Ms. Lewis' Class: Frontier Museum

On Monday, we visited the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. We spent the day outdoors, walking from exhibit to exhibit at the museum. The Frontier Museum tells the story of the thousands of people who migrated to Colonial America. The first pioneers came to American during the 1600s and 1700s from communities in England, Germany, Ireland, and West Africa.

To tell the story of these immigrants, the museum has moved examples of traditional rural builidings from Germany, England, Ireland, West Africa and America. The Old World exhibits show rural life and culture in the four homelands of early immigrants. The American exhibits show the life that the colonists and their descendants created in the early United States.

1700s Ireland

Gathered around the fire listening about life in rural Ireland

1700s Germany

Trying on wooden shoes that German children wore to gather firewood and do other outdoor chores

Straining milk for curds and whey

Drawing water from a well

Not so sure about having to draw water from the well for every need

1600s England

1600s English farm house

Fertilizing the garden with manure

Shoveling manure for the garden

The English farmhouse we saw was from an upper middle class family and had real glass!

1700s West Africa

Carrying baskets

Entrance

1700s Native American Encampment

Hollowing out a tree trunk to have a canoe

1740s American Settlement

Early American "starter house". These houses were temporary and built to last until the settlers were able to tell if they would be able to survive by farming their new land.