Steamboat Era Museum

IRVINGTON—On February 3, volunteers gathered at the Steamboat Era Museum, 156 King Carter Drive, Irvington, to begin the preparations for new exhibits and the installation of the Potomac Pilothouse in the fall.

To make room for the Pilothouse, volunteers disassembled the country store and cannery exhibits, reported executive director Barbara Brecher. Other exhibits were removed from the exhibition hall to allow some interior walls to be removed.

The 2018 season, which will begin in late April, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the museum’s founding, said Brecher. Visitors will experience the process of redesigning new museum exhibits.

The story of the Steamboat Era will continue to be told during the 2018 season. New exhibits, to be installed in the fall, will continue to tell the story of the era as well as the Steamer Potomac.

A coffee table book about the Steamboat Era and the Steamer Potomac is schedule to be published in the fall.

To donate to the Pilothouse project or the museum, visit steamboateramuseum. org.

Article re-printed from The Rappahannock Record.

From left, museum life member Jack Ashburn and board members Jim Ward and Fred Pevahouse take apart the cannery exhibit. They also disassembled the country store exhibit. Ashburn’s collection of Steamboat Era merchandise filled the store for several years.

Author: SEM Executive Director

  • Steamboat Era Museum prepares for new exhibits and Potomac Pilothouse

    IRVINGTON—On February 3, volunteers gathered at the Steamboat Era Museum, 156 King Carter Drive, Irvington, to begin the preparations for new exhibits and the installation of the Potomac Pilothouse in the fall.

    To make room for the Pilothouse, volunteers disassembled the country store and cannery exhibits, reported executive director Barbara Brecher. Other exhibits were removed from the exhibition hall to allow some interior walls to be removed.

    The 2018 season, which will begin in late April, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the museum’s founding, said Brecher. Visitors will experience the process of redesigning new museum exhibits.

    The story of the Steamboat Era will continue to be told during the 2018 season. New exhibits, to be installed in the fall, will continue to tell the story of the era as well as the Steamer Potomac.

    A coffee table book about the Steamboat Era and the Steamer Potomac is schedule to be published in the fall.

    To donate to the Pilothouse project or the museum, visit steamboateramuseum. org.

    Article re-printed from The Rappahannock Record.

    From left, museum life member Jack Ashburn and board members Jim Ward and Fred Pevahouse take apart the cannery exhibit. They also disassembled the country store exhibit. Ashburn’s collection of Steamboat Era merchandise filled the store for several years.

  • New Holiday Marketplace Items

    Paint Your Own Watermen’s Boot!

    15 pairs of four-foot boots painted by artists and located on the Northern Neck and Middle Pennisula represent the Watermen’s Way project completed this past spring. The project led by Virginia’s River Realm, Steamboat Era Museum, Rappahannock Art Center and Lancaster Chamber of Commerce is a tribute to the Watermen and women of the Chesapeake Bay.

    The museum is offering you a chance to create your own Watermen’s Way boot. Available exclusively at the Marketplace is a 6″ white ceramic boot with paints and brushes all packaged for holiday giving.

    $12. Supply is limited

     

    Chesapeake Bay Scarf

    A vintage style map of the Chesapeake Bay showing steamboat ports, based on a large map at the museum, is presented on a 72″ x 30″ scarf. The soft and drapey scarf, made of 100% soft polyester voile, is easy to wear in different ways and shows the entire Bay from Baltimore to Norfolk. All the Bay towns with steamboat wharves are identified. Show your friends and family where you live or like to visit.

    $36. Supply is limited

  • Steamboat Era Museum Presents Fourth Annual Holiday Marketplace

    Steamboat Era Museum Presents Fourth Annual Holiday Marketplace

    More then 20 artisans will present their work at the Fourth Annual Holiday Marketplace on Friday, November 24 and Saturday, November 25 from 10am-4pm. The Marketplace will also be open on Saturday December 2, 9 and 16.

    Attendees will have a choice of unique handmade jewelry, baskets, wood, soaps, birdhouses, metal garden artwork and more. The gift shop will be full of holiday decorations and gifts for the entire family including hostess gifts, jigsaw puzzles based on pieces from the museum’s collections and stocking stuffers.

    Museum publications, “We Are Who We Are Because Steamboats Were” by Anne McCLintock and “Dining on the Chesapeake Bay” will also be available as will note cards, posters, journals and other items available exclusively at the museum.

