Wilton | |
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| Location | S of Richmond, on N bank of James River, Richmond, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°33′45″N 77°31′14″W / 37.56250°N 77.52056°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1750 |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 76002231 [1] |
| VLR No. | 127-0141 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 30, 1976 |
| Designated VLR | October 21, 1975[2] |
Wilton House Museum is a museum in a historic house located in Richmond, Virginia. Wilton was constructed c. 1753 by William Randolph III, son of William Randolph II, of Turkey Island. Wilton was originally the manor house on a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) tobacco plantation known as "World's End" located on the north bank of the James River several miles east of the city of Richmond. Between 1747 and 1759, William III acquired more than a dozen contiguous tracts of land. About 1753, Randolph completed building a Georgian manor house, which he named "Wilton," on a site overlooking the river.
In 1934, with commercial development encroaching on the opposite bank of the James and the property in danger of foreclosure, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia saved the mansion from destruction by purchasing, dismantling, moving, and rebuilding it on a site overlooking the James River a few miles west of its original location. Ironically the farm just east of the Pocahontas Parkway, where Wilton once stood remains devoted to agriculture in the 21st century.
Open to the public since 1952, Wilton hosts a collection of 18th- and 19th-century furnishings, textiles, glass, ceramics, and silver that reflect the wealthy planter life of the mid-18th century.[3]
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (October 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Wilton" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying two photos