When Charles (Mac) McCauley became mayor of Timberville in 1992, one of his main priorities was to create a small local museum focused on preserving the life and culture of our community. He envisioned it as a free institution operated by volunteers and supported by the community. With the help of fellow town employees including Richard Sullivan, Wilda Wine, Phyllis Strickler, Wesley Hinkle and volunteers Dorothea Saunders, Bee Hite May, and Evelyn Campbell, the Museum, built by contractor Donnie Riggleman, opened to the public in September 1998. The original Museum featured five key artifacts, the Timberville Bandwagon, the cornerstone from Zigler Cannery, a retired railroad car from Southern Railroad, a Timberville handmade quilt donated by the Farmers and Merchants Bank and a signed copy of the biography of General Norman Schwarzkopf donated by his wife Brenda, who grew up in Timberville.
All of these artifacts are still on display at the Museum.
To celebrate this milestone, the Museum has created two exhibits which highlight its history. The featured exhibit celebrates the evolution of Plains Museum from its early beginning in the Timberville Town Council meeting room, to the construction of its first building (now the Timberville Police Dept.) to its current location in the old Rockingham Milling Co. on N. Main St. The exhibit includes photographs, artifacts, and statistics which emphasis the growth and development of the Museum as place to learn, research lost family members and friends, and reminisce about early life in Plains District. Thanks to the generous support of the local governments, businesses, and individuals the Museum continues to be free and totally dependent on volunteer leadership.
The second exhibit is an example of the collections which the Museum has been able to display since moving to its present location in 2008. It features handmade quilts made in the 19th and 20th centuries. Two heirloom quilts on display were the handwork of Hanna Young Zigler (1836-1898) who married Daniel Zigler, son of John Zigler one of the earliest settlers in Timberville. The family lived in the brick house still standing alongside the N. Fork of the Shenandoah River. The quilts are on loan from Beverly A. and Jeffrey S. Evans who purchased them in 2005 from the estate of Otto Zigler, Hanna’s grandson.
The celebration will climax on
HERITAGE DAY AT THE MUSEUM
SAT. SEPT. 16, 2023
10 AM TO 2 PM.
Come early to enjoy!
- A TOUR OF THE MUSEUM
- LIVE BLUEGRASS MUSIC
- BBQ CHICKEN JUST OFF THE GRILL
BBQ beef sandwiches
Hotdogs
White Beans with cornbread
- HOME MADE BAKED GOODS
- HOME MADE ICE CREAM IN THE OLDE ICE CREAM SHOP
- QUILT RAFFLE
WINNER ANNOUNCED THAT DAY
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE MUSEUM
AND
AT 1 PM IN THE MEETING ROOM
A Welcome by Timberville TOWN MAYOR DON DELAUGHTER
Followed by a talk by
PENNY IMESON, Executive Director of Rocktown, Harrisonburg=Rockingham Historical Society who will speak on
“Future trends in Historic Preservation and the role of small museums in that future.”
SEE YOU ON SEPT. 16 at the Museum.
THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO HELP MAKE PLAINS DISTRICT MUSEUM A VALUED PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.
