Charlton's Coffee House Exhibit Comes To CW

By Desiree Parker Sunday, September 19, 2010

 

The process and history behind recently-reconstructed Charlton Coffee House in Colonial Williamsburg will be the focus of a new museum exhibit at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Art Museum.

 

 

The exhibit, titled “This Old Coffeehouse,” will open September 25 and will feature the archaeological, architectural, and historical sleuthing that brought this important historic building back to Duke of Gloucester Street 120 years after it was demolished.

 

Museum guests will get a chance to explore the process of developing the design, erecting the building, and furnishing the interior of the first major reconstruction project on Duke of Gloucester Street in 50 years. The exhibit draws on archaeology, architecture, decorative arts, historic trades and archival elements to show visitors the process of rebuilding the history, landscape, structure, and interiors of Charlton’s upscale meeting place.

“This exhibition provides our guests with a better understanding of the research required for our presentations on 18th-century life,” said Matthew Webster, Colonial Williamsburg’s director of historic architectural resources, who curated the exhibition.

“The process that accurately recreated Charlton’s Coffeehouse has not only returned an important structure to Williamsburg’s Historic Area, but also provided a valuable learning and interpretive opportunity.”

Some items on display will be prints of period coffee houses, a painting of Nathaniel Walthoe (who leased the building to Charlton), Charlton’s estate inventory and archeological artifacts recovered during excavation of the site including table wares and food remains.

The exhibit runs from September 25 through December 2012, and will be the fourth new exhibition opening during the museum’s silver anniversary. Visit Colonial Williamsburg’s website for details.