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Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
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Founded in 1889, the Richmond, Virginia-based Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus on statewide Preservation. The APVA owns historic sites across Virginia including Historic Jamestowne, located at Jamestown, Virginia, site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, and the Cape Henry Lighthouse, one of the first public works projects of the United States of America. It has had a leadership role in historic preservation in Virginia; its 1889 saving of the Powder Magazine in Williamsburg came decades before Colonial Williamsburg's creation [1].
Aside from Historic Jamestowne, APVA sites include: Scotchtown, the Hanover County home of Patrick Henry, revolutionary and first Virginia Governor; the home of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall in Richmond; historic commercial buildings such as the Rising Sun Tavern, Mary Washington House, and Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop in Fredericksburg and the Farmer's Bank in Petersburg; Bacon's Castle, Virginia's oldest datable brick residence, in Surry; and the Cape Henry Lighthouse, the first federal public works project under President George Washington, in Virginia Beach.
Of the current APVA properties, six are designated as National Historic Landmarks and others are Virginia or National Register properties. Similar in mission to organizations such as The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. and The National Trust in Britain, the Richmond-based APVA also serves as a resource for organizations and individuals on preservation issues. The organization's branches represent APVA across the state; in Richmond, the APVA's self governing affiliate is Historic Richmond Foundation, which merged in July 2005 with APVA's William Byrd Branch.[2]
APVA Preservation Virginia also operates the statewide revolving fund, which protects historic properties with easements before placing them on the market, and an annual Preservation Conference.
Starting in 1994, a major archaeological campaign conducted by the APVA at Jamestown known as Jamestown Rediscovery has discovered the remains of the original 1607 settlement, and greatly increased our knowledge of Jamestown.