The Virginia War Museum is located in Huntington Park

Huntington Park (Newport News, Virginia)

Huntington Park is a park located in Newport News, Virginia, USA. It offers a beach, two fishing piers, gardens, tennis, and museums. It is run by the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.- Location :...

 on Warwick Blvd., Newport News

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The museum contains exhibits on American military history from 1775 to the present.

History

The Virginia War Museum was founded in 1923 by the Braxton-Perkins Post #25 of the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

 as the American Legion Memorial Museum of Virginia. The City of Newport News assumed overall administration of the museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in the 1950's and it was known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia. In 1987, the Virginia War Museum Foundation was established by the Newport News City Council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 and the museum adopted its current name.

Collections

The Museum's collection includes, weapons, vehicles, tanks, cannons, artifacts, uniforms and posters from various periods of American history. Highlights of the Museum's collection include a section of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

 and the outer wall from Dachau Concentration Camp. The museum also contains a research library with archives.