May is Historic Preservation Month!
Upcoming Events:
May Cars & Coffee featuring the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile!
May 1, 2021
Cars & Coffee: 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Wienermobile: 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
Cost: Free
Super Museum Sunday
May 2, 2021
12:00 - 4:00 pm
All ages
Cost: Free
The Georgia History Festival’s Super Museum Sunday will take place Sunday, May 2, 2021. This highly-anticipated annual event allows visitors the opportunity to become reacquainted with the historic sites, museums, and cultural institutions in their community and around our state. A list of participating sites can be found below but check back often as more sites are being added daily. We encourage you to review each participating site’s COVID-19 protocols before your arrival to ensure the best experience. We hope you enjoy all that our amazing historical and cultural sites have to offer!
Hours for Super Museum Sunday are 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. unless other times are noted.
For a full list of participating sites, visit:
https://georgiahistoryfestival.org/.../2021-super-museum.../
COVID Memories
Submissions accepted: May 1 - May 31
All ages
Cost: Free
During the entire month of May, submit one creative work reflecting your response and or reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Submissions made from any time during the past year or current time are welcome and can include a photograph, drawing, poem, or other mixed media.
1st-3rd place will be voted on by the board of the Historical Society and will be highlighted during a show at the historic society of all work submitted (date TBD).
Please email submissions to Richmondhillhistoricalsociety@gmail.com, or drop them by the museum at 11460 Ford Ave, any time during regular operating hours.
Public Zoom Meeting: Bryan County Historic Survey
May 6, 2021, 6:00 pm
Cost: Free
RSVP HERE
We need your help to identify hidden historic resources in Bryan County. A team of historic preservation consultants and architectural historians are taking a Coastal Historic Survey to identify and assess historic resources in our county. We need to know about "hidden treasures" in Bryan County.
The survey will inventory historic resources over 50 years of age to determine eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places. The survey team is hosting a virtual public meeting in each county where they'll be working to inform residents and allow for community participation.
Military Spouses Appreciation Day
May 7, 2021
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Richmond Hill History Museum
1/2 off Admission for military spouses
Community Care: Cemetery Clean up at Rabbit Hill and Strathy Hall Cemeteries
May 8, 2021
9:00 am to 12:00pm
All ages (parent supervision required)
Cost: Free
Join your friends and neighbors and spend a morning helping to clean up at one of two historic cemeteries.
The Paterson (Rabbit Hill) and Strathy Hall cemeteries are associated with two former plantations.
Ensure to wear long pants, closed-toed shoes, gloves, and protective eye-wear. Please bring rakes, shovels, machetes, and chain saws if you have them.
Meet at the Richmond Hill History Museum at 8:45 am and we will leave from there to the cemeteries.
Drinks will be provided by the Richmond Hill Historical Society and T-Mobile.
"Board Breaking for Broken Boards" : A fence repair fundraiser
May 8, 2021 2:30 - 3:30 pm
Richmond Hill History Museum
Ages 6 and up
Cost: $8 - $10
Help us restore our broken fence boards at the museum! This “fun”draiser Includes a martial arts lesson in board breaking and one wooden board. No experience necessary. Funds raised will go towards the fence and building improvements at the History Museum.
Coloring Through History
May 12, 2021
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Arts on the Coast Gallery
10750 Ford Avenue
Stop by the Arts on the Coast Gallery for the launch of the new Richmond Hill Coloring Book! Children can color pages and hopefully buy one to take home! Artist Sarah Volker will be on site.
Teachers Appreciation Day
May 15, 2021
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
1/2 off Admission for teachers
Nurses Appreciation Day
May 15, 2021
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
1/2 off Admission for nurses
Lecture: Strathy Hall Plantation
May 15, 2021
6:30 pm
Lawn of Strathy Hall Plantation House, 51 Mill Hill Landing, Richmond Hill, GA
Cost: Free
Enjoy an evening talk by Richard Appleton, current owner of the Strathy Hall Plantation and cemetery. Bring your own lawn chair.
Strathy Hall was obtained in 1748 by the honorable Captain James MacKay, a friend, a fellow former prisoner and comrade in arms of George Washington’s. Mr Habersham Clay was the last known resident of the original house, unfortunately only the oak trees remain today. The house today was built in1838 by George Washington McAllister, a prominent rice planter. Mr. McAllister's son donated part of his inherited property for the construction of Ft. McAllister. This home was later used as a Civil War Union headquarters in 1864 and was restored by Henry Ford in 1940s.
Trolley Tours: Henry Ford's Southern Town
May 16, 2021
12 pm and 2 pm
Cost: $35 - $45
International Museum Day
May 18, 2021
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
1/2 off Admission for everyone!
Paws for Preservation
Pet Adoption Event
May 20, 2021
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
Richmond Hill, GA
Hospitality/ Waitstaff Day
May 21, 2021
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
1/2 off Admission for servers
National Road Trip Day: Drive the Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail
May 22, 2021
Self Guided Tour (down the free app for guidance)
Kids Craft Workshop: Quilting
May 26, 2021
10am-11am
Richmond Hill History Museum
11460 Ford Avenue
Cost: $8 - $10
Kick-off the summer holidays with a fun craft project. Depression-era quilts were made when you had to use what you had or could find. Kids will see and learn about examples of different quilt patterns designed during the 1930s. Then they will use colored construction paper, scissors, and glue along with their imagination to recreate these patterns or come up with their own creations.
Dinner & Lecture
History on Film: Making Movies in Richmond Hill
May 17, 2021
6:00 pm
Bubba’s Bistro
3881 US Hwy 17, Richmond Hill, GA
Cost: $40 -$50
Please join the Richmond Hill Historical Society for three-course dinner and conversation by Buck Meeks, curator, filmmaker, and Richmond Hill Native. The dinner and lecture will be held at Bubba’s Bistro in Richmond Hill.
Mr. Meeks graduated from Armstrong University and the Georgia Film Academy. He worked many years as Curator at the Fort Stewart Museum (deploying to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division to fully document their mission and deployment). Since retiring from Fort Stewart, he has devoted himself to the historic family home, Myrtle Grove, and to promoting the film and television industry in the region. Starting with the film Glory in 1989, the house and property have been featured in nine feature films and three television series. He will entertain with stories of the films that have been made in our area and stars he has known, such as John Travolta and Greg Allman.
Diner includes choice of: Pecan Crusted Chicken or Crab Stuffed Flounder
More about Preservation Month:
America’s historic sites are irreplaceable. From icons of architecture to birthplaces of activists, historic sites are physical reminders of the diversity of our experiences and the history we share. They can celebrate our triumphs. Or challenge us to confront the harsh realities of our past.
But America’s historic places can’t be replaced once they are destroyed. That’s why the National Trust for Historic Preservation works every day to save them. With the support of people like you, the National Trust takes direct action in the courts and in Congress to save threatened places. We provide millions in grant funding to restore them. And we empower Americans to campaign for threatened historic sites in their own communities.
The story of places is the story of all of us. With your help, the National Trust can connect Americans to their past and to each other—and help inspire a better tomorrow.
Read more about the Richmond Hill project in the June, 2020 issue of Reflections Magazine:
