Preserving 300+ years of history, arts, and sports in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains
Thanksgiving Day: the Salem Museum will be closed Thursday, November 24.
Hands-On History Saturdays: Artifacts from WWI
Join us each week for Hands-on History Saturdays! Every Saturday from 10-4, visitors will get the chance to pull on curators’ gloves and hold a piece of history in their hands. Come see, up close, artifacts that are not often on display. A new theme every month!
This month, we feature artifacts from WWI on Saturdays in November. In addition, Garrett Channell, our Director of Education and Archives, will be taking WWI artifacts to performances of Nutcracker 1918 presented by Westover Ballet on December 16-17 at the Pulaski Theatre.
Hands on History in November is sponsored by the Nina and Ray Byrd family.
Gingerbread Festival (in Longwood Park) and Gingerbread House Competition (at the Salem Museum): December 3, 10 am to 2 pm
The Gingerbread Festival is a Roanoke Valley Holiday Tradition! This family-friendly event features a Gingerbread House Competition at the Salem Museum, and holiday vendors, marshmallow roast, gingerbread cookie decorating, and entertainment in Longwood Park. Don’t forget visits with Santa! Admission is free. READ MORE…
Upcoming Events for the Holidays!
Our popular American Flyer Christmas Train returns! With two tracks and multiple trains, this is our biggest layout yet! Our Christmas Train will be running by November 26.
Home Alive in ‘45: a WWII Christmas Celebration. With the most destructive conflict in human history having ended just a few months earlier, the holiday season of 1945 was particularly joyful. Visitors will experience how Christmas was celebrated during wartime with period music, decorations, cards, and soldiers’ gifts. The display will include souvenirs and captured war trophies brought back by the victorious troops. Presented by the 24th Virginia Infantry Living Historians. Saturday, December 17.
Cheers for 30 Years! Celebrating the Salem Museum’s 30th Anniversary
Free and family-friendly!
After years of dreaming and hard work, the Salem Museum opened in the historic Williams-Brown House on June 27, 1992. The Museum is celebrating its 30th Anniversary with a feature exhibit that takes a look back at artifacts and stories now preserved in the Museum’s collections. Admission is free.
Some favorite—but rarely seen—objects appear in this eclectic display, including: READ MORE…
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HOURS OF OPERATION
Open Tuesdays — Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm.
Closed on July 4; Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas; New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and the day after New Years.
If the City of Salem Schools are closed for inclement weather, the Museum does not open.
LOCATION & DIRECTIONS
Located next to Longwood Park in Downtown Salem
801 East Main Street
Salem, Virginia 24153
From I-81, take exit 140 and head toward Salem on Thompson Memorial Blvd. At Main Street (US 460), turn left. Go .3 mile; the Salem Museum is located at the top of the hill on the left. Our entrance is across from the Berglund Ford service entrance. Look for the “OAKEY FIELD COMPLEX” sign. There is plenty of free, on-site parking.
ADMISSION IS FREE. DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED!
Admission is FREE for all self-guided visitors.
Guided tours are $10 per adult age 15+, and $5 for children. For school groups and educational groups, students are $3 and chaperones are free. Group visits are available when booked at least two weeks in advance.
The Salem Museum & Historical Society is an independent nonprofit organization preserving and celebrating the history of Salem, Virginia, founded in 1802, as well as the surrounding areas.