Museum exhibits and research library comprise the largest collection of material in the Roanoke Valley devoted solely to tracing human history. Exhibits offer a glimpse of how life was lived in southwestern Virginia, creating a vivid cultural and educational experience. Rotating exhibits allows the Museum to focus on a variety of people, industries and events that have influenced the development of the region.

The mission of the History Museum of Western Virginia is to serve as a repository of western Virginia’s history by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting materials related to that history; to educate, entertain and enlighten individuals, families and institutions about the history of western Virginia.