Salem Museum in Salem, Virginia

Preserving 300+ years of history, art, and sports in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains

Pickleball Social

Saturday October 17, from 4:00-7:00pm

Join the Salem Museum for a unique Fall Pickleball Social.

Socialize and learn new tips and tricks from fellow pickleballers! Bring your ID for our cash bar, snack on light hors d’oeuvres, and more!

The price of entry will be $10 per person. All proceeds from the event will benefit Salem Museum.

cover-Discovery Rising - Celebrating Science.indd

"Discovery Rising: Celebrating Science and Technology at Roanoke College" Book Launch

Tuesday October 20, from 5:30-7:00pm

From a church parsonage in 1842 to the 2026 opening of the Shaun McConnon Discovery Center, “Discovery Rising” tells the remarkable story of science, technology, and innovation at Roanoke College.

Join Glatha “Maggie” Madden, a 1969 graduate of Roanoke College, for a talk on her new book exploring how the small liberal arts college in Salem became a powerful force in scientific education and achievement.

Featuring more than 200 images and illustrations, the book will guide readers through Roanoke’s scientific and technological evolution alongside the advances of the modern world.

Madden will read an excerpt from the hardcover book and sign copies, which will be for sale at the event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Salem Museum.

Late Woodland Tool Making: Bone, Stone, and Wood

Saturday October 24, 10am-2pm

Stone tool production has been a crucial Indigenous technology used in Virginia for thousands of years. You are invited to join these talented technologists and the Headwaters Chapter for this public event.

Chris French will be demonstrating the art of producing projectile points using a variety of stone and bone tools which were necessary components used to produce arrowheads, scrapers, knives, and spearpoints.

Dean Ferguson will be exhibiting green stone celt/axe production methods and the importance of these tools.

More Events Here!

Andrew Lewis: Salem's Revolutionary Champion

On Display in the Feature Gallery

Visit us this summer to see the official City of Salem VA250 exhibit about Andrew Lewis, William Fleming, and our local ties to the American Revolution!

This exhibit chronicles the local figures' lives and Lewis' lynchpin status in the course of the American Revolution. Visitors can try on garments, handle tools, and interact with materials resembling those of Revolutionary era Virginia.

Salem Museum Hosting Audie Murphy Wreath Laying, Panel Talk

November 7, 10:00am; November 12, 7:00pm

The Salem Museum will present two special events November 7 and November 12 in memory of veteran, actor, and businessman Audie Murphy, the most decorated enlisted soldier of the Second World War, who lost his life in a Roanoke County plane crash in 1971. Both events will be free and open to the public.

On Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 10 a.m. the Museum will present a wreath laying ceremony at the site of Murphy’s Appalachian Trail Memorial Monument. Positioned atop Brush Mountain, it marks near the site of a fatal plane crash that took six lives, including Murphy’s, in 1971. Meeting at the nearest parking lot to the monument’s location at 10 a. m., a brief ceremony and wreath laying will take place at the monument’s site once the assembled group treks the nine-tenths of a mile to the monument.

Attendees may reach the Audie Murphy Monument from VA-311 North/Thompson Memorial Drive or from Interstate 81 Exits 141 or 140. At the Hanging Rock/Orange Market traffic circle, remain on VA-311, turning left from Salem or Exit 141 and right from Exit 140. Continue 9 miles, then turn left onto VA-624. After 6.8 miles, turn right onto Brush Mountain Road, a gravel route also identified as Forest Service Road 188.1. Travel 1.7 miles, then turn right while remaining on the gravel road. Continue 1.6 miles and park at or near the gate; the monument is a nine-tenths-mile walk from that point. Carpooling is strongly encouraged, and low-clearance vehicles are not advisable.

On Thursday, November 12, 2026 at 7 p.m. following the Salem Museum’s Annual Member Reception, the Museum will host a “Remembering Audie Murphy” panel discussion of Murphy’s life and career, as well as honor those first responders to the crash site 55 years ago this year. Among the panelists are Captain Lee Anthony, US Navy (retired), and Colonel Charles Glass, US Air Force (retired), who will share their recollections about the crash and the recovery efforts made by the Civil Air Patrol and others on those dark days in Roanoke Valley history.

To make possible these events, the Salem Museum is partnering with the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, Roanoke College and the College’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), the Fort Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Roanoke Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

Sign up to receive news of exhibits and events by email…

HOURS OF OPERATION

Open Tuesdays — Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm.

Closed on July 4; Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas; New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and the day after New Years.

If the City of Salem Schools are closed for inclement weather, the Museum does not open.

LOCATION & DIRECTIONS

Located next to Longwood Park in Downtown Salem
801 East Main Street
Salem, Virginia 24153

From I-81, take exit 140 and head toward Salem on Thompson Memorial Blvd. At Main Street (US 460), turn left. Go .3 mile; the Salem Museum is located at the top of the hill on the left. Our entrance is across from the Berglund Ford service entrance. Look for the “OAKEY FIELD” sign. There is plenty of free, on-site parking.

ADMISSION IS FREE.
DONATIONS ARE
APPRECIATED!

Admission is FREE for all self-guided visitors.

Guided tours are $10 per adult age 15+, and $5 for children. For school groups and educational groups, students are $3 and chaperones are free. Group visits are available when booked at least two weeks in advance.