Exhibits
Photo credit: William Dyas
Exhibits at the Barrier Islands Center are detailed vignettes of life on the barrier islands lived with simplicity and tenacity.
Eastern Shore of Virginia native, Sarah Barban wrote about the exhibits at the Barrier Islands Center in her article, "Almshouse museum preserves barrier island history while tying together the unique and thriving Eastern Shore culture." which was published in Chesapeake Bay Magazine on April 5, 2018.
"The artifacts curated by those founders, and the items that island residents and their descendants have donated since, are displayed in scenes throughout the upstairs of the building. At one display, you can stand at the original front desk from the famous Cobb Island Hotel, circa 1890s, and you feel as though you’re standing in the lobby of a getaway that once billed itself as the “unrivaled health and summer resort of the Atlantic Coast,” offering “fishing, gunning and bathing unexcelled.”
Photo credit: William Dyas
In another room, papier-mâché food on a picnic cloth tells the story of how the women of Hog Island defeated an out-of-town baseball team without lifting a bat. It was the annual Fourth of July game and the mainland visitors chowed down on Hog Island specialties like steamed clams, roasted mutton, clam fritters, fried fish, and all kinds of garden fresh vegetables—not to mention the pies and the cakes. The mainlanders stuffed themselves while the home team held back, allowing them to handily defeat the lethargic visitors."
-From Cheasapeake Bay Magazine "Almshouse museum preserves barrier island history while tying together the unique and thriving Eastern Shore culture."
Article written by Sarah Barban, April 5, 2018.