120 Old Hampton Lane
Hampton, Virginia
Call: (757) 727-1610

The Hampton History Museum serves to increase the awareness and understanding of the history of Hampton by maintaining an educational and research center for the collection, exhibition, interpretation, preservation and promotion of the vast historic resources of the City.

The Hampton History Museum's permanent collection in the first floor galleries transcends nearly 400 years of Hampton history in ten permanent galleries. They include Orientation, Native American, 17th Century, Port Hampton, 18th Century, Antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, Late 19th Century and Modern Hampton. The second floor is dedicated to changing exhibits which currently features the exhibit "The Civil War: Our Nation Divided" Many of the 175 works in the exhibits were commissioned by publisher Frank Leslie in 1861. Leslie sent twenty artists into every Civil War skirmish to provide a vivid and realistic picture of the War Between the States.

Twenty works of Winslow Homer reveal the human side of the conflict such as the breaking of a wishbone in a soldiers' camp on Thanksgiving Day, the reunion of wives and families with soldiers, and the playing of football among the troops. Currier & Ives, William T. Crane, Edwin Forbes and Joseph Becker are among the other distinguished artists whose work so vividly tell the tale of battle.

Blackbeard's Head

The African American experience in the Civil War is captured in such works as "New Year's Contraband Ball at Vicksburg, Mississippi, During the Siege" by F. B. Schell; "Presentation of Colors to the Twentieth United States Colored Infantry, March 5, 1864" by A. Berghaus and "Reviewing the Contraband" by William T. Crane, among many others.

The Civil War: Our Nation Divided is provided by Blair-Murrah of Sibley, Missouri. The organization is known worldwide for quality historical, educational, and contemporary exhibitions. Included among the display are an additional eighteen works that complement the collection.

Click on the thumbnail images below for virtual tour:
Antebellum Room	Phoebus Exhibit	Great Hall	Gift Shop