! Museum Visitors !
MUSEUM VISITORS ARE REMINDED TO COMPLY WITH THE MUSEUM POLICY THAT NO SMOKING IS ALLOWED WHILE VISITING THE MUSEUM CAMPUS. THIS POLICY APPLIES TO ALL AREAS OF THE PROPERTY. THANK YOU! | ||
! Museum Visitors !
A REMINDER TO EVERYONE WHO WALKS THEIR DOG(S) ON THE MUSEUM NATURE TRAIL. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR PET ON A LEAD AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS A TRAIL RULE PUT IN PLACE TO PROTECT YOUR PET AND MAKE THE TRAIL SAFE FOR ALL VISITORS USING THE TRAIL. THANK YOU! | ||
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Financial Donations
If you want to make a financial donation to the Poquoson Museum, please
send your check or money order to: Poquoson Museum, P.O. Box 2163, Poquoson, VA 23662... or you can contact Treasurer Frank Rezek at 757-868-9882.
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Poquoson Museum Memorial Gift Program
The Poquoson Museum offers the opportunity to commemorate a loved one, or honor a friend, in the form of a contribution to the museum. Cash gifts are deductible to the fullest extent of the law. The Poquoson Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. | ||
! 2024 Membership Dues !
Museum members, and those wishing to become members, are reminded that 2024 membership dues are due. Membership Forms can be downloaded using either the pull-down link at the top of the webpage, or the Membership Form button above. Download and complete the form, selecting the membership category and dues amount that is best for you. You may mail your form to the museum PO Box address provided on the form. | ||
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Images of America: POQUOSON |
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POQUOSON MUSEUM 1st EDITION COOKBOOK |
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Your #1 guide for what's happening in Virginia
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STARTING APRIL 1, 2023 THE POQUOSON MUSEUM WILL BE OPEN ON SATURDAYS ONLY, EXCEPT FOR HOLIDAYS, FROM 1PM TO 5PM. WE NEEDED TO REDUCE OUR WEEKEND OPEN DAYS CURRENTLY IN PLACE TO ONE DAY DUE TO THE SHORTAGE OF DOCENTS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A DOCENT PLEASE CONTACT ANY OF THE MUSEUM OFFICERS LISTED ON OUR WEBSITE.
The Museum will be closed on Saturday, November 30, 2024 to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday  
Museum President, Paul Whitlow, is presenting a plaque to Jordon Hartman honoring Jordon's father, Tom Hartman, as a Lifetime Member of the museum. Tom was a longtime supporter of the museum and Jordon is following in his footsteps with his generosity and support.
A Message from the
Hello Poquoson Residents! We wanted to let you know about the Happenings at the Poquoson Museum. 2023 was a great year for events! We had three Giving Hope events, which included: the 2nd Annual Fall Festival; the Spring Festival and Car Show; and the Food Drive. Our sincere thanks go out to the Giving Hope organizers and participants for everything they did for the community. Thank you to the Master Gardeners, who hosted a Plant Sale, conducted ongoing educational programs, and Fairies and Friends (in conjunction with the Poquoson Office of Community Recreation). Please come out to visit the Colonial Beekeepers Bee yard. They are wonderful! The Museum had three successful events: America Goes to War; The Haunts of Poquoson; and our Holiday Open House. We want to thank the volunteers that worked to set up and run these events as well as the public who attended the events to support us! A big thank you to all the people who have donated money to the renovation fund for Tom Hunt's Store and other projects! We have had volunteers help from the Boy Scouts, Poquoson High School Students, and members of the community. We are so grateful for everything you do.
Rehabilitation of Tom Hunt Store 
Rehabilitation of Tom Hunt Store located at the Poquoson Museum Campus has begun.
2023 Fall Festival Car Show On October 1, 2023 the Classic Cruisers Car Club participated in the 2nd Annual Helping Hands Fall Festival at the Poquoson Museum. The event is sponsored by Giving Hope in Hampton Roads and all proceeds benefit the Tom Hunt Store restoration project.
