Salem History | Salem Museum

(540) 389-6760

Salem Museum in Salem, Virginia

Preserving 300+ years of history, art, and sports in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains

Victoria Ferguson Speaker Series Lecture Flyer 2026

Preserving and Reviving Culture: Food Practices of the Eastern Siouan

Salem Museum Speaker Series Thursday April 9, 7pm

ZOOM LINK HERE

Explore the vast foodways of indigenous Roanoke Valley peoples with “Preserving and Reviving Culture: Food Practices of the Eastern Siouan.” Admission is free for this Salem Museum speaker series talk on Thursday, April 9, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at the Salem Museum. The event will be livestreamed on Zoom for those unable to attend in person through a link on SalemMuseum.org.

In her talk, researcher and historical interpreter Victoria Persinger Ferguson will explore the diverse food-gathering practices of local Indigenous communities. Drawing on oral histories, archaeological findings, and traditional ecological knowledge, she will show how these foodways reveal deep connections to the land and enduring resilience in the face of both human and environmental challenges.

Glenvar Art Show Opening Reception

Tuesday April 14, 5:30-7pm

The annual Glenvar Student Art Show returns to Salem Museum this April! See examples of both 2D and 3D art, including drawings, paintings, collages, photography, ceramics, and digital creations.

The Glenvar Student Art Show will be on display from April 14 to May 9

VA250 Mobile Experience - Public Poster 2026 - Weekend

Revolutionary War Week at the Salem Museum

April 16-18

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s VA250 Mobile Museum Experience will visit the Salem Museum from Thursday, April 16, through Saturday, April 18. The exhibit will be open to homeschool families from 3 to 4 p.m. April 16 and 17, and to the public from 4 to 5 p.m. those days. Public hours will also be held Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, April 18, Colonial living historians from the Fincastle Company will also be on site to demonstrate the professions, trades, and crafts essential to the era. The Fincastle Company is a group of dedicated historians who portray both military and civilian roles during the time of the American War of Independence.

This free experience is sponsored by City of Salem VA250, Lofts at Downtown Salem, the Laub Family, the Hart Family, and the Robertson Endowment for Exhibit and Events.

More information HERE

More Events Here!

Glenvar Student Art Show

On Display in the Feature Gallery through May 9 2026

The annual Glenvar Student Art Show returns to Salem Museum this April! See examples of both 2D and 3D art, including drawings, paintings, collages, photography, ceramics, and digital creations.

Headwaters Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia Monthly Meetings

Second Tuesday of each month, 7pm

Free and open to the public. Enjoy monthly speakers on topics of local archeology.

April 14: The Eyreville Site (44NH0507), Northampton County, Virginia: Seventeenth Century Dutch Connection by Michael B. Barber, Ph.D., RPA

The Eyreville Site on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in Northampton County dates to the 17^th- Century. Of the two structures examined in detail, both contained a large number of Dutch artifacts, primarily in the form of yellow Dutch bricks and highly decorated Dutch pipes. The earliest structure dates to the late 1630s and is probably an earthfast dwelling with cellar. The second structure is a brick foundation house dating to mid-17^th-Century with full basement set on head-to-head yellow Dutch bricks. Virginia’s Eastern Shore of the 17^th-Century had many Dutch, Anglo-Dutch, Puritan, and independent thinking English inhabitants. Trading with the Netherlands with domestic goods for tobacco, the Eastern Shore population was able to, more or less, ignore the Navigations Acts, continue what became an illegal exchange system, and thrive during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. Historic documentation underscores the Eastern Shore Dutch connection and its relative independence from both Jamestown and England.

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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” 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.