Frontier Culture Museum

This is a fantastic jaunt through the Virginia frontier history. Comprised of original structures moved from abroad and locally, along with knowledgeable interpreters it informs the visitor of the influence of the cultures that shaped our history. The museum is spread across a beautiful landscape that is a joy to walk. Skip the golf cart, take your time and stroll through the grounds to enjoy the views. This is a must for any history aficionado.

This museum is one of the best I've ever been to. I have traveled far and wide to visit museums and I have never felt more welcomed and open to ask questions and enjoy the open air exhibit. Craig was amazing and told me so much about the history of the museum. Every interpreter I came across had so much knowledge about their areas. This place is worth spending an entire day or two to get the feel of the frontier experience.

A wonderful experience for everyone! A fairly priced admission, and would 100% recommend the extra $25 for a golf cart rental! Seeing everything would take about 3 hours, 4 if you slow down and enjoy yourself. A lot of history, very knowledgeable staff, and a lot of animals to look at, some even touch! (Ask museum staff first though.) highly reccomend for family, friends, or anyone who is just looking for a fun time! Gift shop also has amazing prices for souvenir collectors! Highly recommended!

Went mid week and it was a rainy day. So we rented a golf cart and took our time. The guides were fantastic. The museum is all outside and very unique. I took tons of pictures. Learned a lot and had a great time Highly recommend

This place was great. The staff were very knowledgeable and fun to talk with. The buildings and walking paths were well maintained. For us it was a great learning experience. Be prepared to walk a bunch, or they have golf carts you can rent. There was plenty of parking.

The potential for amazing living history is here. Absolutely beautiful buildings, well done displays. And every interpreter we encountered was terrific. Sadly we saw as many cats as interpreters on this visit. (3)

This place was awesome. It is a pleasant walk around different places of American frontier times as well as places where people came from like West Africa and Ireland. There are animals to look at and pet. Many people work there to explain facts and reenact history. A guy named Dave saved the day by driving us back to the front when we were far away on a path, tired, and strapped for time. Check it out.

We really enjoyed our visit to the museum for their homeschool day. The size is perfect to cover it all in a day and the translators are well versed and helpful.

This was a wonderful place for the kids and very reasonable. They LOVED all the stations esp the forging one and our tour guide was sweet and enthusiastic. So happy we went. Highly recommend.

We loved this place. It was a very interesting and beautiful place. They had the people in their costumes and they explained in a very detailed manner about each little place you visited. You can rent a go kart if you want to, but don't do it. Because they have a little man that rides around on a go kart and he will ask you if you need him to take you from one place to another and he does not charge you. But we walked most of the time, but it was helpful that he was there for us one time to bring us to a certain spot. The staff were very very friendly. We loved this place.

We stumbled upon this attraction by accident, and it turns out it has a soft spot on the hearts of several of my Virginia based friends. I described it as "a zoo, but for farms," and I stand by that description. The museum has reconstructions of farms from different parts of the world at different time periods, all of which ultimately influenced American culture. Brilliant stroke is to have golf carts for rent for $25 because the grounds are quite extensive. Son and friend enjoyed driving it. I'm not sure we saw all of the farms, but we saw a lot!

I've been several times with my LOs (6 & 8yo) and have consistently had an amazing, yet still educational, time. Definitely wear comfortable shoes- quite a bit of walking is required to really see what's on offer.

So I think this maybe a great place especially for kids Unfortunately the tram was not available on the day we were there so it requires 2 or more hours of walking up and down hills. Golf carts are available for $25. Beautiful setting with multiple historical housing. Their are guides on many of the houses but today some we're missing

This place was so fun and had so Mandy cool details. Would recommend golf cart rental.

My friend invited my son and I to join her and her kids for a half day here. I had zero expectations going in and was pleasantly surprised at what a fun and immersive experience this was! Very fun to visit the different "countries" - but what made it the most special were the excellent tour guides at most locations. They were engaging, knowledgeable, kind, and committed to their roles. Our favorite stop was the blacksmith! Easily spent about 2 hours here and didn't make it to everything. Pro tip: JMRL (C'ville public library) has a pass that you can check out to go here for free!