    A silent auction including artisans’ work, posters and a four foot “Santa” Vermont Teddy Bear will run the first two days of the Marketplace and will end at 4pm on Saturday, Nov 25.

    Proceeds from the Marketplace will support the museum which is located at 156 King Carter Drive, Irvington, For further information please call the museum at 438-6888.

  • Children’s Dress-up Trunk

    Children’s Dress-up Trunk

    We have great children’s activities! Come to the Steamboat Era Museum and check out our Children’s Dress-up Trunk!



  • See the Restoration of the Potomac Pilothouse and Enjoy a Low Country Boil

    On Saturday, September 23 John and Olivia Morgenthaler are hosting a low country boil to support the Steamboat Era Museum’s Potomac Pilothouse project. John, the shipwright working on the project, will be available to talk about the project and you will see firsthand the progress being made on this historic artifact.

    The event will take place outside, beside the workshop, where the pilothouse is located. Monies raised from this event will be matched dollar for dollar by a $50,000 matching grant challenge from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation.

    The restoration of the Pilothouse has always been a goal of the founders of the museum. Acquired in 2001,the Pilothouse stood in front of the museum until it was shrink wrapped in 2010 and stored in a field in White Stone. In 2015 it was moved to the Morgenthaler’s property.

    The low country boil will be prepared by local waterman Robbie Reamy, president of Reamy Seafood. Virginia Commonwealth Bank will provide refreshments.

    Tickets cost $75. Seating is limited. The event will take place at the Morgenthaler’s home at 215 Railway Drive in Heathsville from 6-8 pm, rain or shine.  Tickets are available by emailing director@steamboateramuseum.org,  calling the museum at 438-6888 or online through PayPal, below.




  • Graham Brothers Reception

    The Graham brothers and their two pianos will be back in action for two concerts Friday, August 25th at 7:30 pm and Saturday, August 26th at 3:30 pm to raise awareness and funds for the Steamboat Era Museum’s Potomac pilothouse restoration project.
    They will perform at Irvington Baptist Church. Tickets for the event are free, but required due to limited available seating. They are available by calling the Steamboat Era Museum at 438-6888 or emailing director@steamboateramuseum.org
    The Steamboat Era Museum is proud to include among its collection the largest surviving artifact of the Chesapeake Bay steamboat era—the pilothouse from the steamboat Potomac. The restored pilothouse will be the only place in America where visitors and researchers can step aboard the last surviving wheelhouse, captain and crew quarters of a Chesapeake Bay steamboat. The museum recently announced a dollar-for-dollar $50,000 grant from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation in Richmond.
    David Graham graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2007 with a B.A. in Music and a B.S. in Business Administration. He studied under Dr. Shuko Watanabe and Dr. Timothy Gaylard while at W&L, and won the Piano Award as the most outstanding senior in piano performance. Additionally, he performed for the grand opening Elrod Commons building at W&L, and won second prize in an “Open Airwaves” competition on the radio station WLUR. He continued his studies at the Utah conservatory and the University of Virginia, where he received his Masters of Business Administration from the Darden School of Business in 2014. David has performed locally in many venues around the area, and regularly plays the piano at Irvington Baptist Church. He has worked professionally at the AAA Five Diamond Sanctuary Resort at Kiawah Island, and in 2012 he and his brother headlined the PBS television special “Studio Sessions with Rising Masters.” David currently works as a small business consultant and lives in Richmond.

    Phillip Graham earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music, Piano Performance, along with his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington and Lee University in 2010. He began his piano studies at the age of 7 under Mrs. Bonnie Anderson and studied under Dr. Shuko Watanabe and Dr. Timothy Gaylard while earning his music degree. Phillip’s concert performance experience spans over a decade, including performances at W&L’s Science, Society, and the Arts conference, in various university recitals, and through a series of concerts performed with his brother David to raise money for non-profit organizations. Together, the Graham brothers have raised over $100,000 for Virginia-based non-profits, including the Northern Neck Free Health Clinic, the Steamboat Era Museum, and CARITAS, a Richmond-based organization devoted to fighting addiction and homelessness. Phillip currently resides in Durham, N.C. with his wife Monica, and is a 2nd-year MBA candidate at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

    Tickets are free but space is limited. To reserve your tickets, please send an email to: director@steamboateramusem.org

    Photo: The Graham Brothers, Phillip (l) and David (r) will be playing dueling pianos on August 25 and 26 at the Irvington Baptist Church in support of the Steamboat Era Museum.
    Photo by Michael Geissingr

  • Irvington Crab Festival Sponsors

    We would like to thank the following individuals and businesses who help make possible our annual Crab Festival. Tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours soon! Click Here for more information and to purchase tickets!

