Biggs Furniture, based in Richmond, Virginia, United States, was once a leading U.S. manufacturer of colonial reproduction furniture. [1] [2] The company flourished in the 20th century, alongside reproductions by Colonial Williamsburg by the Kittinger Company, and other mass market reproduction brands like Ethan Allen and Pennsylvania House. In 1975, the company was purchased by the Kittinger Company. [3]
The restored manufacturing plant at 900 West Marshall Street in Richmond is now an apartment complex. Examples of the furniture were in homes and in public buildings such as the Hotel John Marshall and Miller & Rhoads Tea Room.
The company was one of many Virginia furniture makers of the 20th century. Alfred Hemmings served as the final president of Biggs. Hemmings came to Biggs from Kittinger Furniture of Buffalo, NY. He left Biggs in the late 1970s to return to England, his country of birth, to serve as Managing Director of Brett&Sons in Norwich, East Anglia. He returned as president of Biggs Furniture in the early 1980s until the business shut its doors. During his tenure, Biggs provided furnishings for the White House and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He lived in Richmond in the West End with his wife, Doreen, and is survived by two daughters, Lynn Hemings of E. Amherst NY and Tracy H. Aitken, of Richmond, Va. sources: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/buffalonews/name/alfred-hemmings-obituary?id=4692501&utm_source=webshareapi&utm_medium=share_button&utm_campaign=wsapimobile_beta
Williamsburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County on the west and south and York County on the east.
James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia.
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction.
William Archer Rutherfoord "W. A. R." Goodwin was an Episcopal priest, historian, and author. As the rector of Bruton Parish Church, Goodwin began the 20th-century preservation and restoration effort which resulted in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. He is thus sometimes called "the Father of the Restoration of Colonial Williamsburg."
Ukrop's is an American company that operates a central bakery and kitchen producing baked goods and prepared meals. Its baked goods are marketed under Good Meadow and Ukrop's brand. In 1976 Ukrop's bought Dot's Pastry Shop, a well-known bakery in Richmond. It used the name Dot's Pastry Shop for years before changing it to Ukrop's Bakery.
Colonial Downs is a racetrack located in New Kent County, Virginia adjacent to Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg. The track conducted Thoroughbred flat racing and Standardbred harness racing between 1997 and 2014, and reopened for thoroughbreds in 2019. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs, Inc.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all acquisition of artwork, as well as additional general support.
Williamsburg Pottery Factory is a large, multi-structure retail outlet store located in Lightfoot, Virginia, about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Williamsburg. It was founded in 1938 by James E. Maloney as a small pottery workshop. The Williamsburg Pottery Factory now markets itself as one of Virginia's largest tourist attractions. Referred to by the locals as "the Pottery", the 200-acre (0.81 km2) attraction offers a selection of locally handmade articles, as well as imports from 20 countries. Williamsburg Pottery was once famous for its "bare bones" appearance; however, it underwent a multimillion-dollar redevelopment that reshaped its look in the spring of 2012.
The Kittinger Company is an American maker of traditional colonial reproduction furniture that was founded in 1866. Today Kittinger is known for the high-quality furniture it produces that is featured prominently in the White House.
Virginia furniture is furniture that originates from the U.S. state of Virginia. Furniture was first produced in Virginia during the Colonial period and continued through the Industrial Revolution. Furniture production has decreased in recent times due to imported furniture, but Virginia is still home to a few large furniture companies.
Parke Shepherd Rouse Jr. was an American journalist, writer and historian in Tidewater Virginia.
Edgar Allan Toppin, Sr. was an African-American professor of history, and an author who specialized in Civil War, Reconstruction and African-American history. He spent the majority of his 40+ year teaching career at Virginia State University, and wrote ten books on the subjects of American and African-American history. He served on several historical boards including the National Park Service, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, the later serving as president. As president, he was instrumental in turning Black History Week into Black History Month in 1976.
Vernon Meredith Geddy Sr. was an attorney based in Williamsburg, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia, and served W&M as the head coach for the William & Mary Tribe men's basketball team for the 1918–19 season.
The history of Williamsburg, Virginia dates to the 17th Century. First named Middle Plantation, it changed its name to Williamsburg in 1699.
John Stewart Bryan was an American newspaper publisher, attorney, and college president. He was the nineteenth president of the College of William and Mary, serving from 1934 to 1942. He also served as the fourth American chancellor of the college from 1942 to 1944.
Marcellus Eugene Wright Sr. was an American architect. He was active in Richmond, Virginia and the surrounding region during the first half of the 20th century. In addition to his work on hotels, Wright was a pioneer of the Moorish Revival architectural style in his design for the Altria Theater, which is a major component of the Monroe Park Historic District.
The President's House is the residence of the President of the College of William and Mary in Virginia in Williamsburg, Virginia. Constructed in 1732, the building still serves its original purpose and is among the oldest buildings in Virginia. Since its construction only one of the college's presidents, Robert Saunders Jr., has not moved into the building, which is let for free to the president. The President's House is William & Mary's third-oldest building and the oldest official college presidential residence in the United States.
Elizabeth Jaquelin Ambler Brent Carrington also known as Betsy Ambler Carrington founded the Female Humane Association in Richmond, Virginia. It is now known as the Memorial Foundation for Children. Believed to be the first of its kind in Virginia, the organization provided safety and shelter to destitute girls and kept they from a life of poverty and the possibility of becoming prostitutes to survive.
Lydia "Liddy" Broadnax was an American free Black woman, former enslaved person, and businesswoman who lived in Williamsburg and later Richmond, Virginia. Some historians have suggested that Broadnax was a concubine of her former enslaver and later employer, Founding Father of the United States George Wythe. She was denied the right to testify in the trial regarding his murder because of her race.