Camera Heritage Museum

 Camera Heritage Museum

 We made the trek to Staunton, VA for the sole purpose of visiting the Camera Heritage Museum. With a little help from Google Map we found our way without any problems. I really did not know what to expect to find.

What we found was a very cool museum with a variety of cameras! The folks that run it are very knowledgeable on cameras and the history of photography. We started out with the audio tour, but soon found the owner and curator giving us a more in-depth tour of the museum.  It was incredible.

This place is a camera lover’s, or photographic historian’s, dream location. The have thousands of camera and photographic equipment on display. There are several unique and one-of-a-kind pieces on display. We spent a great deal of time there and David and Boris provided all kinds of information. I think I found a home for my collection if I decide not to take it on our next move.

They only have a small portion of items on display, but it is bursting at the seams. They are working on getting a larger space, but that will require time and money. I would encourage anyone interested in the cameras and photography to visit at least once. I am pretty sure we will be back. It was a lot to take in on our first visit. More information on their fundraising for a larger space is provided below.

 There is the largest collection of Leica cameras I have seen in one place. The collection has some very valuable pieces, but several plain and basic items are on display as well. David provided stories behind various pieces without being snobbish about any of it. We were impressed. It was also nice to speak with others that understood the language of photography and photographic equipment. Many of the pieces would have ended up in the landfill if not for the efforts of those here and the supporters of the museum.

http://www.cameraheritagemuseum.com

Antique Cameras, their Users and their place in History”

“Located in Staunton in Western Central Virginia The Camera Heritage Museum houses a unique collection of antique cameras dating from the 19th century to modern times. They often have both a historical significance and a provenance that is interesting to all. There are not any open camera museums in the USA since collections are often private. We have opened this collection to the public so that everyone has an opportunity to view these historical treasures. You will find samples of many of the different kinds of cameras which the museum exhibits in the galleries listed above. We are in the process of adding the stories of these cameras and their photographers. If you do not find information that you are looking for we may be listing it any day now.”

“The Camera Heritage Museum has the opportunity to acquire the P. Buckley Moss Museum building in Waynesboro. As word of our museum reaches the public, the numbers of visitors and camera donations continue to grow. We are in need of places to display the cameras that are arriving on a weekly basis from all over the world. We would like to purchase the P. Buckley Moss Museum building as a new location for the Camera Heritage Museum. The beautiful building was originally built as a museum, so it would not require any renovation for our purposes. However, we need to raise $6.4 million to purchase the building. Also we need $750 thousand to repair.” 

 “P. Buckley Moss recently donated her museum building and surrounding land to the Virginia Tech Foundation. Virginia Tech does not want the responsibility of maintaining a building so far from campus. Thus, the building will be for sale to raise funds for the Virginia Tech Foundation.”

 “Please consider making a difference by contributing to the success of the museum. Because we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, any monetary donation will be tax-deductible. If you would like to donate to the Camera Heritage Museum, please visit our donations page at http://www.cameraheritagemuseum.com/donate/ or send a check to 1 West Beverley Street, Staunton, VA 24401.”

 Other links with information on collectible cameras are below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(camera)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_Kodak

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/cameras.html

Purchasing film for the classic stuff can be hard.  One source that might have it is:

http://www.filmforclassics.com/

And the only place I know that you can get some of the older stuff processed is:

http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/

Information on Stereo cameras can be found at:

http://www.stereoscopy.com/cameras/index.html

 After spending about four hours exploring the Camera Heritage Museum we found our way to the Mill Street Grill. The portions were more than enough and were quite tasty. Billy was our server and he was excellent. The menu is pretty lengthy so most folks should be able to find something to their liking. The fresh bread and homemade butter were a nice touch to our dinner experience. The ambiance was incredible as you are actually in an old mill. We would not hesitate to visit here again when we are in the area.

 http://www.millstreetgrill.com

Thanks for reading to the end. Feel free to check out any of my other blogs. A list of links can be found here:

https://tcbphoto.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html