Raleigh Tavern
VA - Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
E Duke of Gloucester St, Williamsburg, VA 23185
MUSEUM
VISITOR INFORMATION
TICKET REQUIRED
Colonial Williamsburg general admission is $37.50 per day for adults.
This site is part of Colonial Williamsburg, so entry requires the general Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket.
SITE FEATURES
Reconstructed Structures
School holidays, group visits and published Historic Area programmes may add regional demand. Raleigh Tavern-specific annual peak months unconfirmed.
April-May or October for a published Raleigh Tavern visit paired with milder Historic Area walks. Check the daily Colonial Williamsburg programme and required admission.
HISTORIC SITES NEARBY
Nearby Historic Sites
miles
Landmark
WHO WAS HERE
11
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Patrick Henry
James Monroe
Martha Washington
William Fairfax
Sally Fairfax
Bryan Fairfax
George William Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
About Raleigh Tavern
From 1699 to 1779, Williamsburg served as the capital of the colony of Virginia. As such, there were numerous taverns to host legislators and other visitors having business with the government while the House of Burgesses was in session. The original tavern is believed to have been built some time before 1735. It changed ownership and keepers numerous times, continuing in use as a tavern, eventually being acquired by local cabinetmaker Anthony Hay (father of jurist George Hay) in 1767.
Rebuilt in 1930–31, it was both the first building to be rebuilt and to be opened as part of Colonial Williamsburg. Unlike several other taverns in Williamsburg that operate as restaurants or inns, the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern building serves as a museum, showing visitors how the tavern would have appeared.
History happened here at Raleigh Tavern
In May 1769, the Raleigh Tavern began its role as a center of sedition when Governor Botetourt dissolved the House of Burgesses, because of resolutions against the Townshend Acts. After its dissolution, the burgesses immediately convened in the Apollo Room as the 'late representatives of the people' and adopted the Non-Importation Agreement. The House of Burgesses was reconvened by the Governor in November that year.
This room was the frequent rendezvous of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other Revolutionary patriots. They met here in 1773 to develop intercolonial committees of correspondence. Dissolved by Governor Dunmore, the Burgesses met again in the Apollo Room in May 1774.
The Marquis de Lafayette was entertained at a banquet here in 1824, and the building remained in continual use as a tavern until it burned at the hands of an arsonist in 1859.
PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
PEOPLE WHO DIED HERE
PEOPLE AT REST HERE
EXTERNAL LINKS
colonialwilliamsburg.org: https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/locations/raleigh-tavern/
research.colonialwilliamsburg.org: https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/DigitalLibrary/view/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports%5CRR1637.xml&highlight=
Date note: the tavern was established around 1717. Colonial Williamsburg’s report records the reconstructed exhibition building opening on September 16, 1932; 1779 is not its founding or reconstruction date.
Accessed 2026-09-30