The rich history of Pulaski County’s Agriculture is getting lots of attention at our museum in Spring 2022. We have added a new exhibit displayed in our 1818 Barn that highlights this history, and we will be adding some off-site programming throughout the year to compliment the information presented. Please stop by and enjoy the display.

This focus on agriculture has provided our theme during spring semester for Homeshool History Humpday classes at the museum, and just this week, we learned about sheep, particularly sheep shearing.

Sheep have long been a part of the Pulaski landscape. The historic postcard above shows a sheep flock from Buena Vista Farms in Pulaski, a farm very near where our homeschoolers saw the sheep shearing take place. Local farmer, Cecil King, allowed our group to visit and watch the process. We appreciate Mr. King and his hard working crew for allowing us this opportunity. These sheep live in the Robinson Tract area of the county like many generations have before them.

Luckily, a strong farming tradition is still thriving in Pulaski. If you would like to experience a sheep shearing and support our local farmers, please save the date for the NRV Sheep & Goat Festival on September 24, 2022, and join them in Draper.

Our Summer 2019 Exhibit “American Evolution along the Wilderness Road: Democracy, Diversity, and Opportunity” shows Newbern and the New River Valley as models of the evolutionary process that allowed Virginia to influence the direction of American culture. Our exhibit highlights this important truth: What happened in the New River Valley along the Wilderness Road happened throughout Virginia and throughout the country as a whole.

Viewers of our exhibit are invited to consider how the American Evolution themes–Democracy, Diversity, and Opportunity–intersect, overlap, and feed each other as we tell the local stories of American Evolution.

One such story involves Mathias Vogl, one of the thousands of European immigrants who traveled the Wilderness Road, some of whom settled in the New River Valley. In search of new opportunities and freedoms, many of these immigrants took trades and skills from the Old World and brought them here. Mathias Vogl used his skills as a tailor to make a living in Newbern.

Vogl was a part of the second wave of Prussian immigrants in the early 19th century. He first appeared in Newbern in 1848. On exhibit at the museum now are his detailed tailor’s patterns, as well as a small handbook of tailoring procedures he patented and left to his son. Most of the instructions were written in Vogl’s native language of German. His shop would have been located on Lot #11 in the Village of Newbern, as it was laid out in 1810.

To learn more about American Evolution, click here<>

Kristin Richey, Statewide Engagement Coordinator of
AMERICAN EVOLUTION™ visited our museum in March for the exhibit opening. She is pictured here with Tom McGohey, Exhibits Committee Chair

Dr.Jim Glanville will present “William Preston and the Making of America” on Sunday, March 18, 2 PM at the museum. The talk will address Virginia’s role in establishing a nationally-accepted model for local governments. William Preston served as a land surveyor for Fincastle, Botetourt, and Montgomery Counties before his death in 1783. Preston saw many territory exchanges and county formations in his time, making him a very interesting historical figure to study on a local level, as well as a national level.

Glanville is a retired chemistry professor living in Blacksburg, VA. Born in London, England, Glanville emigrated to the United States in 1962, where his professional career included jobs in the chemical industry and academia until his retirement in 2004 after spending twenty years at Virginia Tech. Glanville has an “encore career” as an independent scholar of history and archaeology of pre-1800 southwest Virginia and the area he has named “Holstonia.” Visit his website, www.holstonia.net, to learn more about Glanville and to see many of his publications and presentations online, several featuring more about William Preston.

“Researching Our Family History”
Wilderness Road Regional Museum
Saturday, May 16, 2015, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The New River Historical Society is excited to announce its annual Genealogy Workshop at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum, “Researching Our Family History” A registration fee of $20 includes coffee and donuts beginning at 9 a.m. and a lunch of soup and sandwiches.

Guests can register by calling the museum at (540) 674-4835 during its hours of operation,
10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

On Saturday, March 28, The Pulaski County Civil War Sesquicentennial and the Wilderness Road Regional Museum will be hosting a Living History event to commemorate the end of the American Civil War.

On Saturday morning March 28, 2015 the 45th Virginia Infantry will be leading a march from the Rail Road Depot in Dublin to the Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Newbern. The march will begin in Dublin at 9:00 am with the Soldiers arriving in Newbern at 10:00. [Read more…]

Old Christmas at Hillcrest—Sunday, January 4, 2015, 4-6 PM, at 5280 Black Hollow Road, Dublin. Join us at this historical home for a festive celebration of an early American holiday; proceeds benefit the Wilderness Road Regional Museum. Seasonal music, carol singing and historical interpretation of Old Christmas by the Newbern Choristers; hors d’oeuvres, Christmas sweets, eggnog, and cider punch. $20 suggested donation. Reservations not required. Call (540) 674-8378 or (540) 250-1908 for more information.