“My father reminded us many times that our house was located where a huge Civil War battle had taken place.”
Williamsburg Remembrances
Much of the May 5, 1862 Williamsburg Battlefield has been lost to residential development. Construction of neighborhoods like York Terrace and James Terrace around the Fort Magruder Historical Site began after WW II for the purpose of providing affordable housing for Williamsburg residents and families stationed at nearby military bases. What was it like living on the battlefield 90 years after the events of 1862? Were residence aware of the significance of their home’s location? Did residence ever find relics that might have given them a clue? Click on the link below to hear the remembrances of a women who lived on the battlefield as a young girl in the 1950s. (All photos provided by Deb Baker Burdick unless otherwise noted.)
![Deborah Baker about age 10 in York Terrace on the "Great Battlefield" (ca. 1955)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697122065671-J727ATBH6W4UI1G426MO/IMG_1374.jpg)
![l-r: Abby, Deb, and Priscilla Baker proudly display their new baby dolls on Christmas day 1954](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697122092881-ZKTYK7LCPYJ85KAF6XW1/IMG_1380.jpg)
![l-r: Deb, Priscilla, and Abby Baker perform "ballet on the battlefield" (Dec. 1954)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697122200083-HAWCUR0XH4C6JEMJ5UCP/IMG_1363.jpg)
![Deb and her sisters in a Colonial Williamsburg garden (1954)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697122230415-VR7TUGY5HBHB7WQYZWZ9/IMG_1366.jpg)
![4th & 5th graders at Magruder School (1955). Deb circled in yellow.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697296732205-P3IJKFIQAPP9PGILA89X/School+Photo.jpg)
![Deb's childhood home at 1121 Stewart Drive in York Terrace as it appears today (Google Maps)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/527f817be4b012bf9e739bc3/1697126969294-0R40D3KVBA27QQYT87JL/1121+Stewart+Drive.jpg)