It’s the 18th century in Williamsburg where everything is old, but right outside of town, it’s late October in 2019, which seems foreign compared to a town founded before the country united.

“[I was] really thankful for all the technology and the innovations that we have today that makes it a lot easier to do simple day things,” sophomore Nicole Panczyk said.

Sophomores in AP U.S. History received the opportunity to visit areas in and around Washington D.C., like: Gettysburg, Arlington, Monticello and Williamsburg. In Williamsburg, everything remains like the 1700’s, so people experienced life as colonial residents did. The trip gave students learning opportunities unattainable to a regular history class, like seeing how people talked, acted and lived.

“We really saw what it was like back then and we got to tour all the little shops. We spent all day there it was pretty fun,” sophomore Sophie MacLeod Roth said. 

Williamsburg survived for centuries because The Rockefeller Foundation preserved and restored the town in the early 20th century. The preservation allowed people to see the same types of trades, people, mannerisms and more, which persisted through colonial times. They also added in actors to give speeches, like George Washington.

“I thought it was cool when George Washington was talking; he gave his Farewell Address, which was something that we had literally just talked about last week,” AP U.S. History teacher Smith said. “It was coincidental that what he decided to focus on that day was literally something that we were covering in class.