What a great historical site! We were among the first visitors on a Saturday morning, and the staff was all set up and going about their activities. They were engaging and friendly and answered every question my inquisitive pre-schooler had to ask. Golf carts were well worth the $25.

I don't want to repeat everything that has been said already. So I'll give you my quick overview. Very large parking lot for all sizes of RV's. If you plan to visit the whole park, carry water and I highly recommend you rent a golf cart. We spent over two hours walking around and the security guard was nice enough to give us a ride back to the parking lot. Otherwise, it would of been another 30 minutes or more to get to the lot. I spoke to a few employees and they are expanding the park and making improvements. Ez on and off the highway. We would like to go back in a few years to see the improvements.

There wasn't a ton of options for things to do on Sunday so we ended up here at the Frontier Culture Museum. My grandmother was excited to check in out. I think we paid like $32ish for our 2 tickets and a golf cart rental. They weren't super busy the day we were there so they still had Golf carts when we arrived a few hours after opening. (However by the time we returned our cart, they were all gone). They did have various exhibits set up depicting life in various places and a persona stationed at each but only a few actually interacted and told you information about the exhibit. It was interesting though since the buildings were brought over from their various countries and put back together (the English cottage was actually from England) If you are interested in how people lived back in the day, you'll probably love this museum. I personally was not impressed though. I do recommend the golf cart option though unless you enjoy a lot of walking.

I like this museum near the entrance to Shenandoah national park. One important note, go there at the opening. They have the renter golf cart for $10. Since this compound is big, it will be great to take the golf cart around. The golf cart is first come first serve. So go there early at the opening. The first stop is 1700 century Africa village. It looks primitive. Then it follow by 16 century English, 17 century Irish and 17 century German home. These houses are actually move brick by brick from the origin country during that period of time built home. Now it is the permanent display in the compound with live size home. The history then move to 17 century and 18 century home in US. This farm house may be small but function. You can see the cure meat place, chicken house, play doll, sheep pen, and more. It was great to see the frontier living during that time. They also has an octagonal barn rent for the wedding. The bard is beautiful with great setting. The entrance is $12 per adult.

Affordable, expansive, fascinating. This is a gem of a spot that's fun for the whole family. It was so nice to have the engaged and informative interpreters ready to go right off the bat in the morning. You can spend a half day here no problem. And that golf cart rental was truly worth the 25 USD - just beware the pouty stink eye you'll get from every walking preteen as you zoom past them.

Awesome. If I had to go there based on the name, I wouldn't. It's incredible and my kids love it, so I do to. Very interesting, thought it would be gunfighters and cannibals heading over the pass, totally not.

I love the Frontier Culture Museum. I was the first one there last weekend and it was perfect. I got to walk around and enjoy myself on the grounds. My only complaint or observatipn is the West African Farm and the weird building they are building there, which is not historically or culturally accurate, which is weird for a museum.

This is excellent for kids and history nerds--but this is not your every day museum that's going to make everyone happy though, so be prepared. There's a lot of walking, there's WEATHER you'll have to contend with, and if you're not specifically interested in frontier life, you're going to be very bored. Now let's flip this around: This is great for someone who enjoys being outdoors, especially in the valley of gorgeous mountains! You'll have a chance to get your steps in, visiting historic homes that are in some cases actual buildings transported from their original locations, interacting with historical re-enactors who can provide interesting insight and context to where you're standing. If your kids are going here on a field trip, don't worry, rain or shine, this place is open! Come prepared with things that fit the weather--whatever that means for you. Ponchos, layers, etc. Bring snacks or a bagged lunch, there's a picnicing area! And if you're looking for your next space for a conference, they've got meeting space available!

