Williamsburg’s New Dig Center

Colonial Williamsburg opens its new Campbell Archaeology Center to the public on Saturday, April 25, with a ribbon-cutting set for 9 a.m. (colonialwilliamsburg.org) The building is a public-facing home for the foundation’s archaeology program, with collections, labs and education space gathered in one facility. Colonial Williamsburg says the center includes 35,000 square feet of collections, research and educational space, while a foundation press release puts the total at 40,000 square feet. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, cwf20siteprodstg.blob.core.windows.net) Visitors will be able to walk through the center, meet archaeology staff and see how excavated objects are studied and interpreted. Colonial Williamsburg also scheduled guided lab tours at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during opening weekend, with groups capped at 15 guests. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, colonialwilliamsburg.org) The opening lands as Williamsburg prepares for two milestone anniversaries in 2026: the nation’s 250th and Colonial Williamsburg’s 100th. The foundation lists the archaeology center as one of its signature 2026 projects. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, colonialwilliamsburg.org) Archaeology has been part of Colonial Williamsburg’s restoration work since 1928, and the foundation says its lab now holds more than 60 million artifacts. Those finds range from building materials to personal items that help staff reconstruct daily life in Virginia’s colonial capital. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, colonialwilliamsburg.org) The new center also opens as excavations continue to reshape what visitors can see on the ground. Colonial Williamsburg says a five-year dig at Custis Square ran from 2019 to 2024, and current fieldwork at the Peter Scott House and Shop site is tracing a property later damaged when Continental soldiers accidentally burned it in 1775. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, colonialwilliamsburg.org) Colonial Williamsburg has said the center will be open to visitors seven days a week, turning work that was once mostly behind the scenes into a regular stop inside the Historic Area. Saturday’s opening is the public debut of that shift. (colonialwilliamsburg.org, colonialwilliamsburg.org)