Nestled away in Vint Hill Virgina, is the Cold War Museum. The museum is located on the old US Army Vint Hill listening station. The museum was founded by Francis Gary Power Jr (son of the famous U-2 pilot) to preserve Cold War history.
I have passed this museum a number of times while passing through northern Virginia and always thought I should stop by. Well, I decided it was time to make that visit happen. I had a chat with my buddy TJ and we decided to make the visit happen, the next time we were in the area. That time finally came and we made the stop to check it out.
It is situated on the old base, used by the US army, since decommissioned. It resides in a small house and has two stories of displays. The museum is free, but they of course will accept any donations. We chatted with staff for a bit and then checked out the displays.
The displays are broken out be different periods and events of the Cold War, as well as some specific technologies. There are a number of neat artifacts to check out. I took particular interest in some of the stories of air crew lost to Soviet attacks during the Cold War.
It was also nice to see some items and events that I can clearly recall from my childhood (boy am I getting old!). We finished up in about two hours and decided to make the most of the day and stop by a Civil War battlefield while we were int he area.
If you have interest in the Cold War era and are in the area, it is nice little stop that is worth a vist.
- Manteuffel