Tredegar Iron Works

We visited the Tredegar Iron Works, which houses the American Civil War Museum, on a Sunday. It wasn't terribly busy, so it was easy to see the exhibits. There were many rare and interesting artifacts. I strongly recommend visiting!

As a wedding photographer, this place has quickly become a local favorite to photograph couples and their family's celebrations. Being quite a large space, it is outfitted to accommodate bigger events while maintaining its unique qualities. We were so impressed with their willingness to work with the entire vendor team and also offering a great variety of locations for photography.

Parking was horrendous. The lot right beside Tredegar was closed, and of course the one other lot was full. New restaurant, Daisy's, is super cute and delicious! Kind staff. Trails and Belle isle were beautiful as always. Just wish there were easier parking options!

Well done museum. They find a way to display confederate war relics and tell unique stories. The 1st floor ends by talking about how the Lost Cause is trash. Then proceed to pose the same trap of a question to people on the 2nd floor. Leaving it up to question is a victory for lost cause freaks as is. Very disappointed. Yall know what you’re doing..

The building is closed but you can enjoy the outside exhibits. The is a working water wheel, two different canons, and a large anchor. The architecture of the brick buildings on the block are beautiful! The pedestrian bridge over the James River is just 50 yards away.

Beautiful place!!! So much history in every corner and the artifacts are awesome. If you're looking to learn lots and lots about the battles and historical places, find Bob Talbot. He's a gentleman who volunteers there and he has so much knowledge and is a great story teller. Will be coming back!!!!

A piece of Richmond history that is well preserved. There is so much history to learn at here. The gift shop has a lot to offer.

History buffs here. The museum is well done, however there is a great deal to read. We took our time to try to go through all of it... so maybe 90 mins.

This is a small museum with well-organized exhibits that are easy to follow. With all the nearby construction, parking was a bit tricky--I ended up having to go a couple of streets up the hill. The exhibits themselves covered some very heavy and thought-provoking topics that really dove into the human psyche of war. I was especially impressed by how well they've been able to save and preserve artifacts over time. One highlight was a presentation on muskets from the era, complete with a live firing demonstration, which was both fascinating and educational.

Had an awesome time learning the history of the area. The Tredger building is beautiful.

I learned that Richmond was one of the sites of a series of important skirmishes in the United States Civil war between the Union North versus the Confederate South. Richmond was the Confederate capital during those times. American History is usually my forte. Learning about it in history books and even in historical television reenactments / movies doesn't do too much to explain how it all went down. It was nice to find this museum on a road trip to Richmond, VA. After a search on Google Maps and TripAdvisor, I decided to spend the afternoon along the James River and visit the Richmond National Battlefield Park on a nice Tuesday afternoon. I arrived around 2:15pm and spent a good 3 hours before closing to look around and discover what events went on during that era of the United States Civil War. Many lives were lost during the struggle for Confederate independence and the struggle to keep the union united. The Richmond National Battlefield Park museum has many displays and exhibits, highlighting the struggle and hardships endured by the thousands of soldiers on both sides of the front. Death seemed almost certain on the front lines, but the pursuit of liberty and freedom seemed to carry and motivate these garrisons forward to try to win at all costs. After this battle, General Robert E Lee finally surrenders in April 1865. It was one of those moments in history that seem to show who was mightier and whether or not succession from the union was a good idea at the time. The battle of Richmond seemed to echo that. As the body counts continued to rise and the battle fierce, it seemed that the tides of war was almost at an end and the Confederates needed to surrender. The Richmond National Battlefield Park took me back to that place in 1864-1865 here to Virginia to witness the battles fraught of war. The exhibits were haunting and educational, where it explains how the battle of Richmond and other skirmishes in the region helped bring down the uprising of the Confederacy. I did enjoy the video that was played on the 3rd floor. It helped me refocus on what went down during that year and remind myself that a country divided could never stand together. The exhibits were remarkable and professionally done. I did enjoy the authenticity of the items in the glass casing that were preserved for the current day. Since I was here on a Tuesday afternoon, the ambiance was casual and quiet. There was a few people here along with me during that time and it was nice - like browsing at the public library. It was genuinely that quiet. I learned a lot about this specific battle of the Civil War here in Richmond, VA. The overall experience here at the Richmond National Battlefield Park was enough to make me go and read up more about it online after my visit. It was educational, positive, and definitely well worth the visit. It is maintained by the National Parks Service and is free of charge for admission, just need to pay $3 for parking. They accept major credit cards upon entry into the parking lot, which is awesome. The Richmond National Battlefield Park is located at 3215 E Broad Street in downtown Richmond. The museum is in the historic Tredegar building. It's next to the American Civil War museum, which cost $12 for entry. For the most part though, my experience here at the Museum has been an educational one, reliving the historic civil war battle through these exhibitions and knowing that war is hell and feeling grateful for the sacrifices of generations before us who served, so we can have the life we do in the United States of America today. If you are in the Richmond area and want to engross yourself in American history, come on by and check things out. It's definitely a learning experience and plus, free admission. 5.0 stars for the overall experience. Support local! A+

Very interesting & informative. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. I would have probably gone 5 stars, but a huge section of the exhibits, on the second floor, were under renovation, so we missed out on quite a bit. I'm a little late on this review, so hopefully they are back up. There are a couple of presentations that play on the second floor, so I suggest checking the show times first, before you start wandering. I also liked the location, right on the James River and its wonderful path. Also nearby is the Hollywood Cemetery, which is also worth a look, and a wander. It's an easy, and scenic, walk from here to there. Bottom line: Did I see that this is also considered a National Park?

Excellent museum, great place to start when doing a Civil War tour of Richmond. It's easy to get tired of the never-ending stream of Civil War artifacts when touring around the city. But theirs go beyond cannon & rifles (although they have plenty of those) and shows some more personal items like a Register of the Confederate Dead. The NPS guides are (as always) excellent. And funny enough, I met two of them the day before at another location! Since NPS owns the grounds outside, I'll include my description in my review here, as opposed to the Yelp page of the adjacent Civil War Museum. Tredegar was one of the major manufacturing centers in the US prior to the war, and the largest center for military materiel for the Confederacy. It was neat just walking around and seeing these massive 19th century contraptions; some of them actually remained in use until the beginning of the 20th century. If you're ever thinking of becoming an engineering major, try this place. Did I mention it's free?

Great visit on Veterans Day with my Grandson, started with great parking and ended with a Junior Ranger swearing in after finishing all the requirements. The Museum is undergoing renovations on second floor, but the other two floors were full of interesting displays documenting some our darker times in American history. Demonstration by the Ranger on duty of the loading and firing of a cannon. Very Informative and in-depth explanation of the process. Very Cool !!!

We visited the site three days ago, and it's very attractive & historic. We didn't visit the museum (located in the next building and it charges admission) because of time constraints - although we visited the gift shop and it looked very nice, plus the two people working there were very pleasant. The Visitor's Center - which is run by the National Park Service and they renovated the building fourteen years ago - is the former Tredegar Iron Works, and it has an interesting history pertaining to the Civil War. It's now the main visitor's center for Richmond-area Civil War battlefields. We really liked the statue of Lincoln & his son, and there's another life-size statue ("The Boatman") nearby. We also walked out on the bridge over the rapids. The area was rather parked-up and we were somewhat pressed for time, so we paid the $3 (for one hour) to park in the lot.

The site is significant in that during the American Civil War, the foundry Tregedar Iron Works, operated as the main iron and artillery supplier for the Confederate Army, and today is a National Historic Landmark. One historic note, iron plating for the iron clad, the CSS Virginia, was produced here. See the statue of President Lincoln and his son which has received so much criticism and protests.

Really beautiful museum. Well-maintained with lots of very knowledgeable NPS staff around to explain things and go over the history of the site. The grounds are beautiful, the only sad thing is that many of the outdoor informative plaques and displays are so weathered you can barely read them. Otherwise, the area is lovely and well worth a visit if you're in the area.

The Visitor's Center at Richmond National Battlefield Park is located right on the James River and provides a great starting point for the other units located in the Richmond Battlefield System (there are nearly ten sites located in and around the Richmond area). You can park in the lot directly outside the center, or for free in the belle isle lot door (as advised by Fodor's!) and walk over. Next door to the NPS site is the American Civil War Center, and has it's own separate fee. The Visitor's Center at Tredgar Iron Works features a great movie (the best out of all the ones we watched) on the battles in Richmond as well as a comprehensive exhibit on Richmond during the Civil War- important, as it was the capitol of the Confederacy. Outside, as mentioned in the reviews below are some great stone and brickworks of the Iron Works. The rangers at the center can help you coordinate your trip to the battlefields. We made it out to Cold Harbor, which also had their own Visitor's Center, and a useful light-board narration of the battle. Other locations in the Richmond Battlefield system include the Chimborazo Hospital Museum, Malvern Hill, Chickhominy Bluffs among others. Other than parking, this and the other sites are free. Definitely plan on a lot of driving to each site- the map given to you in the pamplet is helpful, but if you don't have pre planned directions or a GPS ask the ranger for directions to each place. After you visit the center, it's nice to take a walk around the park right along the river. You can view the remains of the original bridge used by Richmond residents and Jefferson Davis to flee richmond during the siege of the capital.

Not to be confused with the American Civil War Center next door, this museum is free and the jumping off point for visiting the nearby battlefields. There are timeline displays, a film, canons produced at this ironworks site, Ranger lead tour, and book shop. Good place for a small dose of Civil War artifacts.

This is a nice small museum. Unfortunately, we expected much more than we got. If you're bored and have limited time, it's a good spot. There just wasn't much to see at all. However, staff were friendly.

The Battlefield are at various points around the Richmond and Petersburg areas. I would recommend starting the tour at Tredegar Iron Works and give yourself more than one day.

I walked into the building "just to see" what was inside and left three hours later. Admission fee is beyond worth it. What a great overview of all that led up to the civil war. I very much enjoyed the general lack of a one sided story as well. Maybe I'm wrong (not from the south), but I felt like the stories told were not to bash or undermine the losing side. A very refreshing museum that I highly recommend to anyone wishing to know a little more about the civil war.