If you have any interest in cameras and find yourself in central Virginia, the Camera Heritage Museum in Staunton (pronounced STAN-ton) is a must-see. Located in a former camera store, this place is crazy full of cameras of all kinds, and the stuff in the showroom is only part of the collection. According to the guy we talked to (mostly he talked to us!) they have store rooms throughout the city with more cameras. They just don’t have room to display them all. They claim to be the largest camera store open to the public in the US, and although I have nothing to compare it to and even after visiting the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, I believe it!
Check out their website. It tells you more than I can ever tell in a blog post. But you definitely have to see it in person to really appreciate it!
Impressive – for me it looks like an camera storage place. Do they know all the cameras there?
The guy we talked to seemed to know the history of every camera. It’s quite a place!
Unbelievable. How are they funded? It takes money to buy for the collection and money for rent. I imagine I could spend a day there and get lost in the collection.
It’s a volunteer, non-profit organization. They take in a small amount from admission fees and more from charitable donations. Many of the cameras have been donated over the years and a number of them are rare and quite valuable. We were there about an hour and a half and it was overload for me. As much as I love cameras there was only so much I could take in!
Interesting idea and seems to be working. Amazing you found it. I have a friend who would wander for hours in there.
My son actually found it and told me about it. It was a fascinating place and we’re glad we visited. I may go back and spend more time when we aren’t on the first day of a month-long vacation!
What an amazing place! I’ve never heard about it until now. There is a small museum in Manistee, Michigan dedicated to that area that has a small display of cameras – maybe just a 12-foot wall full. This certainly takes it to a whole new level.
My photos hardly begin to tell the story. It’s quite amazing!