The Frontier Culture Museum is a collection of farms from many countries. The interpreters are very informative and dressed in clothing that reflects their country's farmstead. This is worth a visit if you like history. It is recommended to spend two hours; I would recommend more. We will return on our next visit to Staunton.
Great place. Took our 7 year old granddaughter and we had a great day. This place offers so much. Great interpreters in a wonderful setting.
If you like Williamsburg, you'll love the frontier culture museum in Staunton. At least I think so. We came on a Friday morning in November- little chilly, but decent weather, We spent 5 hours, and only called it a day when we started getting hungry. Since the park was pretty empty (at least at first) we were able to talk at length with the interpreters, but soon more people started coming and we didn't want to hog the time with questions. The place is spread out and its great for some exercise- golf carts are available for those with limited mobility. All the buildings, except the Nigerian farm, are original and carefully moved from UK/Ireland/Germany/VA - very impressive. Take the time to watch the initial video and get the corn to feed the ducks!
This is an outdoor museum that showcases authentic farm life from a variety of countries: the buildings were moved from Europe and reassembled on site, some date back to the 18th Century. Even the animals are authentic breeds from the period of each farm. Each 'farm' has a period style docent with interesting stories about farm life. Fun and educational for young and old alike. If you don't want to walk the entire site you can rent a golf cart - heck you can picnic on the grounds as well. A fun visit and really unique.
Even on a freezing winter day, it was educational to explore the well appointed outdoor history museum that traces some of the immigration that formed the foundation of our frontier. The homes and farm buildings that were brought over from Ireland, Germany and Great Britain.are on the "Old Country" side along with an Indian village and an African Village to show where our immigrants came from. On the "New World" side are farms that were brought intact from nearby farms to show how the "Old World" culture influenced the "New World" as well as changed to fit the new found circumstances. Most of the houses had docents who were dressed to fit the part and could answer questions or give information about each place and country of origin. We enjoyed seeing resident cats in several of the homes that were enjoying the fires in the hearths. There were also sheep, ducks and geese in the farm areas. This outdoor museum would be enjoyable for any age person.
Be prepared to walk... Nice that they do have the shuttle and also wagons for the kids. Great that they have people acting so to speak in each setting. We loved it! Very fait price as well!
Friendly and informative ! An outstanding opportunity to learn about the founding cultures of our world.
Authentic farms and buildings relocated from original settings with authentically dressed staff. This museum is along the lines of Sturbridge Village, Mass only on a smaller scale. Excellent historic/educational museum Located right off I81.
I'd never heard of this museum prior to finding it on the web last Sunday. We were looking for something to do in the western Virginia area and headed there the next day--opening day of the new season. We were delighted by what we found. The museum's relocated and/or recreated buildings represent the immigrant cultures that populated the Appalachian region as well as the sorts of new American buildings they created in forging a new native culture here in the 18th and 19th centuries. The staff is knowledgeable and welcoming, but you'll need the better part of a day to do it all. We spent 4-1/2 hours on site, though we'd been advised when purchasing our tickets that we'd need about 2 hours for a visit. (Don't believe the lower number.) The one thing missing is food; bring a picnic lunch or plan on a mid-day break someplace in Staunton.
Wow, what a great museum! I loved so many aspects of this attraction: the walkable campus, the knowledgeable and friendly interpreters, the unique take on American (eg our European roots pre-immigration and the post-immigration melting pot). Most interestingly, the majority of the structures are ORIGINALS brought over and reassembled on site for the exhibits. As someone who worked for one the most celebrated historical sites in America (Monticello), I was really impressed and will return with other visitors.