A neat journey through the frontier farming life of different eras in vastly different areas (Germany, England, Ireland, East Africa, West Africa and the U.S.), including docents in character in each spot. We learned from a gentleman farmer (who had emigrated from Burundi) about the crops grown in his homeland. Amusingly, plants like pig weed that we treat as weeds his countrymen cook and eat (similar to collard greens), while asparagus, which we prize, they think is a weed. We talked about generalization v. specialization with the blacksmith at the Irish forge, daily life with a 1600's England landed middle class member, and so on. They have livestock, including some massive bulls, and a variety of chickens (and a very loud little rooster, who is clearly compensating for something).

Have you always wanted to whisk yourself into the past? Well, at Frontier Culture Museum (FCM), that is exactly what you can do. With 11 exhibits of both the Old World and the America areas, you are able to get a glimpse of living history. Costumed staff actually work in the houses and gardens--just like how things were done before. We saw the staff gardening, fixing the roof on a wigwam, and making a meal including pickles--cucumbers from the garden. That is one of things I like about FCM. My sons (11 and 13) and I were excited about FCM and the museum itself is impressive. Walking through the grounds and each exhibit outside is wonderful. However, we were quite disappointed with some of the staff and hands-on activities. A previous reviewer stated that FCM seems to cater to school groups while the rest of the patrons are left standing in the cold. Sadly, we noticed the same situation even though we were there in the summer. They have summer camps and everywhere we went, there they were. We didn't have a problem with that, but it seemed like the staff was there to talk to the campers. What was most disappointing to my sons was at the Irish Forge. All of the campers were getting a chance to work with the blacksmith. My boys waited in line -they were really excited about that- but turns out it was only for the campers. However, the staff person never said anything to us (we figured it out when he didn't offer them a try when the campers were done). I'm sure he knew we were waiting. It was just very uncomfortable and we didn't feel welcome there. There were a few staff that definitely tried to include us in the tour and activities, especially at the Irish farm and the Native American village. For some reason, we didn't see any campers in the America area, and we ended up enjoying ourselves more during that section. My boys really loved the games they played at Ganatastwi. FCM is a fantastic museum--I just think they need to re-organize how they deal with non-group patrons. If they could do that, they would be a 5-star place. Unfortunately, we left with a 3-star experience.

My sister and I were traveling down 81 about 4 years ago and saw this place. We stopped in because we'd seen the sign off the side of the road for years and wanted to find out what it was all about. WOW... we were NOT expecting this awesome place!! The settlements are places you can walk though, talk to the re enactors and learn about how the people lived. It was a chilly day so they had fires going in all the dwellings we visited. The smell of a crackling fire made the experience even more amazing. It was like walking into the past (until we saw the Cracker Barrel sign & a cell phone tower in the distance.. LOL) VERY worth the trip and it doesn't cost much. You can walk the whole way or rent a golf cart. Life's short. DO IT. :)

Let me just start off by saying this place is a must. My family and I loved it. So cool to take a step back in time and see how our ancestors lived when they came to America and even before they came over. My daughter loved seeing all the animals along the way. There was a nice breeze and the golf cart rentals made for a nice relaxing afternoon. You won't be disappointed. Thanks Frontier Culture Museum!

We had so much fun exploring the Frontier Culture Museum! Even in the midst of covid they did a great job. We rented a golf cart because we were short on time and didn't think we'd see everything and it was so worth it! We'll definitely be back.

I've never been to a museum like this before. It's not your typical museum where you're inside looking at old artifacts but instead this museum gives you a real insight of how things were back in the day. They have houses and huts built like if you were in the 1700's. Everything inside the houses is what people in that day and age had. There's a lot of different places you could go see like West Africa, Ganatwasti Tribe, Ireland, etc. Some of the sites have staff there that will give you more background about what type of house you're in and what is was like for those particular people. There's also animals on the grounds that are just roaming around like goats, chickens, and ducks. I do recommend that you rent one of the golf carts ($10) as it is a lot of walking if you want to see the entire museum grounds. Overall, I had a great experience and definitely recommend this place if you're a history buff.

