Emily Butko Museum Review

Over Spring Break, I was also able to visit Chippokes Plantation State Park. This park features the Jones-Stewart Mansion and the River House which people can tour. On the Jones-Stewart Mansion tour I was surprised at the impact the exhibit had on visitors. They had the house set up exactly as it was in the 1950’s. I know personally I was able to visualize how people lived during the time period and also how the slaves lived. In the slave quarters volunteers put on programs about how the slaves cooked and lived during the time period. It really makes you feel apart of the time period and understand how the people were living.

The Mansion is very important to the local community. The Mansion was important in 1852 because the site was home to extensive fruit orchards and one of the few legal distilleries in Virginia. The next owners of the house Victor and Evelyn Stewart bought the property in the 1918 and put a lot of effort into restoration and compiling a detailed history of the plantation. And to preserve the plantation Mrs. Stewart donated it to the State park so that it can be preserved and depict day-to- day life and that is what the mansion is doing to this day for the local community and visitors.