Spotsylvania Museum Opens In New Location With Enhanced Services

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA — The Spotsylvania County Museum will reopen Friday at its new home in the former Lick Run Community Center on Route 3. The new site will provide better access for visitors and offer more flexibility, as well as the potential for future expansion, the county said.

The museum’s new location features 1,800-square-feet of exhibits that offer visitors insight into the history of Spotsylvania County. It also features a space for special exhibits that rotate on a regular basis. The first rotating exhibit will feature Spotsylvania citizens that have impacted the county’s history.

For the first time, tourism counselors will staff the museum, providing additional services to visitors that had only previously been available at the Spotsylvania Visitor’s Center, located on Southpoint Parkway. The county's historical collections are also located on site and are available to researchers through scheduled appointments.

The museum will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day.

The museum had been scheduled to open in late February. But the coronavirus crisis delayed those plans. Coronavirus protocols for visitors at the museum include wearing face coverings and maintaining social distances of six feet. The museum will provide access to hand sanitizing stations and conduct enhanced cleaning procedures. A limited number of visitors will be permitted at a time in the building.

The museum, which had been located in Merchants Square at 9019 Old Battlefield Boulevard since 2013, closed in late January to prepare for the move to the new home on Plank Road. Spotsylvania operates the museum and the Spotsylvania Historical Association holds special programs and demonstrations.

The new location, at 6159 Plank Road, is on eight acres owned by Spotsylvania County in a park-like setting. The area is buffered by land under the control of the American Battlefield Trust and features wayside exhibits and a hiking trail.