Takes 2 - 3 hours. Excellent. Live folks doing authentic period tasks in in exhibit. Very knowledgeable. The blacksmith was actually making repair parts for the bellows he was using. The shop is filled with hundreds of things made right there. Cherry pies with on-premises picked cherries were being made in the english and 1820s america exhibits. Really great experience.

Awesome place. Be prepared to do a lot of walking or rent a cart. Staff was very informative and friendly especially the tin smith.

I always love coming here ! I have now been twice and each time I feel like I learn something new each time ! It is great for all ages. I also love how there are people who drive golf carts so if you are too tried to walk all of it you can ask for a ride ! A great family adventure. It can be hot in the summer so bring water or buy some at the gift shop.

Really interesting place with the family. Things are spaced out a lot. So there's lots of walking. It was a July afternoon so it was hot and humid. And we got a quick afternoon storm. We were able to duck into one of the buildings and talk to the re-enactors. We thought they were all very knowledgable and helpful in explaining things and our kids got to try some hands on things as well. I hope they expand some more and show other aspects. But for the price, it was a good experience. My kids are 11 & 8 and really enjoy these type of places.

A journey to a frontier era. The museum located in Staunton, a little quaint city. The museum itself is an outdoor museum with sectional divided by german, english, american indian, and there will be section of african as well. I enjoyed feeding geese, chickens, and pet horse and goats. Its a fun adventure

I am a little disappointed after my visiting the frontier museum this time. I have always enjoyed visiting the sites and enjoying the animals that they had. The last time here i noticed that some of the animals were being mistreated (no water in over 90 degree weather) and that the displays were unmanned. Instead of correcting their issues with taking care of their animals, they have chosen to get rid of 90% of them and the displays are halfway manned. The young lady at the England display was very sweet and knowledgeable however they have employed a security guard that rides around leering at people like they are in a prison yard. I don't know what has happened to make this place make these changes but it has gone from a happy and fun place with children laughing and learning to a near ghost-town of boring unmanned displays and drought stricken garden plots. it seems that the soul of This attraction is gone. I sincerely hope they get it together and bring the spirit of making learning fun back to this attraction.

I thought that a rainy day will ruin the trip but it wasn't too bad. There were less people there so we did not have to wait to look at the different exhibits. Tickets were only $10 each because we got a discount because of AAA. We rented a golf cart for $10 so we did not have to walk around. I highly recommend getting a golf cart or your feet will be hurting by the end of the day. The people who work at the Museum were at almost all of the exhibits. They were friendly and we're able to answer any question that I had for them. It was more fun than I thought it would be and I wouldn't mind coming back to check it out on a nicer day.

Don't let the traditional meaning of the word museum fool you--this is definitely an interactive, outdoor, fun learning experience. We so thoroughly enjoyed our time here and learned a lot! Not everything was up and running due to COVID-19 restrictions, but this did not make me feel like I was missing out-- I can't wait to come back post-COVID and check everything out again! We did the 3pm guided tour that covered both sides of the museum, and our tour guide Gigi was very knowledgeable and kind! The fact that many of the historical buildings are actually from the place and time that they are representing is awesome. Highly recommend!

This is an adorable area for those who love history. We loved seeing the preserved buildings and animals. But more than that we thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Mark; Mark had a lot of useful information to give to us that added to the experience of looking at how people lived on the frontier. I would recommend this to lovers of history and families in the area!

This is a great place to have a wedding the people are wonderful to work with , I have done several weddings there have enjoyed everyone there

We went under the week in the morning so there wasn't a big crowd. You see different farm houses and learn about the first settlers from England, Ireland and Germany. There is also an East African Village, Native American Village and Farmhouses from different time periods. Also some pastures with animals are around. The East African Village was closed but they had some artifacts inside and we got a lecture. You can also see a schoolhouse and a blacksmith. Every area has interpreters in costumes.These people come and greet you and explain everything and answer question. Everybody was very friendly and because it was so empty we were able to have some good talks with them and really dive deep into history. There was also an older man with a golf cart who asked us if we wanted a ride and ended up waiting for us and gave us a couple rides to areas which were a little bit farther out (but they are still walk-able, these car rides saved us probably a 30-40 minutes). This was also very nice. There are also stops where you can wait for a ride. Overall a very pleasant experience. We took our time at each station and spend about a couple hours at this place.

