1850s American Exhibit (Barger/Riddlebarger Farm)


The Barger Farm's original setting in Eagle Rock, Virginia (Botetourt County)
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The 1850s American Exhibit was originally located in Botetourt County, Virginia on Patterson Creek, near the town of Eagle Rock. The farm's original owner was John Barger III, who purchased the 187-acre farmstead in 1832, and constructed the log house, threshing barn, and tobacco barn over the course of the next thirty years. Barger sold the farm after the Civil War, and after passing through the hands of two more owners, the farm was purchased by Lucian and Catherine Riddlebarger in 1884.

The farm remained in the Riddlebarger family until 1986 when it was acquired for newly created Frontier Culture Museum by the American Frontier Culture Foundation, Inc. Museum staff, volunteers, and contractors painstakingly surveyed and documented the buildings and surrounding farmstead, and moved the buildings to the Museum where they were among the first in place when it opened to the public in September 1988.

The 1850s American Exhibit is currently closed to the public while preparations are underway for its relocation to a new area of the Museum. We plan to reopen it by April 2008 at its new location. Details about this relocation can be found under Museum on the Move. Thank you for your patience.