The Dryden Farmhouse

The original portion of the Dryden Farmhouse was built in 1890 on the property of Winton J. Dryden and his wife Melissa V. Dryden. It was a typical vernacular central hall house with a hall running through the center, a room on either side, and two bedrooms on the upper floor. Its construction used balloon wall framing, wooden floors and ceilings, and wood lath and plaster interior walls. In July 1914, Wally J. Dryden and his wife Rebecca F. Dryden purchased the house and adjoining six acres from Winton Dryden, later added ten more acres, and built a two-room addition onto the back of the house. That addition came from a two-room schoolhouse moved to the farm by a team of horses pulling the building over rolling logs, and the new rooms became the kitchen and dining room, with another small bedroom built above the dining room. An open porch running the length of the addition was later screened in about 1930 and then completely enclosed about 1950 when an indoor bathroom and laundry were added. In 2001, after a public forum on creating a historical museum promoting the history of Poquoson, work began to find property for a museum, and in December 2003 the museum completed the purchase of the fifteen-acre Dryden Farm tract. Extensive interior renovations followed, including installation of a new HVAC system, electrical and plumbing upgrades to code, a handicap accessible restroom, and extensive painting. Today the farmhouse contains a museum with exhibits on the history of Poquoson and a gift shop on the lower floor, while the upper floor houses the Poquoson Historical Society research room and museum office rooms.

Poquoson, Virginia · United States