Williamsburg Art & Historical Center

The building you are approaching was originally the Kings County Savings Bank, a structure completed in eighteen sixty-eight during the height of the American Civil War. Its architect, William H. Wilcox, designed the exterior in the elaborate French Second Empire style, reflecting a period when Williamsburg was an immense center of global wealth and industrial power. While you look at the facade, remember that this was once a secure vault for the fortunes of sugar barons and oil tycoons who lived in nearby riverfront mansions.