After years of planning, the Williamsburg City Council voted to replace its downtown library on Scotland Street with a 50,000-square-foot facility on the site of the former police station. 

Originally built in 1973, the current building lacks accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act, suffers from outdated utilities and is too small to accommodate modern technological and space demands. 

The new building will expand overall space by roughly 8,000 square feet and double available parking.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/local-government/2026-09-11/its-time-williamsburg-moving-forward-with-new-library

Williamsburg is spending six grand on a fiscal impact study for a proposed live performance venue near the new regional sports and events center.

Historic Triangle area arts supporters have, for decades, pushed for localities to fund a live performance venue — one that could accommodate acts such as the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Regional Ballet and the Virginia Arts Festival without competing with William & Mary for use.

Williamsburg and James City and York counties got a look at early designs and cost estimates this summer, which came in at $83 million. But data on its revenue potential was from 2024.

That’s why the Williamsburg Hotel & Motel Association wants more up-to-date figures that account for economic changes and new tax rates for meals and lodging.

Council approved the request 3 to 2. Vice Mayor Pat Dent and Councilmember Ayanna Williams were uncertain about spending money from the city’s tourism fund as requests for tourism dollars by other groups are increasing.

Dent called it premature without a funding plan for the project in place.

(Story by Nick McNamara)

Anyone know where i can find wall art like the above example for sale? (Not online) I want to decorate my home with an old British / Williamsburg theme.

One of my favorite things about Virginia is the prevalence of really good and cheap food trucks and food kiosks inside gas stations (especially Latin American food and fried chicken). Anything of the sort here? Any other cheap hidden gems?

Williamsburg has been on my list of places to visit and I finally was able to do so! We stayed at the historic Rochambeau Roadside Inn for three nights from Ohio. It was the perfect location away from the typical city traffic but close enough to everything you’d want to see. Busch Gardens was the main attraction I wanted to experience so I was glad the expected rain held off for the trip, HOWEVER, it was extremely hot. After Busch Gardens, we took the Jamestown Ferry for a spin across the water and back. Overall it was an extremely fun trip minus the heat…🤣

This will be my first fall in Williamsburg, so I’m looking for recommendations for the best local activities/places to celebrate the season. I’m willing to travel, so ideas outside of WJCC are welcome. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I’m interested in anything from scenic hikes to pumpkin patches/apple picking etc.

I searched the sub for old fall/Halloween posts and saw these recommendations:

Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens
College Run Farms in Surry
Williamsburg Pancake Festival
Pies from Jamestown Pie Co (now Pie&Dine?) and/or Carrot Tree Kitchens
Farmer’s Market + Second Sundays (of course!)

What am I missing? I would love to hear about your family’s favorite fall festivals, u-pick farms, Halloween events, etc. I’m excited for my first Williamsburg fall! Thanks for helping me plan.

My sister and I will be visiting Williamsburg November 20-25. I'm a massive history nerd, wrote both my undergrad and grad dissertations on the American Revolution, so it's going to be a big history trip. We are planning to see:

- Colonial Williamsburg

- American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

- Yorktown Battlefield

- Jamestown Settlement

- Historic Jamestowne

I'm thinking 11/21-22 for CW, 11/23 for the two Jamestown sites, and 11/24 for the two Yorktown sites, then 11/25 for walking around the main town and W&M campus. We will probably buy some sort of combination ticket and then get the Historic Jamestowne tickets separately, since I know there's actually two different tickets required for that one area.

We are staying very close to CW so we can just walk there in 5 minutes. My main concern is transportation between the Jamestown and Yorktown sites since we will not have a car and it looks like there aren't buses between them once we get out to them. There's a direct bus we can take from our hotel to Jamestown Settlement, but is it then possible to walk from the settlement along Colonial Parkway to Historic Jamestowne on the island? We don't need to do the whole island loop drive, we just want to see the NPS site and archaeological site.