The York/Poquoson Master Gardeners have partnered with the Poquoson Museum to establish a Monarch Habitat Garden, located between the museum's restored farm equipment display and the Colonial Beekeepers Learning Bee Yard. Funding for the garden was provided by Linda R. Freeman and Manfred C. Freeman, Jr.
AMERICA GOES TO WAR A Living History from the American Revolution Through Vietnam  This event was proudly hosted by the Poquoson Museum on May 6th & 7th, 2023 Saving History in Poquoson -- read the accompanying article on WAVY.com Stolen Anchor Returned to Poquoson Museum A vintage 1800's ship's anchor, stolen from the grounds of the Poquoson Museum in September of 2021, was recovered from a Poquoson property by the Poquoson Police Department on June 16, 2022. The approximately 7-foot, 2,000 pound anchor, originally donated by a Hampton resident, was transported back to the Museum.
April 30, 2022  The first annual re-enactor baseball game winners. The two teams were Armored and Infantry. November 18, 2021 The museum has planned on modifying the entrance platform and stairs to the main storage area in the barn for many months. With help from Air Force volunteers Jacob LeBlanc, Chris Meyette, Kcey Bobo and Kaleb Obert, the museum was able to finish this long awaited task. The final stage for the project will be to install the hand rails for safety. The museum leadership and members wish to thank these men for their service to our country and for continued assistance on museum projects. Since July of 2021, with assistance from the AF volunteers, we have accomplished numerous much needed projects. 
The museum has installed a new exhibit honoring local Civic Organizations. We invite you visit the museum to see the new exhibit. Our hours of operation are Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. We look forward to your visit. Face masks are required for inside museum visitors.
Our mission is to "Preserve and Promote the History of Poquoson" and we will do just that with your help! Make sure the items you donate have something to do with the 390 year history of Poquoson. We appreciate everything that you want to donate but we can't take everything due to limited storage space. If you would like to donate items to the Poquoson Museum, there are two easy steps you need to follow: 1.) Contact a member of our Collections Committee: Mary Clemons 630-3396 or marybclemons@verizon.net We will be more than happy to meet with you about your donation. 2.) As you know, no job is complete without paperwork! Come in and take a few minutes to fill out some paperwork. This is so that we can properly enter the history, names, dates, etc. into our database. It is really important that we have all the information on the forms that you have about pictures and objects. After we enter your item in the database, we will properly package and store it until we use it in a display. US AIR FORCE VOLUNTEERS HELP THE MUSEUM
 -View the Project Photos- Our Latest Addition The Poquoson Museum, in partnership with York/Poquoson Master Gardeners, has installed a split rail fence to enhance the location and appearance of the museum parking area, replacing the orange and white barrel cones previously used to identify the area. 
Farm Equipment Preservation Project  -- view the project photos -- Thanks to Jacob Weibel and other Boy Scouts from BSA Troop 28 the old farm equipment that has been at the museum for several years has been restored.
The Poquoson Museum has established an AmazonSmile account. When making online purchases with Amazon, please consider shopping at Smile.Amazon.com, choose the Poquoson Museum as your charity, and they will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Poquoson Museum, at no cost to you. UP-DATED NEWS FOR TOM HUNT'S STORE RELOCATION
The Poquoson Museum is pleased to announce that the relocation of Tom Hunt's Store has been accomplished. The movers lifted and hauled the store a mile down the road to the Poquoson Museum on Sunday, November 24, 2019. Final preparations are under way to re-install the roof structure that was removed for the move and install new roofing shingles. In the near future, the building support piers will be constructed and the store will be lowered and attached to the piers.
Longleaf Pine Restoration Project
  Buildings and Grounds: With the recent improvements around the Poquoson Museum's Campus, the Museum is looking for volunteers to help with the Buildings and Grounds Maintenance.
