Wilderness Road Regional Museum
The Wilderness Road Regional Museum is located in historic
Newbern, Virginia. Newbern, located in Pulaski County, had its
official beginning March 3, 1810, when Adam Hance laid off 28
lots fronting on the Wilderness Road. Because of its early significance,
Newbern was placed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1979.
The earliest building restrictions drafted by Adam Hance required
each purchaser of a lot to build "a hewn log house at least
one and a half stories high, with a shingled roof, brick or stone
chimney, seams filled with lime mortar, two glass windows with
twelve lights each." These were the minimum requirements
set forth.
Henry Hance built such a house in 1810 on lot No.2 of the 28
lots, and now is the eastern portion of the Wilderness Road Regional
Museum. (In 1812 Hance became the postmaster of Newbern and later
operated a tavern in his log house.) In 1816 a weatherboarded
house was built on Lot No. 4 by Adam Hance, the father of Henry,
and this, today, is the western portion of the Museum.
By 1851 the dog trot which connected the two domestic units
was replaced by the present Giles room. Henry's log house and
father Adam's weatherboarded house, combined with the additions,
resulted in the 100 foot length building of today.
In 1837, Virginia, the only child of Henry and Sarah Hance,
married Jabin B. Alexander from Monroe County, West Virginia,
and the house had been the home of Hance's and Alexander's until
the 1970's. It was acquired by the New River Historical Society
for a Museum on April 16, 1980.
Three historic structures on the six-acre tract are of great interest:
What is believed to be the large barn dates before 1818. It was used in the mid-to-late 1800's as a dining room for summer boarders, with some coming from as far away as Louisiana
This photograph is that of the original outside kitchen and slave loft, the rebuilding of which is completed.
The log Loom House is believed to have been built upon the site of a house used briefly as the Pulaski County Clerk's Office. The log building is now referred to as the "Loom House," and contains the Quesenberry Loom, originally from Floyd, Virginia.
The three remaining outbuildings include a buggy shed, a small
weatherboarded barn, and another log building, reputedly, a slave
cabin. It was later used as a granary or crib.
Long range plans call for the restoration of all buildings.
Donations and in-kind contributions are welcome. The Museum Committee
is now searching for artifacts dating from 1810 to 1865. Letters,
documents, paintings, photographs, business records, furniture
and objects pertaining to southwest Virginia are especially wanted.
Each chapter of the New River Historical Society (Floyd, Giles,
Montgomery, Pulaski counties and the City of Radford) furnishes
a room in the Museum. Pulaski County Board of Supervisors donates
a substantial annual contribution to the Museum's budget.
The Museum contains a library and archive of historical books and records, as well as a large assortment of family records. The earliest collection of Pulaski County papers is stored here.
Actual Documents Online!
Open Monday - Saturday 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Sunday 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
To send deductible gifts or for more information, write the
Museum at: Box 373 Newbern, Virginia 24126-0373 or telephone (540)
674-4835 Fax (540) 674-1266
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©2003 published by The Wilderness Road Regional Museum for personal use only, they may NOT be reproduced in whole or part in any format for presentation, distribution or profit by anyone without the express written consent of the contributor.