My husband and I had a wonderful experience at the Ritchie Boy Museum this Spring. Katy, the…read moredirector (as of last Fall) has done a great job with visuals and displays. We were fascinated by learning so much about how brave and bright the Ritchie Boys were and what their 8 weeks of training involved. I am the daughter of a Ritchie Boy and can't learn enough about my Dad. Our new friends brought us...he is the son of a Ritchie Boy and very involved with helping families learn more about their dads. These young Jewish German men came to the US on their own to escape persecution and joined the Army. The best and the brightest were trained at Camp Ritchie and sent back to defeat Hitler knowing that most of their family was killed by the Nazis. They successfully gathered 60% of the intelligence which helped us win the war. I continue to find more papers from Dad's treasures which Katy is gladly receiving to grow the collection. Most of us never learned from our dads how brave they were and the atrocities they experienced. The Ritchie Boy Museum recreates what life was like during that time.

We had a delightful and enriching time, looking at the artifacts and reading the moving stories of…read morethe American military that received their advanced training at what was then called Camp Richie during WWII. The museum director happened to be on site and helped my husband look up information about his Uncle Larry, who was trained at Camp Richie and deployed to England. Richie Boys, as they were known, contributed significantly to intelligence gathering during the war and debriefing of Axis members afterward. This is a spiffy, small and professional collection wonderfully well displayed. After visiting the museum, the rest of Fort Richie is worth exploring; the old classrooms and training buildings now host a cafe, an ice cream parlor, and soon, a taproom. Bring a kayak for the lake, or picnic under the trees. Such a cool discovery.

This is NOT the Discovery station building you see online or read about in the below reviews. They…read morehad a location change summer 2025 and the new space is quite lacking. Possibly good for 4 and under but we had been members for the last 4 years and as of right now are strongly considering not renewing. Some creative thinking and hard volunteer work could definitely improve the current space but it's not even 1/3 of what the old space was. **If the new space ups their game and adds value and better exhibits/ play spaces, I will remove or edit this review but I have ALOT of friends that have had the same lacking experiance and will also not renew the membership.

We are visiting the area and, staying about 30 minutes away, decided to make a trip to Discovery…read moreStation based on the website's description, which presents it as an engaging, interactive experience. Unfortunately, we found the visit quite underwhelming. The space itself is very basic, with limited exhibits and minimal interactivity. Much of what was on display felt dated and sparse, and it did not hold our attention for long. For a destination marketed as a hands-on discovery center, we expected a more immersive and thoughtfully curated experience. While this may be suitable for a very brief stop or for locals looking for something close by, it did not feel worth the drive for us as visitors. Overall, the experience did not align with the expectations set by the website, and we left feeling disappointed.

A nice Homage to Storer College history in the heart of Harpers Ferry…read moreThis is located right off High Street near the lower part of the town on the north side of the road. The real Storer College is farther up the street and about 1/2 mile away from the museum. The schools' success was also the reason it eventually closed. The current college is used by the National Park Service for training and administrative functions. You can drive there and walk around the grounds if you wish but, if you want to learn about the history, then this museum or a tour guide is a much better option. Our group did both. One of our first stops as we got off the shuttle from the visitors center was to the museum. It is small, as museums go, but does a good job of telling the history of the college and reasons that it was started. The college, founded in 1867, provided education to formerly enslaved people and became a center for civil rights. It hosted an important meeting of the Niagara Movement in 1906. The Niagara movement was the precursor to the NAACP. Inside the museum, there are displays on the school's history, its role in African American education, and the Niagara Movement's effect. It is small but well laid-out and informative. It's a good, and important, stop for anyone that really wants to understand the importance of the town and its civil rights history.

Definitely one of the highlights of my quick jaunt to West Virginia! Husband and I enjoy all things…read morespooky and history so this was a perfect meeting place for all of it. We poked around the building like trespassers for a minute before a fellow came out and offered to give us a tour of the house. It's incredible how hard people must have worked to find all the time period appropriate antiques and paintings to adorn the halls and give the visitor the most authentic experience as well. The antiques and paintings alone are worth the visit-many paintings are done by Peale and the family. Very important pieces of Americana. Having survived different historical periods the house and the tour guide can speak to revolutionary efforts as well as the Civil War atrocities-even boasted a probably haunted field hospital in the attic! This particular tour guide who took us around was a blessing. We shown general interest (and asked nicely) and he even showed us a part of the house with the underground tunnels preserved! We both really appreciated his time and knowledge and even though the tour was free we gave him $20. And it was the best $20 we spent on our little weekend. Highly recommended for any weary traveler in the area!