We need help with the following:
1. Regular Nature Trail Inspection and Maintenance - a. Monthly check of integrity of the boardwalks to see if any boards need to be repaired or replaced. Help with repair and replacement of boards. b. Monthly check for trash along the trail and emptying of the trash cans located along the trail. c. Occasional trimming of bushes along the wooded portion of the trail. d. Monthly cleaning (washing) of the 18 Interpretive Signs located along the trail. 2. Weekly mowing and trimming around the farmhouse 3. Biweekly mowing and trimming along the Nature Trail. 4. Occasional help with outdoor projects - such as yard cleanup, planting trees and shrubs and mulching same. 5. Occasional painting: inside and out. .gif)
6. Other needs as announced.
If you have a few hours to spare please contact:
Campaign to Preserve and Restore  Odd Post Office, now called Tom Hunt's Store was built around 1880. The structure served as a general store and a post office. This is because Postmistress Sarah E. Hunt was married to John Thomas Hunt, the store's owner, and the couple shared the building. It was alternately called Tom Hunt's Store and the Odd Post Office. It is believed that the post office possibly acquired its name because of its location next to the Fraternal Organization of Odd Fellows' lodge building. The road intersecting Poquoson Avenue at this location also acquired the "Odd" name. Photographs exist which show both store and lodge, the latter with members posed in front. Mrs. Sarah (Sadie) E. Hunt born in 1872 and died in 1962 was appointed Postmistress in May 1904. She is buried at Tabernacle United Methodist Church with her husband, John Thomas Hunt. There are many Hunt descendants living in the Peninsula area as well as Poquoson. Tom Hunt's Store is still standing today. Charlie and Georgia McDaniel, long time collectors of antiques, especially items from Poquoson's early days believed that Poquoson's history was too valuable to lose. In the late 1960s, they bought Tom Hunt's General Store on Poquoson Avenue to preserve the turn of the century structure. The store was given status as a historic Virginia building. Thanks to the McDaniel's, the store is full of some original merchandise as well as pieces that came out of other old houses and stores in Poquoson. In 2003, The Poquoson Historical and Cultural Museum Foundation purchased the former 15-acre Dryden farm tract on Poquoson Avenue. Those 15 acres have been transformed into a unique historical campus. The campus consists of the circa 1910 farm house (now the museum building), the circa 1940 "Miss Becky's Store", a circa 1930 building once used as a polling place and several other significant agricultural outbuildings. Timing is everything. The McDaniel's decided to donate the store to the Poquoson Museum in 2003, when it became too much to continue looking after. In February 2004, the Museum partnered with the City of Poquoson and applied for a grant through the Virginia Department of Transportation's Transportation Enhancement Program to move and relocate the store roughly a mile down the street to its new home on the Museum's campus. That $100,000 grant provides 80 percent of the project cost and requires a 20 percent match from the locality. But timing in this case wasn't on the Museum's side. The grant application and required paperwork hit one snag after another, some due to the downturn in the economy and more than one staff turnover at VDOT. Even the name of the grant changed. Now it's called the Transportation Alternatives Program Grant. The grant has increased to $150,000 in federal funding with a required $37,500 local match. Hopefully the move of the store is nearing final approval. On March 28, the Poquoson City Council agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding among themselves, VDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office and the Poquoson Historic and Cultural Museum Foundation. Once all the agencies' signatures are in place the next step will be to request bids to move the store. Great news, but unfortunately, it looks likely that the funding to move the store will exhaust the funding remaining in the grant as well as the match funds put up by the museum. Additional funds will be needed to renovate and get the store ready for public viewing. One pressing cost will be the funds needed to replace the existing stamped tin shingles with authentic reproduction metal shingles. Just the shingles and materials are likely to cost on the order of $10,000. How You Can Help The museum will need to raise a considerable amount of additional funds for restoration to get the store to a point where it can be opened up to the public without risking damage to the building. On top of that are the general maintenance costs and the costs of meeting the government's strict standards of historical accuracy. We encourage you to consider becoming a new member of the museum, or renew your current membership. In addition, you can make a donation designated to help renovate the store. Restoration and opening of Tom Hunt's Store will be a great addition to the Museum's unique historical campus and a real plus for our small city. If you would like more information about donating or visiting the Poquoson Museum go online to PoquosonMuseum.com. Or you may call Paul Whitlow at 868-6899 or Cliff Coffman at 869-4025.
