The Cold War Museum

Happened upon this by complete happy accident and I cannot be more thankful to have discovered it!!!! Walking in we were immediately greeted by a delightful gentlemen who I unfortunately couldn’t catch his name, that’s on me he said it twice but I was so overwhelmed walking in! He took the time to explain exactly where everything was, what room included what, and what the key spots were. We only had a very limited time to poke around so I didn’t even get to go upstairs unfortunately :( I was thrilled to see that they had merchandise, so we grabbed two amazing shirts that I’ve already worn. Clayton was incredibly charming ringing us up. His delightful jokes and willingness to put up with me going back and forth between sizes for 10 minutes still brings a smile to my face. I am so desperate to come back now that I know it is so close to DC (under an hour). Again, everyone was so kind and funny and just amazing and there was soooo much to look at. 10000/10, counting the days until I can come back!!!!

This is a hidden gem, if you enjoy war history. It started during WW II, as a decrypting and translating center, relocated out of DC. It continue through the cold war era. While we were there, the former staff acted as docents. On exhibit are radio equipment, uniforms of cold war organizations,etc. All for a donation. FYI, the Garmon gps brought us to the building next door, while Google maps got us to the correct location. When you are close, streets appear to be driveways.

Great museum. I was really surprised as its not very big but I ended up spending about an hour and half there. There are a lot of interesting artifacts and a lot of details to read up on. The docent/staff are very knowledgeable and engaging . Bonus is the winery and brewery next door when you are done with your tour.

The Cold War Museum is a great place to visit especially if you’re into the history of the Cold War tactics employed by both the Soviet Union and the US. You’ll find plenty of actual equipment, propaganda and stories from both sides and as a person who’s into graphic design it was quite fascinating to see how design trends have changed and how we still hold on to some aspects of them to this day. I always knew that Virginia was special but after visiting this particular museum, I now hold it to an even higher regard. Doug gave us a mini tour and he was very knowledgeable and humorous with his stories and explanation regarding the items throughout the museum. Don’t want to spoil the fun but the place is very significant to Virginia’s history and I’m glad that they’re running the place and keeping it alive. Highly recommend visiting! Oh and don’t forget to get to purchase some memorabilia on your way out!

It's a hidden gem full of artifacts and knowledgeable tour guides. They love what they do and it shows. Open on the weekends with no charge and on weekdays for personal tours which they do have to charge for. It's like stumbling into someone's house who happens to be a collector and they opened their house to fellow enthusiasts. If you like history and specifically the Cold War era, you'll enjoy wandering around this two-storey museum. There's also a nearby winery and cafe, although the cafe is closed on Sundays so plan accordingly.

The best parts of this private museum are the actual historical location and the volunteer staff who have a rich background in the subject. The small physical space constrains how much interpretation can be crammed into the historical site itself, but they do their best. Although the museum has no restaurant, there are restaurants literally adjacent so no one will go hungry in the course of visiting.

The museum itself has a great collection but the hospitality was horrid. My aunt and myself (a 20 something year old female with a dual major degree in Russian language and history with a Soviet focus) came as I was visiting the DMV area from Ohio. As soon as we walked in, the docent/staff member in charge did not greet us. There wasn’t even a “hello” or “welcome” or a smile or a wave. He continued to carry on a conversation with a visitor for a good 20 minutes without acknowledging us as we walked around the first floor. We walked around and the exhibits were scattered and not in a nice flow chronologically. When we got back downstairs, my aunt tried to get the attention of the staff member in charge but he continued to carry on his 40+ minute conversation. When she finally managed to talk to him, he shortly answered her question then walked off immediately….as a woman interested in a male dominated area of study, this wasn’t an uncommon experience for me but it was disappointing. I enjoyed the artifacts that I did see but I would not recommend to any visitors or natives to the area.

Spent a few hours browsing the displays and speaking with the well-informed and engaging staff. It was a delightful adventure and interesting to see.

Days before D-Day, a secret message from the Japanese Ambassador was decoded in Vint Hill, a former U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. The Japanese Ambassador was in Berlin, and had the power to get a meeting with Adolf Hitler. The U.S. gets this message and it gets sent to Eisenhower's staff. This message changed the U.S.' move. To buy time in Normandy for a few weeks, the U.S. puts on a fake ghost war, playing up Hitler's belief that Colette was significant. Fake tanks, commands and signals were staged. Germans in England who sided with allies played Hitler reinforcing Colette on purpose. (Last image is from this ghost war.) The impact of D-Day can be traced here. Very cool learning about cryptography and geospatial intelligence in the Cold War.

What an odd hidden gem of the DMV area. Located in what was an old WW2 listening outpost about 50 miles west of downtown DC, it's two stories packed with memorabilia largely from the Cold War and WW2, apparently all donated, in a sort of semi-organized jumble. Stasi uniforms and old radios and civil defense posters and on and on. Some of it has placards explaining, some not. Don't expect a highly curated Smithsonian experience. But the attic-like nature of it is part of what makes it fascinating. We were told there's tons more memorabilia in storage. An eccentric millionaire who wants to make this a world class attraction would have a lot to work with. The Vint Hill history itself as a listening outpost was really interesting. There are helpful docents on staff; ours was a little too verbose. The museum is free; we left a $20 donation as it was easily worth that.

