Virginia Beach History Museums Online Collection
The City of Virginia Beach History Museums include the Thoroughgood House, the Lynnhaven House, the Francis Land House and the Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School Museum. They are part of the City’s Cultural Affairs Department.
On this site, you will be able to explore the objects in the Virginia Beach History Museums collection, which includes textiles, costumes, photographs, drawings, ceramics, furniture, archaeology, and more.
Please note that cataloging a collection is a work in progress that takes time. Continue to come back to this site to learn more about artifacts in the collection and to see new collection uploads in the future!
Search Tips:
Our collections management database, Artwork Archive, allows visitors to explore the Virginia Beach History Museums collection using four main search options. These options include the “Portfolio” tab, “Collections” tab, and “Artists” tab, as well as the search bar in the upper right corner of this page.
Search using the Portfolio tab: Selecting the “Portfolio” option allows you to view all of the published artifact entries in our database as thumbnail images, which you can click on to expand and learn more.
Search using the Collections tab: Selecting the “Collections” option allows you to view artifacts categorized into sub-collections by site (Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School Museum (PACTS/UKHS), Thoroughgood House, Lynnhaven House, Francis Land House), and by artifact type (textiles, costumes, photographs, furniture, drawings, etc.).
Search using the Artists tab: Selecting the “Artists” option allows you to view artifacts based on individual makers and manufacturers.
Search using the “Piece Search” bar: Type in a name or term to help locate an artifact you are looking for. If you don’t see the object you’re searching for it could be because the object record does not contain the search word entered or it has not yet been digitized and published on the site.
If you have any questions or comments about the artifacts featured on this site, please select the “Message” option to write to us.