5 Great Reasons to Visit Museum Day, Saturday, September 17, from 10-3

1) FREE Museums!

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Hill House Museum – 221 North Street
Tour Portsmouth’s only historic home museum and then visit the garden to enjoy the beautiful fall flowers. You will be amazed as you step back in time in this 4-story, 1825 English-basement home. The Hill sisters donated the house to the Portsmouth Historical Society, including every piece of furniture, china, crystal, pottery, carpet, and all the window dressings, paintings, ceramics, and household goods that had been collected over a period of 190 years.

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Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum (PNSM): 2 High Street
Visit the amazing galleries featuring almost three centuries of Portsmouth history. Meet the Colonials’ historical interpreter portraying Andrew Sproule, founder of the Gosport Shipyard, who will share the history of shipbuilding in Portsmouth and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 10 am – 2 pm.  At noon, Andrew will be joined by his wife, Catherine to demonstrate traditional Highland Scottish Dress for both men and women, including how to fold and wear the Great Kilt.

Enjoy stories about life aboard a Lightship with Pete Brunt, Retired Captain of the Lightship Nantucket as well as a presentation by the Tidewater Maritime Living History Association from 11 am – 3 pm.

                                                       

Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center: 420 High Street
Enjoy a Make and Take Art Activity from 10 am – 3 pm.
Listen to live music from 10 am-noon by the Latin Jazz Conspiracy.
Free admission to the exhibit: “If Not Now, When?” from 10 am – 4 pm and the Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit.
Portsmouth Olde Towne Farmers Market with 50 vendors from 9 am – 2 pm

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Portsmouth Colored Community Library Museum: 904 Elm Avenue
Visit the original building that served as Portsmouth’s African American library from 1945 until 1963. Learn about the library’s history and the Black community in Portsmouth in the mid-20^th century. See the exhibit “Rooting for the Home Team: Portsmouth’s Black Baseball Players, Promoters, and Parks”.
Meet the Colonials’ historical interpreter portraying Jeffrey Wilson, Portsmouth’s first Black newspaper columnist from 10 am – 2 pm. Enjoy designing your own baseball card, as well as having a photo taken in a baseball card.

Jewish Museum and Cultural Center – 607 Effingham Street
This museum is a rare surviving example of Eastern European Jewish Orthodoxy. It houses an eighteenth-century Torah Scroll rescued from a synagogue in Trebic, Czechoslovakia – a victim of the Holocaust. Travel back in time to understand the history of the largest wave of immigration to the United States. Learn the Jewish Story of immigration and the contributions that this group of people has brought to the American melting pot. Explore all through an interactive exhibit.

2) Fun for kids!

   

Children’s Museum of Virginia
$5 admission – all tickets must be reserved in advanced by purchasing online at ChildrensMuseumVirginia.com.Enjoy chalk art and bubble activities in Middle Street Mall and photo ops with the mural art in the mall area.
Mary Veale and the Colonial Kids will entertain with Colonial songs, instruments, toys, and games.

3) Live Music!

     

Latin Jazz Conspiracy 10 am – noon                          Tidewater Winds Quintet 1 – 2 pm
Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center                              First Presbyterian Church

4) Enjoy Free Mini-walking Tours!

Portsmouth Welcome Center
Meet the Colonials’ historical interpreters portraying Captain and Mrs. Crawford who will guide 15-minute mini-walking tours from the Portsmouth Welcome Center to the Lightship Portsmouth Museum. Tours leave every 20 minutes between 11 am – 2 pm.

5) Our Doors are Open – Enjoy Free Historic Tours!

   

Commodore Theatre
Enjoy visiting the historic and luxuriously restored 1945 Art Deco style motion picture theatre with tours at 11 and 11:30 am.

 

Monumental United Methodist Church
Celebrate the 250^th Anniversary of the church with tours from 10 am – 3 pm. Docents will be available in the sanctuary to explain historical plaques, as well as in the history and archives room.
Enjoy 10-15 minutes of music in the sanctuary every hour on the quarter hour from 10:15 am – 2:15 pm.

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Trinity Episcopal Church – 500 Court Street
Enjoy a guided tour of this church which combines both art and history from noon – 3 pm.  You can see amazing stained glass, including 6 beautiful windows added to the church in 1894 by Louis Comfort Tiffany and hear a few of the amazing historic events that happened within its walls.

FREE Shuttle!

The Olde Towne Shuttle will be available to shuttle visitors for free from 10 am – 3 pm.

For more information please call 757-405-3500