I unfortunately had a very negative experience here. While the collection looked fascinating, one of the guides felt the need to push his own social agenda on us. He made a statement to the effect of, " we are not a museum, we're here to inform on current events..." He proceeded to compare a STASI exhibit to the current US government which I found offensive. I politely tried to excuse myself and went on to another exhibit, sports in the Cold War. He followed me and began telling me his views on transgendered athletes. At this point I left the museum. I don't feel it's appropriate for museum guides to push social agendas on visitors, regardless of the viewpoint. It's unfortunate because it really did look like a great collection of artifacts.

I recently became aware of the existence of The Cold War Museum. It's located over in the Vint Hill complex, appropriately and ironically - part of the old Vint Hill military facility that housed a listening post for DoD and three letter Intel agencies during World War II and the Cold War era. It's not a large facility, but it is packed to the gills with interesting exhibits and information. They are open on the weekends for visits and tours. You can also schedule appointments for tours at other times of the week. The gentleman conducting our tour was a treasure trove of information and he related some interesting stories based on his own personal experiences in the military during the Korean War. The museum is an old renovated barn structure with two floors. The tour covered the Atomic bomb testing in the Nevada dessert, interesting facts about Area 51, declassified CIA programs and documents, UFO's, the Cuban missile crisis, and Korean and Vietnam War stuff. They have a ton of exhibits from uniforms from various foreign military and intel agencies from eras gone by, artwork, posters, equipment, and a lot more! Admittance to the museum is free, but they request that folks sign a sign in sheet and make a donation. I donated $20.00. The tour and museum was well worth it! Very interesting and educational. I will probably need to come back to absorb and digest more of it! Check out The Cold War Museum!

The Cold War Museum is a must for school groups and all millenials. Yes, the Cold War really existed. Yes, there are people who were there that can tell you about it and show you artifacts of those dark days. Educators please schedule a visit it is definitely worth it. They may be moving to a larger complex or splitting the collection between the old Nike Missile Launch site in Springfield so there may be lots of dust and reorganizing when you visit. It should be a required visit for all school age children.

Great little free museum with lots of little Cold War tidbits like, did you know we had Japanese Americans fighting on our side in WWII? Worth a look see!

Not sure how my wife found out about this museum in the first place but we stopped by on a Sunday afternoon for a visit. They are only open on the weekends which works for me. No admission fee but donations welcome. They have fantastic Cold War artifacts on two floors of an old renovated barn. It was a hot day but their air conditioning was on high encouraging us to linger longer (which we did). Highlights for us were the numerous stories about the history of Vint Hill Farm and significant historical events of the Cold War, their vast collection of uniforms and all the old electronics from the 60s. The folks working there are super friendly and like to talk about their museum and its contents. Going in I thought we would be through it in 15 minutes but we spent over an hour in there. With a nearby winery and brewery one can easily make it part of an entire afternoon out.

I happened to see this little gem featured on Mysteries at the Museum (or was it Strange Inheritance,) and was excited to learn of something that was local and not over-run with tourists. This tiny building is deceiving to all that you'll find packed inside. There's even a second floor. There's so much here to learn about the Cold War, not only from a historical perspective, but from a local standpoint, too. The docents a very friendly and knowledgeable. One actually followed us through the whole building and talked our ears off! I'm not sure if he was super exited about the artifacts and history, or just glad to have visitors. On a side note, it was a bit confusing finding the little building. Roads have been updated/moved and some have been renamed. Our GPS was not that up to date, but if you turn in where the brewery and wine tasting is, you'll find the white museum building near the back.

This is one secret about the cold war that should get out as widely as possible! Tucked away past a church and winery, this small, two-story museum transports visitors back to to the days when the US and USSR spied on each other from the air and through the airwaves - instead of the Internet like we do now. There is an absolutely amazing collection of equipment (magnifying tables for inspecting SR71 photos! A Soviet solid rocket booster!), mementos, uniforms, books and nicely documented displays. As you would expect of a museum built on the site of a former Army signals listening post and training school there is also a great collection of radios and cryptographic gear. The men who were there when we visited didn't just read about the history here - they lived it and provide engaging tours. If you want to visit a museum over the weekend so you can learn about geopolitics in the mid-1900s, set your GPS for Vint Hill, VA and enjoy this hidden gem!

This is a great place to visit on the weekends and take the family. The tour guides are great and super knowledgeable!! Tons of stuff to see and play with. So much information you could easily spend an entire day reading and learning. This need to be a bigger museum. Please go and support it!

Awesome! The fellas that work here are true patriots. This is like walking into an couple dozen episodes of The History Channel all in one building.

Very interesting museum packed with all sort of WWII and Cold War listening equipment. All the Soviet era uniforms were quite impressive. I was stationed there for 2 years at the Calibration detachment. I knew we were an intelligence gathering post, but not into the nuts and bolts. Highly educational. Glad to have been part of that history.

I was only able to spend about an hour here. I had a plane to catch. I will definitely return for the full tour. The docent (his name escapes me now) was full of fascinating information. It started out with the origins of the location, much earlier than the cold war. So, do not let the name mislead you, it is much more than Cold War items and topic. Definitely a must see if you are in the area.