SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA MUSEUM

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA MUSEUM INFORMATION

Location:

Phone Number:

Days and hours of operation:

March – December
Tuesday-Friday- 10am-4pm
Saturday- 10am-5pm
Sunday- 1pm-5pm
Monday- 10am-4pm (Memorial Day through Labor Day)

Description

Storytelling has been a popular way of sharing information, history and humor in this country for hundreds of years. That tradition remains strong in Southwest Virginia where there are so many stories to tell. And now, the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap Plays a part in sharing those stories with the community and visitors alike.

The Southwest Virginia Museum is housed in a mansion originally built in the 1880s by Rufus Ayers, a Virginia attorney general. The exhibits showcase the development of Big Stone Gap beginning in the late 1870s when northern businessmen dreamed of turning the tiny village of Big Stone Gap into the Pittsburgh of the South. Exhibits chronicle the coming of the railroad, the development of the mining industry, and the lives of many prominent local citizens.