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Fredericksburg Area Museum

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AnaMH
AnaMH
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4 out of 5
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Fredericksburg Area Museum

  • March 26, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by zabelle from Portland, Connecticut
Fredericksburg Area Museum

If you get the chance, don’t approach the Museum from Princess Anne Street; come in through the rear from Caroline Street. This gives you the view of the building facing the market square. Built in 1816, this impressive building served both as the Town Hall and the Market House. It is built in the Federal style and somehow survived the bombardment of the Civil War battlefield that was played out in Fredericksburg.

This is both a history and a social museum. On the ground floor, the exhibit entitled “The Art of Living” deals with the decorative arts and how they differed by class. You will be introduced to the class system as it existed from colonial times in Virginia: the aristocracy, the gentry, and merchant class, the lower order (poor whites and free blacks), and slaves. In Virginia, the majority of people fell into the gentry and merchant class. The dining implements of these classes are on display, and they range from decorated silver for the aristocracy to wood for the slaves. This is a very visual museum, and it is easy to understand the great difference in the classes through these exhibits. Obviously the majority of the exhibits have many more items from the gentry class, such as furniture and musical instruments, since the very fact that are made of superior materials made their chance of surviving over 200 years more likely. It is interesting to watch the Rocco style give way to Federal and then to neoclassical, all in a period of 50 or so years. Among the many interesting pieces is a tall clock that is thought to have belonged to Mary Washington. Another piece of Washington memorabilia is a mourning broach belonging to Betty Lewis Carter shown weeping at the tomb of her Uncle George Washington.

On the second floor there is a 10-minute video. What we do learn is that the City Council still meeting this building. We also learn that in 1824/25, the city gave a party for the Marquis de Lafayette in this building when he visited the city. What I found of particular interest is that this building has been the market hall since 1730, and they built the Town Hall on top of it, waste not, want not, I guess. This floor is divided into the 19th and 20th centuries. You go from the Civil War to Civil Rights, which makes for a very interesting transition. There are lots of newspapers and diaries documenting the privation of war. Take time to enjoy the exhibit on the important blacks in Fredericksburg’s history.

The third floor has a Masonic Exhibit, and among the treasures in the council room is a lock of George Washington’s hair.

This is a very interesting museum, so allow about 2 hours to do it justice. You finish up at the gift shop. There is an elevator to take you to the 2nd and 3rd floors.

From journal Fredericksburg—Where History Never Gets Old

Fredericksburg Area Museum

  • November 9, 2000
  • Rated 3 of 5 by AnaMH from South Florida, Florida
This museum contains permanent exhibit galleries which help tell the story of the Fredericksburg area's and its place in our nations history. The exhibits cover from pre-historic times to the current perod.

From journal A weekend in Historic Fredericksburg

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