Arlington Historical Museum

I’m intrigued by local history. Glad the building was saved. There were lovely family photographs of people dressed up and the docent said they had no idea who they could be. I hope they can reveal that mystery.

It’s a small museum run by volunteers (I am one of them). It’s improved over the past few years as we work to redo the exhibits – expanding and trying to make them more professional-​looking. We have small mini temporary exhibits that change several times a year and are adding new permanent exhibits. Small groups are welcome to come visit: families, Cub Scouts, Brownies, etc. Unlike the other local museums in the area, we get no money from the local government, so we work with a very small budget. Come see our new exhibits as we work to make it a museum the residents can enjoy and be proud of.

I live nearby and have walked past this place a million times. It’s closed most of the week, but a few days ago I finally walked by at a time when it was open and stopped for a visit.
It is a very small museum: all of it is contained on one big room on the first floor. The exhibits look like elementary school science fair projects and many of them are pictures attached to a backboard. I found the staff to be a bit too enthusiastic, but as a history buff I can understand.
There’s some cool stuff here. They had a special exhibit about an MLB first baseman from the 1930’s and 1940’s who was from Arlington. They have a newspaper from 1843, they have a desk allegedly owned by Jefferson Davis, and they have a lot of civil war artifacts. The piece that stuck with me the most was a gravestone of a civil war soldier from North Carolina, which for totally unknown reasons ended up being used as a doorstop in Arlington County until it was discovered and taken to a museum.
The entire museum took me about 5 – 10 minutes and it was absolutely free. I recommend it if you’re in the area, but don’t go out of your way to come here.

With so many museums in the area, those of us who live here sometimes get bogged down with the ones in D.C. With all of the choices, It is easy to miss out on small, interesting place like this museum.
Obviously, it is the official museum of the Arlington Historical Society. True to its name, it is housed in a historic building: old Hume School, a red brick building built in the 1890s. The building is designated as a state historical landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Sites. The museum has exhibits and artifacts explain about Arlington’s past, its architecture, as well as civil war history .
The permanent exhibit is «Unique County» which takes a look at the past two hundred years in Arlington county through historical artifacts. Admission is donation only, so pay what you feel is appropriate.