John Page

Who was John Page?

Colonel John Page, a merchant in Middle Plantation on the Virginia Peninsula, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Council of the Virginia Colony. A wealthy landowner, Page donated land and funds for the first brick Bruton Parish Church. Col. Page was a prime force behind the small community gaining the site of the new College of William & Mary, founded in 1693, as well as a chief proponent of the village being designated the colony's capital in 1698.

These events resulted in the renaming of Middle Plantation as Williamsburg in 1699, perhaps most well known as the birthplace of democratic governmental principals among the patriots before and during the American Revolution. In the early 21st century, Colonel Page's tiny Middle Plantation is the modern home of the restored colonial city now known as Colonial Williamsburg, one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world.