Postings moved from Williamsburg Long Haired Gunsmiths thread to this new thread. by Gary
Hey, Gary,
Heard round-a-bout that the Gunshop at Williamsburg has closed. True or not? If so, tempory (due to economy) or permanent? We are (were) planning a trip out there this coming Spring, but if the gunshop is closed, I don't know if I want to go. Lots of stuff to see there, but the gunshop was my main focus on our last trip there . . .
Otter
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Otter,
It would take hours to correct all the misinformation floating around the web about what is going to happen in the Historic Area and I can not get involved in that. I did want to clarify if possible a couple of things about the gunshop.
This is taken directly from a memo the management team received.
• The Gunsmith trade will move from its current location to the Geddy site and combine operations with the foundry – a historically accurate location that will allow us to bring together for the first time these two trades practiced by the Geddy family.
Note that the Gunsmith is not closing -- it is moving to a site where there was actually gunsmiths and foundrymen (William and David Geddy, sons of James Geddy Sr.) working at the time of the Revolution.
This decision was made at the highest level in the Historic Area Management Group and, while the timing is driven by the current economic pressure, it has been under consideration for years.
Combining the gunsmithing and foundry operations has been discussed for over twenty years because the trades department was never happy with the gunsmith not being on the site of an period shop. (The Ayscough site was a tavern, store, and residence of the governor's gardener but never a gun shop.)
Working out the logistics of merging the operations will take some time and limited space will be a challenge. In the long run the interpretation can become stronger because the work can be based on what we know, from both archaeology and documents, happened on that very piece of ground. For example, this is the site were David and William advertised that they bored, blued, and rifled barrels IN August of 1751---the earliest mention of bluing and rifling barrels in all of colonial America.
I have a special attachment to the old site but in all my years there we were constantly pressed to explain why we were not on a period site as most all the other trades shops were.
Gary
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Thanks for the explanation, Gary. Now the $10,000 question - What is the anticipated date of the move? Next week, next year, two years? We really do want to get back out there and I would like to have the gunsmith shop/artisans up and running when we are there. The trip we made in Oct 2000 was the best vacation we have had, and that's not just me saying that, my bride even said it first. Weather was great, people were great, food was great and aside from the gunsmith shop we also got to see the bricks being fired (a once a year event) which made the trip all the more memorable. For those of you who have not been to Colonial Williamsburg, do what you can to get there, it is well worth the trip. Otter
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An exact date for the transition has not been determined but the plan is to start January 5th, 2009. Until they get into the details of setting up the new shop they will not know how long it will take. I'm sure they are hoping to have the new site open by late March but you will be able to confirm that by visiting the colonialwilliamsburg.org web site and looking at the building schedule posted there.
Gary
