In 1903, Goodwin became pastor of historic Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, a small city which had served as Virginia's capitol from 1699 until 1780. He soon found that in 1884, the parish's women had formed a preservationist group, which had evolved into the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. They had repaired the churchyard's old gravestones, secured the foundation of the colonial Capitol, and acquired the Powder magazine. From Petersburg, Goodwin published "A Historical Sketch of Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia".