Foundation of Wren Building

Date: August 8, 1695 • Location: City of Williamsburg, United States

The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia.

The Wren Building is a building in the College Yard on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. First constructed between 1695 and 1700 to host students and courses for William & Mary, it is the oldest college building in the United States. Its original design, often attributed to the English Renaissance architect Sir Christopher Wren, was the largest yet constructed in the Chesapeake Colonies and marked a departure from medieval forms previously found in Colonial Virginia. The building has been partially rebuilt multiple times following damage by fires, a tornado, and battles. The present appearance of the Wren Building is a restoration of its early 18th-century form, completed as part of the Colonial Williamsburg projects.