We had a wonderful day here. We spent about 3.5 hours wandering about. The interpreters were excellent, well informed, and could answer any question. Each section was different - tons of details and new things to learn. This is a great place for any age!

Very beautiful visit, very historically accurate, and great fudge! Lovely animals, and polite workers and volunteers, getting the pass is most worth it!

We have been twice and thoroughly enjoy experiencing life in a variety of places and times. Though most of the museum is devoted to European and American life, their is also an African village. You can tour on foot easily, but may also rent golf carts, which we did once just for the fun of it! The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. We enjoyed watching a smith and taking to the various people representing their life experiences. They also have a modest gift shop, but it was nothing exceptional. This was a gem and we recommend it to young and old alike.

We really enjoyed our unplanned trip. We didn't get there until 3:00 and were able to see everything in the 2 hours before they closed but we had to rush a little bit. Would love to go back!

This review is written from the viewpoint of a visiting couple. If you are a school group, Frontier Culture Museum probably rates five stars. The big problem is that even on a spring weekday, the place was crowded from its opening with groups of school children. Each of the nine areas had a main building or main room, and all of these were in use by the school groups. We were told at the ticket desk "don't let the groups intimidate you". Well, they didn't intimidate me but they did totally fill the rooms, and they stayed in each about 15 minutes until the next group was ready to come in. The costumed staff were there entirely for these groups and barely deigned to answer questions from us, when we would even see them. I recognize that groups are the main business of Frontier Culture Museum, but until they solve the problems mentioned here, it is no better than two stars for other people.

We had a good time walking through the museum. It took us about an hour and a half to get through all the exhibits, though we did not linger at any and do not have children. We enjoyed seeing the farm animals, too.

I was driving to North Carolina from the DC area and stoped at this place along the way. We arrived 30 minutes before closing, so they let us in for free which was so pleasant. We wandered around the model houses which are unforgettably fun and educational. In the American 1820s house a worker gave us a fabulous little tour of the home while another worker played violin in the neighboring room. Some of the structures are actually vintage so you can really experience life in the 19th century. If I ever find myself in Virginia again, I will go back to this museum.

This is a museum where whole houses where brought here from other countries. Irish thatch house--check. Old German houses--check. American frontier houses---check. They were working on a African history houses while we were there.

One of the BEST museums I've ever been to ... ever. Seriously. My family and I spent a day at Monticello and then visited the FCM (Frontier Culture Museum) the day following and, no offense to Jefferson, but the FCM was - hands down - much more of an experience. Yeah. I know that sounds crazy especially considering how little notoriety this place has compared to so many other museums, but I would definitely choose this place over many of the other more "famous" stops any day. Here's why: At the FCM you get to walk at your own pace through ORIGINAL 17th, 18th, and 19th century buildings (painstakenly transported from as far as Europe and reconstructed on site piece by piece) and there's no red rope to be seen anywhere. Enter each building on site and and completely immerse yourself in the culture of that era. In some buildings you can even walk up the old stairs to the fully furnished upstairs bedrooms or climb into the attic where the original tenants stored their dried fruits and vegetables during the winter. The exhibits are incredibly well-researched and appointed. The furniture, utensils, art work, and appliances are all history lessons unto themselves. And most of the homes are complete with outbuildings and real livestock representative of that particular home's era and region. And there's no tour guides in matching polos with gold-emossed museum logos here either. All the tour guides were in authentic period costume ... right down to their shoes and stockings. Every tour guide we talked to was extremely knowledgeable and very approachable. Some of them showed us how they had baked bread on the home's hearth or made cheese in the homes' kitchen using milk from the cow just outside. We felt like we were literally walking through time as we made our way through the exhibits of the FCM. For $10 per adult, and $6 per kid, this is definitely an experience not to be missed. If you're anywhere nearby, definitely carve out an afternoon or morning and GO! :)

