weems-botts museum

You will really enjoy the history of Dumfries. The oldest port in the area. Very interesting American history of the colonial era.

Although the historical building itself is a few rooms in an old house, this museum showcases 400+ years of history, from the founding of Dumfries in 1609 through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and up to today. Tour guide Erica was a superb presenter of the historical timeline and interplay with other towns and regional and national events, as well as the people who made those events happen. Her deep knowledge extends beyond what the museum presents (she's a history major) and her presentation was simply superb. Attention locals: what are you waiting for? go see this! Allow 90 minutes or more.

Our group of 4 had a tour on a chilly, rainy day in late May. We were the only visitors at the time, so we had our own guide, who is a fount of information! We learned much about the early port in the area, the revolutionary and civil war happenings in the area, the families who owned the house, what has been excavated there and nearby, and also appreciated the room that is set up with WWII memorabilia. The tour begins at the annex, where the office is, and then goes through the house, which is small, about 5 rooms. There are many authentic items, along with some reproductions that help tell the stories about the colonial times. We spent about 3 hours here, although the typical tour is 90 minutes. We highly recommend a visit here for those who are interested in the early history of this area of Virginia -- or have interest in the revolutionary or civil war. One other note -- two of the rooms in the house are upstairs, each with its own stairway, and the stairways are narrow and steep. It would still be worth the visit if you chose not to climb the stairs to the upper rooms. The admission is quite reasonable -- $4 for adults; $2.50 for those age 55+.

This museum is a little gem and particularly if you are interested in pre- or post-civil war life in a small port city. The staff will deliver an excellent presentation of how things functioned near the docks, how the rivers shifted and the general change in topography from present day, where the military actions took place, who were the standout personalities and residents in various eras since founding. There is a tour through the museum and the house which is definitely suitable to small groups. The grounds offer shade and additional history. Knowledge of the attending staff often leads to more interesting discussion related to visitor questions. We enjoyed our tour and the staff so much we joined the "friends" of the museum. Recommended even for a rainy day and especially for those interested in local, post-colonial history.

We live in Dumfries so we try to support local businesses, establishments, and learn about our local history. The Weems-Botts was a great place to start. It's a very small museum packed with a great amount of history. The tour guides there are very knowledgable and excited to share what they know about the history of this place. I highly recommend it.

We stopped in at the Weems-Botts Museum because we had read that it was full of ghosts. We didn't see any, or even get to hear about them really, but the visit was still excellent.Joanne is the local historian who runs the place, and she's a font of knowledge. Her average tour takes 90 minutes. We asked her for a 60 minute tour instead, but ultimately were there for 90 -- and she definitely had more information that would have been interesting to hear. Her level of enthusiasm for the history made us enthusiastic too.There are two buildings -- you start off the tour in the annex building, where Joanne talks about the history of the area -- pre-revolution through the civil war era -- shown via paintings and dioramas. Then you move to the main house where she details the history of the people who lived there, through to modern day.I asked her about the ghosts -- she said there was actually an investigative crew there the day prior -- but that she preferred to discuss the area's history. She stuck to what she knows, and she certainly knows it well. If you've got a couple hours, it's worth your time.