    Big Claw

    Chesapeake Bank
    Visit Website

    Jimmy and Sook
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    Virginia Commonwealth Bank
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    Jimmy

    The Dog and Oyster Vineyard
    Visit Website

    Wigo Country 104.9
    Bay 101-7
    Visit Website

    Northern Neck Insurance
    Visit Website

    Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury
    Visit Website

    Tides Inn
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    Soft Shell

    Bay Auto Service

    Mr. and Mrs Holmes Ginn

    Creative DeSIGNS
    Visit Website

    Tri Star Supermarket
    Find Us on Facebook

    Hubbard, Terry and Britt
    Visit Website

    Old Bay

    Metrocast
    Visit Website

    Rappahannock Record
    Visit Website


    Trick Dog – Bar & Bistro
    Visit Website

  • Steamboat Era Museum Launches Public Pilothouse Campaign with a $50,000 Challenge Grant

    Steamboat Era Museum Launches Public Pilothouse Campaign with a $50,000 Challenge Grant

    The Steamboat Era Museum is proud to announce the public phase of the Pilot the Potomac Home campaign with a dollar for dollar $50,000 grant from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation in Richmond. Every dollar donated after mid-May, will be matched up to $50,000! This grant is one more step in the process of restoring and placing the Steamer Potomac’s Pilothouse, the largest remaining portion of a Chesapeake Bay steamboat, in the Museum.

    The Pilothouse, which includes the wheelhouse, captain’s cabin and crew quarters is currently being restored by local shipwright, John Morganthaler. In 2015 the Pilothouse was name one of Virginia’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts.

    This project is not just about an important artifact. When placed in the museum, along with new exhibits, it will enhance the understanding of the Chesapeake Bay’s cultural and economic history and will provide stimulating and innovative educational experiences for all visitors. The addition of the Pilothouse will position the Museum as the nation’s leading institution on the Steamboat Era in the Chesapeake Bay.

    For the past few months the Board of Directors has been raising funds to restore the Pilothouse. The museum has received a $100,000 grant from the Nettie Lokey Wiley and Charles L. Wiley Foundation and generous donations from members of the community. The goal of the campaign is $350,000, which includes the restoration of the Pilothouse and the redesign of the museum’s interior structure and exhibits. To date $140,000 has been raised not including the challenge grant.

    To donate to this project please visit the Donate page on our website, call 438-6888 or visit the museum at 156 King Carter Drive in Irvington on Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm.

    Photo: John Morganthaler explains the process of restoring the Pilothouse to Museum Board Directors and interested community members.
    Photo Credit: Michael Geissinger

  • Steamboat Era Museum to host author and unveil 2017 exhibit

    Steamboat Era Museum to host author and unveil 2017 exhibit

    The Steamboat Era Museum will welcome Dr. Julie Sullivan, author of Against the Tide: The Turbulent Times of a Black Entrepreneur, for the opening of the new 2017 exhibition.

    Pictured: The Dr. W. J. Newbill was the largest of Capt. Hansford C. Bayton’s boats. It was built in Urbanna in 1905 at the cost of $22,000. ($596,000 today). Photo courtesy of the Steamboat Era Museum

    Read the entire story in the Rappahannock Record; Click Here

  • Watermen’s Way boots arrive

    Watermen’s Way boots arrive

    More than 40 people on May 11 came to the Steamboat Era Museum to welcome the arrival of Watermen’s Way boots.

    Pictured:
    Artists and partners associated with the Watermen’s Way project, from left, include (front row) Wende Szyperski, Patty Richards, Barbara Brecher, Jan Dobrowolski, Jean Lewis and Tommy Fox; (next row) Sukey Starkey, Agnes Carter, Nadine Flood and Angela Dawson. Photo by Michael Geissinger

    Read the entire story in the Rappahannock Record; Click Here