November 2010

Throughout the year, the Museum offers a wide variety of activities to help the visitor experience the magic of railroading. Authentic train rides, unique special events, and regularly changing exhibits bring the history of railroading to life. Exhibits cover a wide range of topics, from social issues (such as women's role in the railroad workplace) to displays of railroad artwork intended to promote California and the West as a tourism destination. (from website)

This eighteenth-century building was restored to house the Hugh Mercer Apothecary. Dr. Mercer served the citizens of Fredericksburg with medicines and treatments of the time. Leeches, lancets, snakeroot, and crab claws made up just some of the remedies. Dr. Mercer practiced medicine for fifteen years in Fredericksburg. He left his practice to join the Revolutionary army and died as a Brigadier General at the Battle of Princeton.

With exhibits on every war from the Civil War to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and everything in between, the California State Military Museum provides a comprehensive look at the state's role in military history.

One of Virginia's most elegant colonial mansions, Kenmore was built in the 1770s by Fielding Lewis for his wife Betty, the sister of George Washington. An ardent patriot, Lewis spent his entire fortune building and operating an arms manufactory to supply Washington's soldiers and died before the war had been won. His Fredericksburg house has been restored to its original appearance and filled with period antiques.

This colonial-era home, known as Belmont, was built on a hill outside Fredericksburg during the 1790s. It is furnished, however, not as it was in the colonial period, but as it looked during the early twentieth century when internationally famous artist Gari Melchers lived there. The stone studio where Gari and his wife, Corinne, worked looks as if the artist had just stepped outside.

In their travels and residences both here and abroad, the Melchers amassed a rich and varied collection of antique furniture and carpets, fine china and pottery, and paintings and prints by Old Masters as well as new. Notable among the furnishings are a French Savonnerie carpet and a Dutch Rococo secretary. Shelves are stacked with Chinese export porcelain and Delft and Wedgwood dishes. The works of Corinne Melchers, an artist in her own right, are displayed here, including The Model, a clever "picture within a picture" portrait of her husband at work. Virtually all the couple's personal possessions remain with the estate so that the spacious interiors of their day have been carefully reproduced and reflect their very individual and eclectic tastes.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum educates visitors on aviation and space flight history through preservation of significant artifacts and presentation of dynamic exhibits.

Four major battles fought in the vicinity of Fredericksburg - Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Fredicksburg - resulted in approximately 110,000 casualties, making this the bloodiest ground on the North American continent. The park also includes the historic structures of Chatham, Ellwood, Salem Church, and the "Stonewall" Jackson Shrine. The military park encompasses more than 8,000 acres. The Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center is located at the base of historic Marye's Heights on the battlefield. Musem exhibits, a film strip, artifacts, and self-guided walking and driving tours are available.

American Heritage: "Fredericksburg: A Gettysburg for the Other Side"

With more than 2,000 historic firearms spanning 600 years, the museum is located in the headquarters of the National Rifle Association.

The National Firearms Museum proudly illustrates America's priceless heritage of firearms, freedom and the American experience. Through its many galleries are the actual artifacts that were with the Pilgrims as they left the good ship Mayflower, marched with the American militamen at Lexington and Concord, camped near Gettysburg with Robert E. Lee, helped a young Annie Oakley put food on her family's table, or stood on the winner's platform at the Olympic Games. The tapestry of America has been woven by people, places and things and so in the National Firearms Museum, each of the threads of the past bear familiar names like Beretta, Browning, Colt, Marlin, Remington, Ruger, Savage, and Winchester.

The California African American Museum provides insight into many different facets of African American history. The exhibition chronicles the African American journey from the west coast of Africa to the west coast of America. It examines artifacts from West Africa that demonstrate the art, history and culture of the regions; African Americans’ Southern legacy, the Great Migration West and provides insights into the unique art and cultural contributions that African Americans made in opening the Western frontier. Other exhibits chronicle various aspects of 20th century African American life and history.

This museum tells the story of Culpeper's rich heritage, featuring local dinosaur fossils and artifacts from Native Americans, European settlers, and American revolutionaries. It also includes material from the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and a wide variety of 20th-century displays on social life, sports, and events unique to Culpeper. On the Museum campus, visitors can enjoy both the Burgandine House, a fully restored 18th century log cabin and an working American Indian Village.