Museums
Newport News, with its many museums and cultural events, serves as a cultural center for the Peninsula and elsewhere. Newport News has ten museums: The Mariners’ Museum, Virginia War Museum, Virginia Living Museum, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, the Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center, the Anderson Johnson Gallery at the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center, Lee Hall Mansion, Endview Plantation, the Warwick Courthouse and the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, seven of which are accredited by the American Association of Museums. Another museum, the Lee Hall Depot, is planned to open. Newport News has the largest number of accredited museums in Virginia. This distinction is awarded to less than five percent of the museums in the United States. The Virginia Living Museum, currently accredited by the American Association of Museums, is pursuing accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Three of these museums, The Mariners’ Museum, the Peninsula Fine Arts Center and the Virginia Living Museum, are clustered in the center of the City, so that each activity reinforces other cultural, educational and preservation activities in the area and attracts residents and tourists to this cultural corridor.
Each of these museums contributes to the City's cultural diversity by illustrating its heritage. Several museums in the City occupy high profile locations in various City parks. These two cultural functions are not mutually exclusive, but rather share a synergistic relationship by enhancing the quality of life for all City residents. The separate functions of museums and parks do, however, require a balanced approach to planning for growth, as it is the expansion of the individual uses which generates conflict.
Local museums are an economic, educational and recreational asset for the City. The City's museums, whether private, non-profit, or publicly-owned, should continue to be supported, promoted and expanded. The City's museums should be featured as an important aspect in economic and tourism development efforts.
The Mariners’ Museum
The Mariners’ Museum, situated in a 550 acre park, was established and endowed in 1930 by Archer M. Huntington, son of Collis P. Huntington, founder of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. This museum is devoted to the culture of the sea its conquest by man and its influence on civilization. Within the museum building is an educational display of objects and items relating to the sea.
The Mariners’ Museum is one of the largest international maritime history museums with prized artifacts that celebrate the
spirit of seafaring adventure. The museum offers more than 60,000 square feet of gallery space with rare figureheads, handcrafted
ship models, Civil War ironclad USS Monitor artifacts, paintings, small craft from around the world, and much more. On March
9, 2007, exactly 145 years after the historic clash between the Civil War ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, The Mariners’
Museum and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) opened one of the premier Civil War attractions across
the nation—the USS Monitor Center. This dramatic $30 million, 63,500-square-foot facility enthralls families with exciting
exhibits, brings students face-to-face with history, houses state-of-the-art conservation labs and offers historihttp://nngov.limehouse.com/creation/#ans
rich resources for research.
The Peninsula Fine Arts Center
The Peninsula Fine Arts Center, established by local citizens in 1962, provides the community with numerous visual arts-oriented educational and cultural offerings, many of which are free. Ongoing programs and annual events include: Artful Giving, a holiday exhibition and sale providing unique art and craft objects; Hands On For Kids, a permanent gallery for children and adults to have fun with art materials and concepts; The Studio Art School provides visual arts workshops and courses; Arts Café, a series offering musical entertainment weekly; and the Gallery Shop, run by the Guild of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center.
Virginia Living Museum
Originally founded in 1966 as the Junior Nature Museum and Planetarium, the Virginia Living Museum has expanded several times over the years. The museum completed a $22.6 million expansion in 2004 that resulted in a new 62,000-square-foot exhibition building and 10 acres of outdoor animal and plant exhibits. The museum introduces visitors to more than 250 living species native to Virginia. The museum’s exhibits bring people in contact with more habitats, wildlife and plant species than would be encountered in a lifetime of outdoor adventures. The museum participates in a federal program to reintroduce endangered red wolves into the wild and exhibits many of Virginia’s endangered and threatened species. Each year, the museum provides formal hands-on science education programs to more than 85,000 students in 40 cities and counties across Virginia. For many students, the museum is their only hands-on experience with nature. All programs are targeted to specific grade levels and correlated with Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOLs). The museum’s programs have been recognized by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. and Virginia Departments of Education for promoting achievement in science.
The Virginia Living Museum is one of the most visited attractions in Newport News and one of the top natural science centers in Virginia. The museum is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network and is a site on the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail and the John Smith Trail. Its economic impact on the Commonwealth is more than $9 million a year according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Virginia Living Museum adopted its strategic plan in May 2006 in which it set goals which include attracting an additional one million visitors and increasing its adult audience; reaching an additional 500,000 children with meaningful educational programming about our natural resources; investing a minimum of $3 million in additional innovative and inspirational exhibits and facilities to include a café, outdoor amphitheater, playground and renovation of the planetarium.
