Currently Showing
The First Light Celebration - "Captain John Smith's Christmas Journey
1608-1609" Exhibit will be featured at the Gloucester Museum of
History through December.
The
‘Kecoughtan Christmas’ is the first recorded English Christmas in North
America. In December of 1608, Captain John Smith recorded the events
leading up to, during, and following their Christmas with the Native
Americans. This original painting depicting the landing it also on display.
Also on display at the Museum is the original oil painting of Civil War General W.
B. Taliaferro reviewing the last general muster of the Gloucester Militia at
Roaring Springs Plantation the 4th Saturday in May 1860. Painted by
Robert E. Goodlier (b.1925 – d.1999), the painting has been donated to the
Gloucester Museum of History by his family. The artist’s daughter, Elizabeth G. Esrey of Middletown, Delaware and son, Winslow R. Goodlier of Glen Allen,
Virginia, agreed that the painting should be returned to Gloucester because of
it’s historic significance to the County. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Goodlier lived at Roaring Springs Plantation from 1992 until
2004.
There are also numerous
permanent exhibits showing in the Museum. The permanent exhibits on display
include the original manuscript of The Honey-Pod Tree. The Gremer Doll House Exhibit (located on the 2nd floor) and the World Wars I and II Exhibit which
will remain in place throughout the year.
Museum Exhibit on the Second Floor
The second floor of the Gloucester Museum of History is now open to the general public. The theme of the eight station exhibit is "Echoes From The Past, Six Periods of Gloucester History," tracing Gloucester's rich history and varied contributions from 5 million years ago when the area was covered by a warm tropical sea, to the Civil War, when it gave both a General to the Confederate Army and was home to James D. Gardiner, who rose from oysterman to become the only recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor from the area while serving in the Union Army. Other displays in the new exhibit area include Native Americans, Bacon's Rebellion, archaeological findings from "Paradise" (home of the Lees), archaeological findings from the Fairfield Plantation, and Gloucester's participation in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War.
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Last update by E. Wirt, December 08, 2009