Reedville Fishermen's Museum is located in the unincorporated town of
Reedville along the western shore of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...
in
Northumberland County, Virginia
Northumberland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 11,839. Its county seat is Heathsville. The county is located on the Northern Neck and is part of the Northern Neck George Was ...
.
Reedville has a long heritage in the Atlantic
menhaden
Menhaden, also known as mossbunker, bunker, and "the most important fish in the sea", are forage fish of the genera ''Brevoortia'' and ''Ethmidium'', two genera of marine fish in the order Clupeiformes. ''Menhaden'' is a blend of ''poghaden'' ...
fishing industry, and the museum dedicates itself to preserving the watermen's heritage and that of Reedville.
The museum has restored some of the oldest homes on the community's "Millionaire's Row", where wealthy factory owners and fishing boat captains once lived. The mansions are now on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. The museum also has two vessels, the
skipjack ''
Claude W. Somers'' and the deck boat ''
Elva C.'', which were entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Open for tours, the museum also has historical information about the menhaden fishing industry and the history of Reedville.
See also
*
List of maritime museums in the United States
List of maritime museums in the United States is a sortable list of American museums which display objects related to ships and water travel. Many of these maritime museums have museum ships in their collections. Member museums of the Council of ...
References
External links
Museum website
Museums in Northumberland County, Virginia
Open-air museums in Virginia
Maritime museums in Virginia
Industry museums in Virginia
Fishing museums
Fishing in the United States
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