Virginia Historical Society

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The Virginia Historical Society, founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private organization, supported almost entirely by private contributions.

In its early years, it gathered an eclectic collection of natural history specimens, historical artifacts, and printed and written material. The Society was reconstituted after the Civil War and was renamed the Virginia Historical Society in 1870 to reflect a primarily historical focus as it became more active in publishing historical material. The Society gained its first permanent headquarters building in Richmond in 1893. The Society's journal, the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, has published on a quarterly basis without interruption since 1893.

In the 1950s, increasing resources allowed the addition of a professional staff. Over the next several decades the Society's collections grew. The publications program also increased as the Society gained a significant role in the academic community.

In 1992 the Society opened the Center for Virginia History, increasing its display and archival resources. Shortly thereafter, it entered into a partnership with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, an agency of the state government, which also had significant historical holdings (both artifacts and archives), forming a unique private-public partnership.

A 54,000-square-foot wing, completed in 2006, houses the Reynolds Business History Center.

[edit] Virginia House Museum

4301 Sulgrave Road
Richmond, VA 23221
(804) 353-4251

Virginia House, situated on a hillside overlooking the historic James River in Richmond, Virginia, was constructed by Alexander W. Weddell, U.S. ambassador to Spain and Argentina, and his wife, and Virginia Weddell, in 1928 from the materials of a sixteenth-century English manor house. It was a blend of three romantic English Tudor designs, and, for its time, was a thoroughly modern home complete with seven full baths, central heat, modern kitchen, and commodious closets.

Now owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society as a museum, the house has been preserved much as it was when the Weddells resided there. The house is open for tours Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12:30 - 5 p.m.

The eight acres of gardens and grounds of Virginia House provide a rich tapestry of texture and color throughout the year. Today, close to 1,000 types of ornamental plants thrive throughout formal and naturalistic gardens. Gardens and grounds only: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday, 12:30 - 5 p.m.

(Information paraphrased from the Virginia Historical Society website - see external link below)