Thursday, July 23, 2009

Frontier Culture Museum





















Even on a rainy, dreary day, the Frontier Culture Museum is a fabulous place to visit.

What a cool concept for a museum: on several acres, you walk along an undulating path from one century to the next, from one country to the next, each building authentic and filled with some original pieces, but mostly fantastic reproductions.

The farmhouses were brought here from each of the countries that represent the immigrants who settled in this section of western Virginia—England, Germany, and Ireland. Another village is currently under construction which represents the 4th group—the Igbo tribe from West Africa.



Within each of the houses are knowledgeable interpreters who tell you about the people who might have lived in the home, their customs, what they were experiencing in their native country that
prompted them to move to America, how they survived and made a living, and the ways in which they influenced their new neighbors.

On every day but Monday, the interpreters are dressed in period costumes. And throughout the year, the museum hosts special events.

We spent 4 hours on our self-guided tour, and because of the rain, we had the entire place to ourselves. That is, the two of us, and all the farm animals.