Franconia Museum

7130 Silver Lake Blvd, Kingstowne, VA 22315

Operating hours are currently limited

When the local officials moved into the new building on Beulah Street, the Franconia Museum went with them and is now showing off the old Franconia in a brand new space.

Moving a room full of fragile and/or dusty artifacts from a life gone by was more complicated and time consuming than they planned though. Although the new museum space officially opened on April 11, they are only open one day a week for a while until further notice.

Nathaniel Lee is one of the curators that has been with the museum for years and was part of the move. 

"It's a beautiful new space," he said.

The original museum opened over 20 years ago in a space in the old building that slowly evolved into a real cornerstone of the Franconia community. There were many farm artifacts, Civil War items, parade pictures and the big "Franconia" train station sign that is going to be part of the new museum too.

This time around, the officials at Franconia Museum are working with a museum expert from the Smithsonian to handle, store and display the artifacts in a more professional manner. Since the Smithsonian was closed during the recent government shut down, this employee was not working so he came over and volunteered at the Franconia Museum.

When they cleaned out the old museum space on Franconia Road, they did dig up an old Civil War ammunition pouch that belonged to a local soldier named Carey Lee, a person related to the Nalls family that is affiliated with the museum and nearby Nalls Produce. It had been on an obscure shelf for nearly 20 years.