Skip to content
Isle of Wight County Museum, Smithfield, VA

Photo: AlbertHerring, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Museums

Isle of Wight County Museum

Smithfield, Virginia museum covering county history, from colonial times through the Cold War, with a famous preserved ham.

Smithfield, VA

About Isle of Wight County Museum

Opened in 1976, this county museum presents local history through hands-on displays. Visitors can step into a turn-of-the-century general store and explore exhibits on colonial life, the regional cured ham trade, the Blackwater River, and wartime eras including the Civil War and Cold War. The museum is also home to a ham that was set aside in 1902 and became a well-known attraction, shown at expositions and featured in a Ripley's publication.

  • #museum
  • #county history
  • #Smithfield ham
  • #Virginia
  • #colonial history

What's around here?

The closest stops to Isle of Wight County Museum, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    Fort Boykin

    Check prices

    Earthen fort ruins on the James River, begun after a 1622 attack, now an 18-acre public park with self-guided exploring.

    3.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing

    Fort Huger

    Check prices

    A Civil War earthwork fort on a bluff above the James River, now a restored historic park in Isle of Wight County.

    9.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Attractions

    Virginia Living Museum

    $25–$50

    An open-air museum in Newport News showing living animals and plants native to Virginia, with aquarium, science, aviary, and planetarium elements.

    9.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Museums
    History Buff

    The Mariners' Museum and Park

    Under $25

    See the recovered turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, then walk the five-mile Noland Trail around Mariners' Lake.

    9.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Virginia Air and Space Science Center

    $25–$50

    A Hampton museum and NASA visitor center with aviation and space exhibits, historic aircraft, and an IMAX theater.

    16 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Hampton University Museum

    $25–$50

    University museum on the Hampton campus, known as one of the oldest African American museums in the country.

    16 mi awayMore like this

Near Isle of Wight County Museum

More of the same kind

Keep exploring