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J. Thomas Newsome House, Newport News, VA

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

Museums

J. Thomas Newsome House

Restored Queen Anne house from 1899 that belonged to attorney J. Thomas Newsome, now a museum and community venue in Newport News.

2803 Oak Avenue, Newport News, VA 23607 · Newport News, VA

About J. Thomas Newsome House

The Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center occupies a restored Victorian home in Newport News that the attorney J. Thomas Newsome and his wife, Mary, lived in. After the family relocated to the city around the turn of the twentieth century, Newsome took part in civic life and pushed for schooling, voter registration, and neighborhood improvement. The house became a gathering point for the local Black community and a base for his campaigns for social justice in Virginia. Today it works as a museum about his life and also hosts exhibitions, events, and community gatherings. It was the first structure owned by an African American to earn a National Historic Preservation Award. A foundation supports its exhibits and programs, and its meetings are open to the public.

  • #history
  • #African American history
  • #Queen Anne architecture
  • #house museum
  • #Newport News

What's around here?

The closest stops to J. Thomas Newsome House, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

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    Peninsula Town Center

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  • Museums

    Virginia Air and Space Science Center

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    Transit: reachable by public transit

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  • Museums

    Hampton University Museum

    $25–$50

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

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    4.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing

    Hampton National Cemetery

    Check prices

    A historic U.S. national cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, with Civil War-era origins and graves of veterans from many conflicts.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    4.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Fort Monroe

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    Walk the moat and ramparts of a six-sided stone fort at Old Point Comfort, then visit the Casemate Museum and Chesapeake Bay beaches.

    5.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • 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.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

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