Virginia War Museum
American military history unfolds at the Virginia War Museum located on Warwick Boulevard in Huntington Park. Outstanding collections of personal artifacts, weapons, vehicles, uniforms, posters and more, trace the development of the U.S. military from 1775 to the present. Galleries include Women at War and Marches toward Freedom, exploring the roles of women and African-Americans in the military and Visions of War, the Museum’s propaganda poster collection. The museum conducts educational programs throughout the year.
Lee Hall Mansion
Completed in 1859, Lee Hall Mansion was home to affluent planter Richard Decauter Lee and his family. One of the last remaining antebellum homes on the Virginia Peninsula, Lee Hall Mansion was used as a headquarters by Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnson and John B. Magruder during April and May of 1862. In 1996, the City acquired the Lee Hall Mansion and its surrounding land. Guided tours of the restored home provide a glimpse into the lives of a wealthy family during the 1860s.
Endview Plantation
The three wars fought on American soil have left their traces at Endview Plantation. The Revolutionary War brought 3,000 militia to its fresh water spring. The War of 1812 saw its use as a training ground while the Civil War found Endview serving as a Confederate captain’s home and a hospital for both sides. Built in 1769, Endview was home to members of the Harwood and Curtis families for over 200 years. The City has restored the Endview Plantation home and the immediate land area which are used by the Virginia War Museum for Civil War living history and re-enactments. An ongoing archaeological program and historic maps have identified the locations of several outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen and barn.
Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center
The Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center serves citizens of Newport News and surrounding communities in providing a venue for the nurturing and development of budding new artists. From the visual arts to dance, drama and writing, the center seeks to recognize artistic desires and helps citizens, young and old, realize individual dreams.
The building which houses the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center was first constructed in the 1920’s as the Walter Reed School.
In 1998, after several reuses, the City utilized a planning team, with members from the Southeast community, to develop a
new cultural arts center. The 51,000 square feet Center houses a 275-seat theater, a multipurpose room, smaller meeting rooms,
a local history museum (a national museum which provides recognition of local residents), with an art gallery dedicated to
the works of Anderson Johnson; and an artistic development center devoted to the instruction of dance, music, art, drama and
writing.
Anderson Johnson, the son of a sharecropper, emerged as one of America’s celebrated 20th century folk artists. Saved from demolition in 1993, the walls of Johnson’s Faith Mission were conserved and protected by the City. Each wall serves as a full-sized canvas replete with Johnson’s famed works. A permanent gallery in the History Museum of the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center is devoted to the works of Anderson Johnson. Here the meager home of Johnson has been reconstructed to give museum goers a feel for being in Anderson Johnson’s real home.
Lee Hall Depot
The 1893 Lee Hall Depot was relocated from the CSX right-of-way in 2007. Plans for the train station include its rehabilitation and transformation into museum space offering exhibits on transportation themes, toy trains and the history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Lower Peninsula Division.
Warwick Courthouse Square
The Warwick Courthouse Square contains several unique Warwick County court structures including the 1810 Courthouse, the 1820 Clerk’s Office, the 1884 Courthouse and the 1906 Confederate monument. These buildings have outdoor interpretation. The 1884 Courthouse features the Warwick County exhibit for the period of 1607 to 1957. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources Tidewater Office, the Newport News Warwick Historic Preservation Association and the Tidewater Genealogical Society have their offices within the complex.
U. S. Army Transportation Museum
The U. S. Army Transportation Museum located at Fort Eustis is devoted entirely to the history of U. S. Army transportation from Colonial days to the present. It offers a unique glimpse of the importance of logistical support to the Army. The museum was opened in 1959 with displays from a recruiting exhibit. In 1976, the main museum building was dedicated. The Aviation Pavilion opened in 1987. The Millennium expansion project is underway which will add significant display space to the museum. The museum complex occupies six acres inside the entrance to Fort Eustis. More than 200 years of Army transportation is examined through models, dioramas, and full size vehicles and equipment.
The Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center
The Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center is the restored 1899 residence of the African-American attorney J. Thomas Newsome. Mr. Newsome became a respected attorney, journalist, churchman and civic leader and prospered as part of the postwar Civil War south’s new urban African-American middle class. The elegant Queen Anne residence located on Oak Avenue serves as a community center for the City. The Carrie Brown House, Winfield House and other surrounding properties have been included into the Newsome Square Historic Park Complex which is under design.
James A. Fields House
The James A. Fields House is historically significant for its long association with the development of the social and civic life of the African-American community in Newport News. James A. Fields was a teacher, lawyer and member of the Virginia House of Delegates. The house was used by Mr. Fields as his law office and primary residence from 1897 to 1903. In 1908, the building housed the first Newport News hospital for blacks. Today, the restored home gives visitors a glimpse into the life of urban blacks in Newport News during the 1900s.