Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg is a not-for-profit educational institution that operates the world’s largest living history museum. In our Historic Area we tell the inspiring stories of our nation’s founding men and women on the eve of the Revolution. We also offer our guests 21st-century comforts and conveniences with classic American style. Our distinctive hotel properties, our taverns and restaurants, our retail shops help make the most out of our guests’ visits while providing support for our educational mission.

Founded in 1986, CW’s Rare Breeds program helps promote genetic diversity in livestock that research shows thrived in 18th-century colonial British America. Horses, oxen, sheep, and fowl contribute to the living history museum in many of the same ways they would have contributed to the colonial capital: as workhorses and oxen pulling carts, wagons, and carriages; and providing wool, eggs, milk, and manure for trades throughout the city.