
POSTPONED!
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Rise and Fall Festival until 2026. We want to do this right, and the timing just wasn’t going to work out this year. Please stay tuned for next year’s festival announcement, and let us know if you have any questions.
THE 2025 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE IS UNDERWAY!
SIGN UP NOW TO BECOME A MUSEUM MEMBER
or RENEW YOUR EXISTING MEMBERSHIP!


Essex County Museum & Historical Society Building
ABOUT OUR MUSEUM
Essex and its county seat, Tappahannock, lie on the beautiful Rappahannock River in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. The Essex County Museum, founded in 1996, and the Essex County Historical Society joined forces in 2006 to celebrate the heritage of the town, county, river, and its people and is now the Essex County Museum and Historical Society (ECMHS).
The museum houses a number of exhibits that include pre-historic through modern displays of life in Essex and on the Rappahannock River. In addition to these collections, the museum has a research room with a small library as well as a Gift Shop with handcrafted jewelry, home accessories, art, books, children’s toys and games, and more! All proceeds from the shop benefit ECMHS’s programs and operations.
Outreach is an important component of the museum’s mission and ECMHS collaborates with other museums on the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula to bring a “History on the Go” program to local elementary schools. The Essex County Museum also has a variety of other educational programs that are offered either at the museum or in another venue as well as live and virtual programs throughout the year that are offered to the community.


TESTIMONIALS
“Love the Museum! Very interesting…thanks!”
“Wonderful Experience”
“This is a beautiful Museum and Gift Shop!”
“Very cool history!”
“A must see”