Visit Culpeper

Culpeper Minute Men: Icons of Independence
2024-11-06 - 2026-12-29 | Museum of Culpeper History, 113 Commerce Street, Culpeper, VA, 22701
The Culpeper Minute Men was organized in the fall of 1775in response to Governor Patrick Henry’s call for the Virginia militia to protect the capital at Williamsburg. Their uniform consisted of hunting shirts bearing the words “Liberty or Death” and a distinctive rattlesnake flag stating both “Liberty or Death” and “Don’t Tread On Me.”
“That flag, and the message it conveyed, really ensured the place of the minute men in popular memory,” said John Christiansen, the museum’s executive director. “That phrasing will be revived over and over for the next 250 years. It was in the minds of the men who joined the reborn Culpeper Minute Men during the Civil War in what they considered to be another American Revolution. And the sons and grandsons of those Civil War veterans carried on that legacy into what would eventually become Culpeper’s National Guard company.”
Christiansen explains that newspaper articles from the 1880s and into the early 20th century describe current members of the unit as all “direct descendants” of the original minute men. A short history and description of the flag – one of the first used by the patriot cause – is almost always included.
Culpeper continued to host Virginia and National Reserve units after World War I, but their identity as the “Culpeper Minute Men” eventually faded away. Older veterans created the Culpeper Minute Men Association to keep the memory alive locally, but the minute men were becoming part of national culture.
“America’s Bicentennial in 1976 saw an explosion of Revolutionary War commemorative items, and the Culpeper Minute Men are featured in their fair share of plates, postcards, coloring books, trading cards, tumblers, and more,” said Christiansen. “The earliest example we have is a small pewter tray dated to the 1880s and made by a Culpeper jeweler, probably for one of the Civil War veterans.”
Today, the Culpeper Minute Men are featured in the seals of Culpeper County and the Town of Culpeper, and their name is invoked in local businesses and clubs. “And don’t forget the Virginia license plate design,” says Christiansen
The exhibit will be on display through 2026. It is part of a series of events Culpeper County has prepared as part of the Virginia 250 commemorative programming.

John Mercer Langston Hughes Exhibit
2025-02-25 09:00 - 2025-12-31 17:00 UTC | Carver 4-County Museum, 9432 James Madison Hwy, Rapidan, VA, 22733, United States
The Carver 4-County Museum will be featuring a new exhibit honoring prolific writer, John Mercer Langston Hughes, born February 1, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri. He passed away in New York on May 22, 1967.

In 1936, he wrote the poem, “Let America Be America Again,” which is the foundation for our new exhibit, “Liberty, Labor and Langston.”
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The Liberty, Labor and Langston, exhibit opens online at www.carver4m.org on February 1, 2025, in celebration of Black History Month. It is curated by Terry Miller. It will open inside the museum from February 25 through the end of December. Open by appointment. Contact C. Carpenter at (540) 270-3891.

1st Annual Holiday Artisan Bazaar
2025-10-10 - 2025-12-31 | Culpeper Artisan Collective at PeaPod Atelier, 201 Waters Place Suite 110, Culpeper, VA, 22701
Culpeper Artisan Collective is hosting a holiday spectacular bazaar creations handmade by local artists and artisans. From wreaths to scented candles, from painted arts to fused glass decors, from jewelry to housewares and wood laser cut artworks

Art @ The Vineyard
2025-11-01 - 2025-12-31 | Revalation Vineyards, 2710 Hebron Valley Road, Madison, 22727
Revalation Vineyards is delighted to present the Art Guild of Greene as our featured artist until the end of the year.
