Historic Williamsburg

37. Alexander Craig House

Williamsburg, VA

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Alexander Craig was a highly successful saddle and harness maker. He most likely came from Aberdeen, Scotland, and first began appearing in Williamsburg documents around 1748. Craig kept meticulous records during his lifetime. His order book and ledger are still in existence, and these documents provided Colonial Williamsburg researchers with a great deal of information about how saddles were constructed during the eighteenth century. Craig, his wife Mary and his six daughters lived in the one-and-a-half-story structure on Duke of Gloucester Street that now bears his name, and he ran his saddlery and harness business on the same property. The house was built in stages; the earliest part was constructed around 1735 by wigmaker John Peter Wagnon, and subsequent owners added on to the structure as needed during the eighteenth century. The original home was demolished, but Colonial Williamsburg restored the house, attached shop and garden.