Goochland Historical Society
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VA250 MOBILE MUSEUM
Want to see the VA 250 Mobile Museum?
VA250 MOBILE MUSEUM
Step back in time and experience Virginia’s central role in the American Revolution when the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience, “Out of Many, One,” visits Goochland County. This innovative traveling exhibit will bring the story of the nation’s founding directly to the Goochland High School located at 3250 River Road West, Goochland, VA 23063. This experience is free and will be open to the public during the following times:
• April 10 - 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• April 11 - 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• April 12 - Noon to 4:00 PM
The VA250 Mobile Museum Experience
More than just a static display, “Out of Many, One” is a cutting-edge, immersive, and hands-on exhibition housed within a custom-built 53-foot expandable tractor-trailer. Utilizing high-tech displays, interactive exhibits, and compelling artifacts, the museum offers visitors of all ages an engaging journey through the pivotal events, groundbreaking ideas, and diverse individuals who shaped America in its earliest days. It highlights Virginia’s essential contributions as the birthplace of the nation and its ongoing pursuit of a more perfect union.
For more information on the Goochland VA250 Committee, please visit www.exploregoochland.com/gva250.
WITNESS TREE CHALLENGE
Can you find a tree that’s been alive since 1776? The Witness Tree Challenge invites our community to discover trees in Goochland County that have stood for 250 years—silent witnesses to the American Revolution! Find, document, and help us celebrate these living pieces of history.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 31, 2026. Learn more: https://goochlandedu.org/.../15/the-witness-tree-challenge/
A PAPER BRIDGE BOOK TALK
Where did they go? And when? And why?
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the introduction of Jim Crow laws throughout the south that targeted recently emancipated Blacks, a great migration began as hundreds of thousands of Blacks moved north seeking opportunity and prosperity.
One such family came from the Perkinsville community straddling, the Goochland/Louisa County line. “A Paper Bridge: Love Letters from the Great Migration” — a book based on the love letters between Herbert Gordon Cosby and his wife Jannie Ellis Cosby gives a compelling narrative of the challenges faced by one couple caught up in that mass movement.
Author Dr. Wanda Alderman, an urban sociologist in Washington DC has curated these letters and will speak to a joint meeting of the Goochland and Louisa County Historical Societies on Sunday, November 16 at 2 PM at St. Mark Baptist Church, 4596 Factory Mill Rd, Maidens.
Dr, Alderman is the great-great-granddaughter of William and Nancy Ellis of Goochland, the great granddaughter of Calvin and Virginia Ellis of Louisa, and the granddaughter of Herbert and Janie Cosby of the love letters.
A reception and book signing will follow Dr. Alderman’s talk. Please join us for an important and informative talk about this epochal change in America’s development.
2ND ANNUAL RUN TO THE REVOLUTION
Join the GVA 250th Commission and the Goochland County Historical Society at 9:00 am on October 4, 2025 at Elk Hill Farm, 1975 Elk Hill Road, Goochland, VA 23063 for the 2nd Annual Run to the Revolution. Sign up online for the race or just come out and cheer on the runners.
ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND CEMETERY HISTORY WALK
The Society’s popular History Walk series resumes Saturday, October 18 at 3 PM at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Rd, Richmond.
The white frame church in the east end of the county near the Henrico County line at Tuckahoe Creek, was built in 1877 as a mission church to local farmers and coal miners. For almost 75 years the congregation struggled to survive with lay readers and part-time clergy. Steady growth began in 1960s when they called their first full-time rector, the Reverend Holt Souder. A large new sanctuary was added in 1991 and this year they called their fifth rector, the Reverend Daniel Reeves who was officially installed on September 23.
A reception will be held following an informal talk by long-time member Robin Lind and a tour of the old and new buildings which embrace the cemetery and Churchyard.
