This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Founded in 1976, the Isle of Wight County Museum tells the story of the county through its interactive exhibits including a turn-of-the-century country store as well as displays interpreting colonial history, the Smithfield ham industry, the Blackwater River, the Civil War and the Cold War.
Home of the world’s largest ham was featured in Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not” in 1929, 1932 and 2003. The museum’s exhibits include prehistoric fossils, colonial and pre-colonial artifacts, a turn-of-the-century country store, displays interpreting the Smithfield ham industry and the museum’s most notable artifact: the world’s oldest, edible cured ham.
Now you can see what’s happening 24/7 with Smithfield’s oldest celebrity! (The ham in the center is THE ham!) The next time you’re in town, stop by to rub (pork) shoulders with this A-lister…because everyone is a little bit of a ham
Walking through the door, you’re taken back to a time that was so different from now. So much history packed into one place. P.D. Gwaltney Jr.’s famous pet ham currently resides at the Isle of Wight County Museum. In 1902, one of his cured hams was overlooked, and for 20 years, the ham hung from a rafter in one of his packing houses. By 1924, the pet ham was kept in an iron safe which was opened daily for guests to view. Advertised as the world’s oldest Smithfield ham, Gwaltney fashioned a brass collar for the ham and took it to shows and expos to exhibit the preservative powers of his smoking method.
The Isle of Wight County Division of Historic Resources’ mission is to develop and advance an understanding of the county’s heritage by conserving, interpreting and preserving its sociological, agricultural, archaeological, cultural, military and natural history. The place of the pet ham. Its a site to see. We learned how they preserve it with thousands of the white packets we find in so many things, and when the door is open, you can still smell the smoked ham smell.
Collections include local eastern woodland Native American pieces, local history, and interest, Colonial era artifacts, Civil War artifacts from local sites, material related to the ham and peanut industries. If your into History and love learning, Make sure if your ever in Smithfield VA you visit this museum, you will be happy you did.