The ABCs of Planning

Gerckens writes, "Until the late 1920s, little was done to protect the urban artifacts of the nation's cultural history -– other than the preservation and restoration of isolated structures associated with historic personages, such as George Washington's Mount Vernon residence. But in 1929 this began to change with John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s decision to restore the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, to its colonial-era glory. "