Lounsbury, CarlNelson, Scott ReynoldsPease, EdwinMorrill, Matthew2025-06-122017-04-202009-05-05https://scholarworks.wm.edu/handle/internal/11936Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.In 1910 Williamsburg, Virginia was a small, quiet, Southern town. By 1935 the hamlet had become the site of the most extensive historic preservation effort of the twentieth century. An important part of this project involved the creation of Merchants Square, a shopping district displaying colonial architectural references built to house the businesses displaced as a result of the Williamsburg Restoration. Using sources such as Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, photographs, architectural drawings, newspaper articles, diaries, correspondence and official reports, this project analyzes the events leading up to the creation of Merchants Square, what made the center effective, how it changed life in Williamsburg, and how the center reflected architectural and planning trends outside of Williamsburg.© The Authorhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/Colonial WilliamsburgDevelopmenthonorsthesis_restricted