We toured the house for Christmas and it is wonderful this local treasure is being preserved. The…read morehouse was nicely decorated for the season. I also appreciated the cookies and cider on a cold night. The decor includes an eclectic mix of items from different time periods which is unfortunate since it is always more interesting to walk into a snapshot from the past. In this case I wish it was more reflective of of the time our towns founder lived there. With that said, most of the interior was genuine to his time period. Some of the guides were very knowledgeable and others could have been better prepared. There also seems to be nothing owned by the general himself. I do understand how hard it is to find funding for a project like this and the volunteers have done a wonderful job on the budget they have. I am thankful we have people in our community willing to give their time to preserving these sites for us. I hope the residents of Martinsburg will be generous in support of this worthwhile project. So we can make this a five star historical site.

A great place to learn about Harper's Ferry. I recently…read morevisited Harpers Ferry with my family. As with most trips we went in search of the history, sights and experiences for the various members in our group. The town is part of the national park service and most people park at the visitors center and take the shuttle bus into the town. There is a parking lot in town but it can quickly fill up because of the popularity of the location. There are lots of shops that sell coffee, gifts and food. There are also many historical sights. The industry museum is right as you get off the bus from the visitors center and are walking into the town. It is just past the bookstore on the north side of the lower street before you get High street and just past the public bathrooms and the bookstore. This was not listed as a sight in the town but I think it is one of the best sites in the town. It is a large room on the bottom floor of the building. The left part of the room has a large mural/display on the wall describing how they harnessed the river and showing a picture of Virginius and Hall's Islands in 1857. The right side of the room is a machine shop showing the implements to machine firearms. When I arrived, a gentleman in period costume was explaining to a crown how firearms (flintlocks and the like) worked and were machined, repaired and built there. He had a good crowd of all ages and was doing a great job of explaining the art and science of the period. I highly recommend stopping by this location in you are interested in history, firearms or machines.

I was there this weekend for a large meeting. There was only so much room for tables so many people…read morehad to sit in the chairs. The facility seemed decently maintained but you could tell it was an older building. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked.

Summer's Farm is a huge place and perfect for kids to go to during the fall/ Halloween time. They…read morealso have the sunflower festival in which you can catch the tractor/ hay ride to cut out some flowers. I don't particularly like this area because it's always so many bees and also slim picking depending on when you go. Beyond that they have several activities for kids to do and you could stay for hours with different photo ops, the petting zoo, the big bounce area, the zip line, tug of war, the goat race and many more. They even have fireworks on select nights. The place is pretty big and we can never finish everything in one day because it's a lot of walking lol. Nevertheless it's well worth the money , customer service is good, and it is a lot to do. I would recommend taking better care of the petting zoo because it really wasn't kept as well as I would've liked it to be. Side note: There was an incident in which an elderly woman fell while I was there. I would like to commend the staff for how much care and support they gave her to make sure she was OK.

Fun day out in beautiful almost fall weather!…read more My friend and I came for their Teacher Appreciation Weekend event. The general admission charge was waived for teachers and one guest. That was quite generous! Parking was easy and plentiful. Included in the freebies was six pick your own blooms from their sunflower field or zinnia patch. The farm is filled with activities for kids to explore such as jumping pillows, mega slides, rope mazes, and flying pig zip lines to names a few. There are other things adults can partake in such as the corn maze (short and long paths), corn hole, and of course the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch (not ready when we were there) and the sunflower fields. We didn't eat, but there's a barnyard grill, pizza, kettle corn and apple cider donuts for sale. We missed the scheduled pig races. It was a fun day in the sun.

This is a dance studio where it is definitely all about the kids. The dance lessons are fun and…read morestructured, but the kids are building character as well thanks to the instructor. My daughter loves it there and now they offer yoga and my wife loves her sessions. This is a business run for the love of dance not for the love of money.