Conceptual Plan
Marsh Walk Tree Planting
.jpg "Learn about the project, with accompanying photos")
With a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, and through the combined efforts of the VCE York/Poquoson Master Gardeners Tree Steward Class of 2013, Virginia Tech's Dr. Laurie J. Fox, Dreamscapes Landscaping, horticulturist Ed Bradley and his Trailblazer Team, and some dedicated museum volunteers, scores of trees have been planted along the lead section of the museum's Marsh Walk. Learn about the project, with accompanying photos
Dairy Donated to the Museum
The dairy shown in the photo above was donated to the museum by
Jean Ray and Nathan Forrest in memory of Miss Mary Burcher. According to our sources, Ms. Leslie Cox, who resided on the corner of Hudgins Road and Poquoson Ave., gave the dairy to Miss Mary
Burcher.
Dairies similar to the one at the museum were used to keep milk, butter, cream and cheese cool until they were needed. During the summer milk and dairy products would be placed in about 8" of water in the summer dairy to keep them cool. It is estimated that the museum dairy was built in the early 1900's. Another type of dairy was the winter dairy. This type of dairy has an open slatted front to allow the cold wind to blow through and cool the dairy products.
MUSEUM RESTORES WASH HOUSE
.jpg) .jpg "View the history and photo archive...") Before & After Views of the Wash House
IIn late August of 2009, museum volunteers started work on restoring this circa 1938 Wash House located on the museum campus. The building had served multiple uses throughout its history and was saved from a disastrous fate when it was threatened by a barn fire at the museum in 2007. Fireman continued to douse the building with water to prevent the Wash House from being consumed by flames.
MUSEUM JOHN DEERE TRACTOR
RETURNS HOME 
On February 27th, museum volunteers relocated a 1947 Model D John Deere Tractor to the museum, subsequent to engine and other repairs. The tractor was donated to the museum by Dan and Alice Phillips. In the December 2003 Poquoson Christmas parade the tractor, pulling a museum float, won second place in the Antique Motorized Division.
The Model D John Deere Tractor was produced from March 1923 to July 1953. The first Model D rode on steel wheels and was powered by a two-cylinder hand cranked engine. In 1925 solid rubber tires replaced the steel wheels. In 1939 a restyled Model D tractor appeared with a 42 horsepower engine and weighed 5,300 pounds. The Model D that is on display at the museum has electric start and inflatable rubber tires.
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BARN RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
   Views before & after the fire, and after restoration
On Saturday, April 12, work began in replacing the barn that was lost in a November 2007 fire. The post-fire cleanup and inital steps in the rebuilding process were carried out by members of the museum's Buildings & Grounds Committee. With help from the community, the rebuilding project has continued through the summer and fall, and is well on its way to restoring an important part in the museum's effort to collect, preserve and present the history and heritage of Poquoson, Virginia.
If you would like to help in the reconstruction work, or want information on the project, please call 868-9116. Donations for the project may be sent to:  Marsh WalkConstruction Continues
The construction phase continued through the summer and early fall in developing the Poquoson Museum's "Marsh Walk". You can view background information, check on its progress and view the project photo album by following the link below.
<< Story and photo >>
Poquoson City Council adopts resolution
recognizing the Poquoson Museum
The membership of the Poquoson Museum was presented with a resolution by the Poquoson City Council, commending it for its vision and determination in establishing a museum in the Poquoson community. The resolution was signed by all City Council members and placed on a handsome plaque.
Mayor Gordon Helsel presented the plaque on behalf of City Council, with museum president Diane Holloway accepting the resolution on behalf of the museum membership.
···<<< copy of the City Council Resolution >>>···
The resolution will be proudly displayed in the museum for visitors to view, an enduring appreciation and reminder of how the Council and other city departments support the museum in its mission to preserve, document, interpret and promote the history and heritage of Poquoson, and in its effort to educate and share this with the general public.
 Mr. and Mrs. Manfred C. Freeman, Jr.Underwrite Marsh Walk
Linda R. Freeman and Manfred C. Freeman, Jr. are two of the most dedicated patrons of the Poquoson Museum. Their generous gift has prompted the museum to name the Marsh Walk Trail as an enduring remembrance of Manfred's grandparents, Edward R. and Emma Moore Freeman.
<< Story and photo >>
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