Williamsburg: Black History Walking Tour & Stories of Freedom

★★★★★★★★★★

4.81

(103 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

You step off the curb in Colonial Williamsburg and it hits you — this place is layered. Our guide, Marcus, just nodded at the First Baptist Church and started talking about the graveyard out back. I’d never thought about who might be buried there before. There’s this quiet heaviness under the trees, like you can almost hear old hymns if you listen hard enough. Marcus said some days you can go inside the church (we couldn’t today — something about Mondays), but even standing outside felt like enough.

We shuffled along Duke of Gloucester Street, passing brick buildings that look almost too perfect. Marcus stopped us in front of what’s now a tavern — turns out it once held the first African American lawyer’s office here. He told us about its owner, how he broke through barriers nobody talks about in school. I tried to picture him walking these same cobblestones, maybe dodging glances or worse. The sun was hot on my neck and someone nearby was selling sweetgrass fans; I almost bought one just to have something to do with my hands.

At George Wythe’s house, Marcus lowered his voice and told us how Wythe’s own slaves uncovered a plot against him — I didn’t expect that twist. And then we reached the Governor's Palace, where Lord Dunmore once promised freedom to enslaved people who’d fight for the British. It’s strange hearing those stories while tourists snap photos in front of the gates. There was this moment where nobody said anything for a bit — just cicadas buzzing and shoes scuffing gravel.

I keep thinking about Mary Stith now — her story came near the end of our walk. She left her property to her freed Black servants, which Marcus said was “ahead of her time.” You could see he meant it. The courthouse at the end felt colder somehow; learning that bills of sale for enslaved people were signed right there made me uneasy in a way that stuck with me after we left. So yeah, this day trip through Williamsburg isn’t always comfortable, but maybe that’s kind of the point.