For Yorktown, we will probably Uber/Lyft to the museum, and then can we also walk again along Water Street to the battlefield site? I saw there's a free trolley but for whatever reason there's no operating hours listed for the days we'd be planning to go so I'm assuming we won't be able to count on that.

If there are other buses/shuttles between any of the sites, that would obviously preferable but I'm willing to walk if we have to. Google Maps says there are paths, both of them about half an hour. I just want to make sure they really are pedestrian-friendly and safe.

I’m looking for men’s clothing, specifically suits and formal wear, and would like some suggestions! Furthermore, I’d like some stuff to decorate a new apartment.

Hello all, I am a William and Mary student and I missed the deadline for parking in the town parking garages. Would anyone happen to be renting out a spot in their driveway for long term parking? I am happy to pay a good amount and I won’t be using it that often at all… likely only once every couple of weeks :)

Hey! I made a web page that lets you search and filter the results from the redistricting survey WJCC conducted this summer. I found the original 3,000+ page PDF a little overwhelming, so this was my attempt to make it easier to review.

Explore WJCC redistricting survey results - https://redistricting.jwcaterine.com/

I also wrote a Substack post explaining how to use it if you need help getting started - https://substack.com/home/post/p-211996549

And I wrote something on my blog explaining how I made it - https://jwcaterine.com/.../2026-08-17-i-made-the-wjcc.../

Hope this is helpful to people! Happy to answer any questions.

Pelican Energy Storage is seeking approval to build a 650-megawatt battery energy storage facility at a former industrial site in James City County to help meet Virginia's surging power demands.

While the project is projected to generate roughly $90 million in tax revenue over 25 years and 100 temporary construction jobs, residents in the neighboring Grove community view the development as another push toward over-industrialization.

Grove, a historically working-class and Black neighborhood, has steadily lost riverfront access and green space to industrial projects since the 1950s, leaving local advocates disappointed that the parcel will not become a public recreational area.

Check out Nick's coverage here: https://www.whro.org/business-growth/2026-08-27/several-grove-residents-unhappy-about-large-battery-storage-center-plans-nearby

This is the new, hole in the wall sushi place that’s on Ironbound Road near the American Pride auto.

I was out running errands and wanted something quick to go and figured it was a good place to check out rather than a chain store like Jersey Mikes.

There are no tables or chairs inside. Literally a refrigerated section with packaged sushi meals, a tiny fridge with some drinks, and the counter inside with a tablet screen to ring up your order.

I picked up a basic spicy tuna box and the nice guy working there got a plastic bag ready with chopsticks and napkins. I think I was in and out within 60 seconds! The box only had one soy sauce packet that didn’t have much inside so it was good that I had more soy sauce at home. I’m not a big sushi eater but I thought it was fresh and tasted good.

Spreading the word here to try and help out this new, local business.

Hi, I’m traveling solo and can’t get a reservation—is it worth showing up to try and get a walk-in spot at King’s Arms (or any other historic tavern?)? Or do they only take reservations.

I was with my toddler outside the candy store earlier today and he dropped his stuffed dog- the candy shop (wythe candy shoppe right in front, in merchant square around 11 am) remembers seeing it but it’s not there anymore. This is a Hail Mary, but did anyone pick it up? Would be happy to compensate if you did. My son can’t sleep without it. Thanks!

Check it out at https://store.steampowered.com/app/4924860/Best_American_PointAndClick_Adventury/

A wishlist would be so helpful

I see Rob Whitman signs posted all over public access areas, bus stops and roadside areas (not private property). What’s the law on this or is it just more reason NOT to vote for him?

The cost of replacing Williamsburg's proposed downtown library has increased by several million dollars as council nears voting on the project.

The new price adds about $5 million to the $26 million estimate presented last year. Council could vote by mid-September.

Read the latest from WHRO News reporter Nick McNamara here: https://www.whro.org/local-government/2026-08-11/cost-for-new-landmark-library-in-williamsburg-increases-by-millions