by Debi Lander for Bylandersea America 250

Before the first shots rang out at Lexington and Concord, another confrontation was brewing—this time not in Massachusetts, but in Virginia’s colonial capital of Williamsburg. In the spring of 1775, tensions between the royal governor and the colony’s patriots ignited what became known as the Gunpowder Incident, an early spark of rebellion that revealed just how volatile the relationship between Crown and colony had become.

Trouble in the Powder Magazine

At the time, Williamsburg was the seat of Virginia’s government, a genteel town of taverns, wig shops, and Georgian houses surrounding the stately Capitol. In the middle stood the Magazine and Guardhouse, a brick octagonal building erected in 1715 to store arms and ammunition for defense against Native attacks or foreign invasion.