can live, shop, eat and play in the same neighborhood, just as they did in colonial times, albeit with modern conveniences.
Do not be alarmed, however, that “old” Williamsburg is being forgotten. Williamsburg is retaining, even refining, the things that make it so Williamsburg. You can still walk into a coffee shop and bump into a reenactor in a gown, apron, and kerchief. You can lay eyes on a blacksmith working steel by the light of his forge in Colonial Williamsburg or see the lights of the tallest roller coaster at Busch Gardens as you round the bend on Route 60. You can even tour that last vestige of British dominion, the Governor’s Palace, or gaze upon the Wren Building, the oldest college building still standing in the U.S.
“No longer is Williamsburg known for only Colonial Williamsburg and William and Mary,” said business owner Leslie Sink, who opened Hi-Ho Silver in Williamsburg seven years ago. “It is a lifestyle that many have moved towards from other cities. One that appreciates the scenery, outdoors, great food and heritage.”
The New Order of Tourism
The reinvention of Williamsburg is playing out in its key industry: tourism.
Let there be no mistake. As much as is happening for Williamsburg residents, life in the Historic Triangle’s key city is still largely fueled by the tourism economy. Tourism, after all, is part of Williamsburg’s modern day history foundation with Colonial Williamsburg serving as the area’s major draw since the 1930s, when philanthropist John D. Rockefeller financed the restoration bringing it back to its revolutionary war-era heyday.
But all the new developments happening across the city—the shops, the art, the events—are quickly becoming part of the draw both to attract residents to stay and give visitors more things to do.
Though she’s only been on the job as president for just under two years, CEO of Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance, which also represents James City and York Counties, Karen Riordan said, “Change is in the air, and people feel like it’s not the same ol’, same ol’ in Williamsburg anymore.”
There’s tremendous potential here, Riordan said.
“I am very bullish on Williamsburg,” Riordan said. “We need to start being multidimensional. We’ve been so single-mindedly defined as a place about history. We need to open up the aperture to lots of different types of vacationing experiences.”
Those include growing ecotourism and sports tourism industries, culinary tourism, the fine arts and the performing arts.
“If we don’t tell that story, they’re not going to know it,” Riordan said. “They’ll only know about the battlefields of Yorktown, Jamestown, and Colonial Williamsburg. We need to show the vibrancy of what we have.”
“I joke, sometimes, in public speeches that we do cling to our traditions here in Virginia,” Riordan added. “More so here than in DC or Richmond. People say, `We’ve been doing it like this for 400 years so why are you changing it?’ Well, if you want to grow, you have to be brave and try new things.”
Riordan envisions the “unexpected Williamsburg,” a place that goes beyond Colonial Williamsburg and history.
It’s paddle-boarding on the York River, great golf courses, a great art scene, a bicycle-friendly city and the College of William & Mary.
And if you love history, too, Williamsburg has that.
“It’s different than even ten years ago,” she said. “We need to make sure our destinations are not static places. They’re not once and done places. We need to make sure people understand just how dynamic the destination is here.”
Think Asheville, North Carolina. In the past, Asheville was identified as the home of the Biltmore Estate. Now? It’s great music, great food, craft breweries, hiking, camping, mountain biking and the Biltmore on top of that.
“We’re just scratching the surface of that potential,” she said. “I recognize this is a marathon and not a sprint, so I’m trying to pace myself. We just have to push and keep going forward.”
Working to Create a Lasting Legacy
If you ask Jennifer Raines of Quirks of Art, she’ll tell you straight up: “I have zero artistic ability myself, so I appreciate those who do.” And not just because she’s in the business of art—her gallery is located on High Street—but because “I am very passionate about promoting the musical and artistic talent of others.”
The growth of the art and music scene in Williamsburg, beyond the traditional and still favorite fife and drum corps, rates among the top elements fueling the revolutionary city’s modern day evolution.
“On occasion, I have been overwhelmed by the support that we get from the community on our endeavors,” Raines said. “For instance, last year was the first year for the Winter Blues Jazz Fest. We didn’t know if people would leave their houses in January. We didn’t know if this area could sustain a four-day event. We didn’t know if anyone would travel to Williamsburg to take part in the festival. There were a lot of question marks.”
But Raines and fellow organizers had faith in all of the unknowns and took the risk.
Raines’ sincere hope is that the “raging success” of the Winter Blues Jazz Fest will become a lasting legacy for the people of the greater Williamsburg area for many decades to come.
“It was born out of a true love of jazz and blues, which I affectionately call ‘America’s Music,’” she said. “It is…important to give local musicians and artists a venue to showcase their talents and to let tourists know that Williamsburg has more to offer than theme parks and a walk through history.”
Other events and destinations Raines hopes more residents and tourists alike take note of:
• Saturday nights at Prime46Forty feature live music and serve late night dinners, much like you would find in a larger urban area, like Washington, DC. “I can’t tell you how many times we have taken a crowd there after an event when everything else has already shut down,” Raines said.
• The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, home to unique collections of antique furniture and folk art. “I am ashamed to admit it, but I have lived in Williamsburg for almost fifteen years, and I just went in for the first time,” Raines said. “The building looks so deceivingly small from the outside, but it is huge and has an awesome collection.”
• The walking trail behind Bassett Hall where, Raines said, “it is gorgeous and feels like you are walking on country trails. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of Williamsburg.”
The Allure Remains, Today and Tomorrow
Miniature horses graze along the ever-so-slightly rolling hills stretching from one log cabin to another. A donkey, as the mood strikes him, struts across a narrow road connecting the acres of family land. And off in the distance, chickens, contained in a homemade coop, lay eggs that little hands will later use to make cookies, muffins or whatever their cousins may gobble up later that week during family supper.
This little slice of heaven sits in Williamsburg, but not off of Duke of Gloucester Street downtown, as many might imagine.
Nestled off of Mooretown Road, it goes by many names—the Farm, Edgewood, the Henderson Family Compound.
“I just call it home,” said Schultz of the family property that she grew up on that’s been subdivided among the Henderson family. Schultz and her family—husband, Brett, and three daughters—live in one house on the property. Her sister and husband built just across the road the donkey crosses. And over yonder, beyond the horses and chickens, sits her granddaddy’s house, right next to her mom and dad.
“There’s no place I’d rather be, and it’s right here in Williamsburg,” Schultz said. “Our little piece of tranquility. Farm animals here at home, roller coasters down the street and living history anytime we want to see it.”
The challenge now, as Schultz sees it, is to find a way to showcase to her three daughters how very blessed “they are to have all of this in their backyard.”
Early indications are that those little girls will grow up much like Schultz, never wanting to leave.
“They are already asking where they can build their house one day in Williamsburg.”
For more information about Greater Williamsburg, go to williamsburgcc.com.
This article appeared in The Holiday 2015/Winter 2016 issue of the Local Scoop Williamsburg Magazine, pgs. 12-17.