Mini-Museum and Visitor Information Center Opening in the Historic Hopkins & Bro. Store in Onancock

Mini-Museum and Visitor Information Center Opening in the Historic Hopkins & Bro. Store, Onancock

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society announces the grand opening of the Hopkins & Bro. Store Living History Exhibit and Visitor Information Center. Located in the main lobby of the Hopkins & Bro. Store and Mallards Restaurant, the mini-museum and visitor information center will open on Onancock’s Second Friday, April 14th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Admission to the exhibit is free and open to the public.

This multipurpose visitor portal and educational venue will promote the Town of Onancock and the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society through new exhibits and a visitor information center, which will highlight historic sites, points of interest, and events throughout the Eastern Shore.

The exhibit will feature a visual display of Onancock’s historic and current business community and photographs of the wharf in its heyday as a maritime trading center and home port for steamboats traveling to Baltimore. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Hopkins & Bro. has a valuable history as a vibrant mercantile center that placed Onancock on the map of the Chesapeake Bay as a center for shipping.

Captain Stephen Hopkins was the patriarch of the family that operated the successful mercantile firm first known as Stephen Hopkins & Sons, later Hopkins & Bro., for well over a century. From 1842 to the late 1870’s, the firm operated sailing vessels to Baltimore and other cities on the bay, as well as New York, Charleston and the West Indies.

The exhibit and visitor center is made possible with a grant from the Onancock Business and Civic Association and a gift from the Historic Town of Onancock to help support the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and their commitment to bringing exciting and quality educational programs to the Shore community.

More information about upcoming events can be found at shorehistory.org/events. Want to keep up with all the happenings at Ker Place? Send an email to marketing@shorehistory.org to join the email list! Follow @ESVHS on Facebook and Instagram!

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Wayne Creed

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