Warren Heritage Society Opens New Main Street Pocket Museum and Tour Headquarters

The Warren Heritage Society has opened a small new space with a big purpose on Main Street in Front Royal, giving residents and visitors another way to discover Warren County history while exploring downtown.

Community members gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate WHS on Main, the Heritage Society’s new Pocket Museum and Walking Tour Headquarters. The compact location will serve as a downtown connection to the organization’s museums, archives, collections and popular walking and ghost tours.

Brett Bement of Play Favorites, speaking on behalf of the Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the crowd and described the occasion as one of the Heritage Society’s smallest buildings but one of its biggest openings.

Bement said the new location gives the organization another opportunity to grow alongside the community while building interest in local history. He also pointed to the Heritage Society’s ghost tours, which will use the location as a gathering point.

Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell joined the celebration on behalf of the town and noted that the new location is inside the historic Weaver Building.

“What a cool space in the Weaver Building,” Cockrell said, encouraging residents to learn more about the building’s own history.

She described WHS on Main as a satellite location for the Warren Heritage Society and said its downtown presence should help introduce more people to the organization.

“Make sure you come down, take opportunities to come and experience the heritage that’s in your community,” Cockrell told those attending.

Warren Heritage Society Executive Director Liz Rishel thanked the organization’s board members, staff, volunteers and community supporters who attended the ribbon cutting. Several volunteers dressed in historic clothing for the occasion.

Rishel also thanked Kerry and Tim Barnhart for being receptive when the Heritage Society approached them about using the space.

“We’ve had such a fun time being part of Main Street and having this little bit of extra exposure here to our community,” Rishel said.

That visibility is an important reason the organization wanted a downtown location.

The Warren Heritage Society’s main properties contain much more space and a large collection of Warren County history, but visitors to Front Royal may not know about them when they first arrive. Rishel said Main Street is often where visitors begin exploring the community.

The new location gives the Heritage Society a chance to meet those people where they already are.

“We knew that we wanted to be able to capture folks that were wandering kind of down Main Street,” Rishel said after the ceremony. “We know that’s kind of the main venue, the main space that folks are coming to when they’re coming to Front Royal.”

From there, volunteers can introduce visitors to the Heritage Society and point them toward its other museums and resources.

The space will also promote walking tours and ghost tours and offer a small selection of merchandise from the Heritage Society’s shop.

Adding to the experience are volunteers who sometimes staff the location wearing period clothing, including Colonial and Civil War-era outfits.

“People really respond to it,” Rishel said.

The Main Street location also provides another place for the Heritage Society to share its broader mission, which Rishel described during the ribbon-cutting as protecting, preserving, and promoting the history of Warren County.

That mission is aimed at both residents and visitors.

“The goal is to teach folks about the place that they live, but it’s also about teaching the folks that are coming here about the place that we call home,” Rishel said.

The Heritage Society works to keep that experience evolving so repeat visitors can continue to discover something new. Exhibits and displays are updated, giving residents reasons to return even if they have previously toured the organization’s museums.

The new downtown space is considerably smaller. But its size is also part of its character.

Rather than replacing the Heritage Society’s larger facilities, the Pocket Museum is designed to give passersby a taste of what is available and encourage them to explore further.

The organization hopes to keep WHS on Main open throughout the year, although Rishel said it will largely depend on volunteers.

“I really hope so,” she said when asked about year-round operation. “It really depends on capacity, and we rely a ton on our volunteers to help us.”

The Heritage Society is actively seeking more volunteers, and Rishel said opportunities extend well beyond staffing the Main Street location.

Volunteers are needed during weekday hours at WHS on Main and at the Heritage Society’s other properties. Help is also needed with events and archive collections.

“There’s something for everyone if somebody wants to volunteer,” Rishel said.

The ribbon cutting drew enough supporters to fill the sidewalk outside the small location, providing a visible example of the community support Rishel said makes the Heritage Society’s work possible.

After the ribbon was cut, attendees were invited to a reception and happy hour at Vibressa Beer. The celebration continued later with a free preview of one of the Heritage Society’s ghost tours.

Those tours are expected to be among the most visible activities associated with the Main Street headquarters. They offer another way to introduce local history by connecting stories with the buildings, streets and locations where events happened.

It may be a tiny space, but Rishel and other supporters hope it becomes a doorway to a much larger story — the history of Warren County and the people who have called it home.