yorktown victory center

Loved Biking Williamsburg! Love coming here so much history! Didn't know there we so many original buildings still standing, a place to come back too!

The Visitor Center, Victory Center, and Battlefield tour are well worth the time. The last major campaign resulting in an American is well explained here with a film and museum with period artifacts and a gift shop with nice souveniers, memorabilia, and excellent books about the siege and battle. We visited quite a number of years ago and found the experience to be informative and memorable.

Although the facility is in the midst of renovation, there a lot of hands-on activities for families for which to take advantage. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. A combination ticket for the Victory Center and Jamestown Settlement can be purchased at a discount.

While the existing Yorktown Victory Center is open, they are building a new facility which appears to be more like the Jamestown facility. This should be a real positive activity because, frankly, the flow of the existing theater and museum was terribly confusing. The introductory movie was OK but didn't provide enough background that led up to the Yorktown battle. One is not sure which display is next nor which way to go to see the next display. Hopefully, the new facility will correct that.

Although the Victory Center is excellent, it is going to expand next year. Right now it cannot compete with Jamestown settlement but that should change by next year. Sill a great stop in the Williamsburg area.

If you are from out of town, here is where you get the maps and info to make the most of your trip. There are several trails to take, so it is nice to have a map which provides background information. Beautiful scenery!!! Don't leave without doing this!!

While traveling to Williamsburg we decided to go to Yorktown and Jamestown. At Yorktown they have an excellent movie about the time period, they had several gentlemen outside explaining and firing the canons. They had a soilder encampment with a gentleman talking and then he explained the medicine of the day. Wow that was scary. Then we walked through a settlement complete with a garden, in December, and colonial folk cooking and explaining the day to day work. Wonderful day.

This is a very good museum. Lots to view and some very interesting displays. Unlike the nearby battlefield, this is much more of a typical museum instead of a battlefield. Most of it is inside, although there are some things outside as well.If you want to see all of it, it will probably take more time to see everything here than at the battlefield because there is more to see. That said, I preferred the battlefield because it was the actual battlefield. If you have kids, though, there is a great deal more for kids to do here. When I was there, significant construction was going on. I am curious to find out what the place is like when the work is done.

The Victory Center had a very nice display area of all kinds of historic trinkets from the Revolutionary War, guns, bullets, button, armament, and rifles. Well preserved and interesting to read about. There's also part of an old ship pulled from the York River that is preserved in water in the middle of the building. Outside there is a neat demonstration on how the cannons were fired, muskets were loaded, etc. Period costumes were interesting.

We visited on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and were surprised it was not very busy. Maybe we were tired after spending 4 hours at Jamestown Settlement, but we were somewhat disappointed. The movie is pretty lame and tired. The displays in the Museum are not laid out well. In fact, we started from the ticket area and then backtracked to get any kind of chronological order. Maybe we missed the area on the Constitution, but we only saw a few timeline placards. Also we never did see anything on the navy at Yorktown, as in French navy..seems a major omission.We enjoyed the encampment area because the young men working there were very good..the surgeon and the weapons man.Maybe the new museum slated to open in 2016 will be a big improvement. We wish we had gone to the battlefield run by the park service instead.

The Yorktown Victory Center is distinct from the National Battlefield Park at Yorktown where the actual battlefield is located. This living history center is administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia and requires a separate ticket(or a combination ticket with the Jamestown Settlement). At this location there is a 1780's working farm with livestock, crops and opportunities for children to feed the animals or water the plants. There is also a Continental Army Encampment with replica tents, historical interpreters acting as physicians and soldiers and putting on demonstrations of musket and cannon firing. The museum has themed galleries the highlight the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and significant persons during the Revolutionary Period. A new museum building is under construction and is scheduled to open in 2016.

Overall another must see but the battlefield guide was more than enthusiastic when it came to the defeat of the British. Should have checked his audience first. Nevertheless as part of a combined Jamestown ticket well worth the experience.

Overall this is a nice museum and experience. They are in the midst of construction for a much larger revolution museum due for opening in 2016 I believe. Overall I think this is a nice small museum reflecting Yorktown, but also the Revolution and Declaration of Independence. This is NOT affiliated with the Yorktown National Park. That is more of a driving tour and requires a separate ticket. Not that it was a big deal, but we just assumed the Yorktown Victory Center was also related to the actual park. They have an interesting outside exhibit of a colonial camp, including a medical tent and demonstration of firing a cannon. We did not go to the farm exhibit also on the grounds, because we ran out of time.

If you are visiting the historical triangle area and have an extra day, this is worth the trip. But see Williamsburg (at least three days) and Jamestown (one day) first. Not much else in Yorktown. They are adding a huge addition next year.

The gallery was interesting and informative. Noisy school groups made us skip certain parts. Headed outdoors to see the encampment. You got to see the reality of the soldiers - like they had to pay to have someone do their laundry! The best thing was the firing of the cannon. Here we learned about the strategy of warfare - how to make the other side retreat, the order of different types of attacks. Several spectators participated in a demonstration of how the cannon would be fired. Then the staff actually fired it. The whole experience was well worth the visit. It's something I wold like to do again. To bad I live so far away.