December 5, 2008
Don't miss it!
At the original site, the Dale House, a
100-year-old brick building down by the river, houses a resin cast of a settler skeleton
found during the 1994 James Fort dig.
A touch screen allows visitors to explore several theories behind who this settler may
have been, and who shot him (TV buffs take note: his nickname is JR).
If well received by visitors, this exhibit could be a model for future exhibits in a
new building planned for 2007. A proposed glass-walled "Archaearium" (a wordplay
on "aquarium") would enable visitors to look down into the remains of the 17th-century
statehouse, use virtual imaging to re-create history and provide exhibit space for
artifacts currently in storage.
At the Settlement, Indian interpreters cook dishes with ingredients
that would have been available in the 17th century – corn, beans, duck
stew and cornbread simmering in bear fat. (Because it is a state-run operation, these
"Indians" are lucky recipients of wildlife that’s been killed accidentally,
like a 450-pound bear who wandered out of the Dismal Swamp and was hit by a car. His hide
was tanned here and is hanging in one of the huts.)
Indoors, a multiple-gallery museum chronicles the time period in detail.
Look for new exhibition galleries and a theater by 2007, when the entire
visitor services complex should be completed.
Mixx it!
Copyright © 2008, The Virginia Gazette
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