HIGHLY recommend! Here's the long (http://shiawaselife.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/the-final-frontier/) and short of it: 1. Easy to find 2. Amazing value 3. Lots to learn 4. At your own pace 5. Great for all ages Seriously, this might sound super short, but like I said, for the longer review, check my blog entry! I had family visited from out of state and overseas and they enjoyed the experience immensely :)

When I traveled to England and Germany I visited these amazing folk museums that kept alive the heritage of their national agriculture and early industrial culture and history. Why don't we have such places? Well now we do. Big Time. This is a large complex and the amazing part is that 17th century farmsteads from England, Ireland, and Germany, as well as industrial buildings associated with them, were dismantled, transported outside Staunton, Virginia, and rebuilt stone by stone to be preserved at this heritage site. And you get to tour them all in the matter of a few hours. Why? The premise is that each of these European histories contributed to the culture of America. Further, a west African village has been constructed to show what traditions of African culture have left their indelible mark on America. Coming soon is a native American village. Once these sites are toured, it all comes together as three separate American homes are toured from the 17th and 18th centuries. We toured in the dead of winter while a blizzard began and still had a great time. They were kind enough to give us a tour under those conditions. The docents and other volunteers are highly committed to this museum. Wonderful animals around the farm. I'd recommend bringing a cooler with some food. They also have a small gift shop where various wares can be purchased, including some made on site.

This is a neat place. We spotted the advertisement for the Frontier Culture Museum on the way down I-81 to Waynesboro, and decided to stop there on a whim on our way back Sunday. This is pretty much an entirely outdoor museum, and the purpose is to show how the cultures who came to America lived in their native countries, and how their influences merged to form American Frontier Culture. Admission for four was less than $40 - after discounts my father-in-law received for being ex-military - and it was definitely worth the price of admission. There is a bit of walking involved, but they do have "shuttles" - which are actually just big golf carts - that take you from certain areas to another. Landscape is beautiful and there are some animals kept onsite. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable and eager to answer questions. The only knock I have is that when being taken to the last site, the "shuttle" driver said he would pick us up "in a few minutes". This turned into a 20-30 minute wait. The group with us was on a bit of a tight schedule and, like us, were a bit frustrated and decided to walk back to the main center. We waited out longer, then started to walk back, only to have the shuttle start down the trail. I was under the weather, so we flagged the gentleman down and hopped on. There were very few visitors that day and the gentleman was the only shuttle driver ... I would expect them to have this running more smoothly during the warmer months. There also seems to be a lot of interactive things for children during days where there are more visitors, and looks to be a neat place for a field trip for older elementary and middle school students.

Great displays and easy to go through self-guided with the map. Very reasonably priced at $10 a person and they offer AAA discount. Nice walk but they also rent golf carts and there is free shuttle service. Employees in period costumes at each exhibit are very nice and knowledgeable.

A once wonderful place has completely changed. I'm not sure if there is new management or financial distress. More then half the exhibits are closed or unmanned. Our group visits twice a year at a cost of almost $100 and we were literally chastised for requesting more then one golf car. Feeding of the animals is no longer permitted and most of the animals appear to have been removed from the property. Unless things change we will no longer be visiting.

Many areas were closed off and only three houses had anyone in them to give us information. We weren't able to see anyone farming or doing anything extra. I'm sure this museum is more geared towards large groups or schools.

This place was a great experience. We went during the off season, so no performers, but also no crowds. Our tour guide was extremely friendly and knowledgable. Also, they have plenty of farm animals that you can feed. If you have kids I would recommend bringing them during a more seasonal time so that they can interact with the performers. At $10 per person, we will definitely come back.

This was a great place to visit! I highly recommend it for those with kids. Homes and other structures from England, Germany, Ireland, and other places in Virginia were brought here. The staff wear authentic dress. There is some walking. I would recommend the golf carts available to rent if you have a hard time walking or have small kids and especially in summer heat.