Make the Drive: Three of the Best Museums Near Woodbridge, VA

If your idea of a nice day out with the family is to load up the kids in your Ford Explorer and do some, well, exploring, then some of the best museums in our area are just waiting for you. Stop by one of these next time you’re around Woodbridge, VA.

Rippon Lodge Historic Site

This is a great place to bring the family and spend some time in a historic spot that’s very well-kept. Wander the grounds on your own or get your tour guide to tell you all the interesting history behind this spot. The grounds are open from dawn to dusk, and tours are just $5 and free for kids under six.

The Rippon Lodge is one of the oldest homes in the county and was built by Richard Blackburn on the King’s Highway in 1747. Goods from the farm were exported to England until the Revolutionary War. Various owners had the house after Blackburn, and all took good care of it, until the last private owner–Admiral Richard Blackburn Black–bought it back into the family in 1952 (he was a direct descendent of the builder). Admiral Black was a lover of history and science and was one of the members of Admiral Richard Byrd’s expedition to the Antarctic.

Mill House Museum

At 413 Mil St in the Occoquan Historic District, the Mill House Museum is open only on the weekends, from 11am until 4pm. It’s one of the few things left from a historic fire that took much of the rest of the area that was famous for its mills throughout colonial times. In 1755, Occoquan was already known as a major industrial town with many mills, and the Merchant’s Mill was built in 1759. It was one of America’s first fully automated grist mills.

You would never know it today, but Occoquan through the 1700s and 1800s was nothing short of the “Silicon Valley” of early American industry. At the same time, it never lost its connection to nature, so that in the late nineteenth century, excursion boats regularly brought sightseers from Washington DC to enjoy the countryside and relief from city life.

The Weems-Botts Museum

Head south to Dumfries to investigate this museum at 3944 Cameron St in Merchant Park. Dumfries is the oldest chartered town in the state, and the museum is dedicated to preserving the town’s heritage.

The museum takes you through the timeline of Dumfries to see homes and their stylings from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It also covers the part Dumfries played in the history of Virginia along the way. The staff here are great, and you’ll have a blast as you learn.

For great service to keep your Ford running smoothly to these and other great destinations in our area, visit our service center at Koons Woodbridge Ford.

Image courtesy of Pexels

Tags: historical sites, history, museum, sightseeing, Woodbridge VA
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