Even though we are open for just a few hours each week, our volunteers contribute their time and talents regularly behind the scenes. One of our volunteers has completed a reconstruction of a model hogshead that is now on display in front of the museum. A hogshead was used to ship tobacco from Virginia beginning in the 1600s. Large hogsheads stored as much as 1,000 pounds of tobacco. They were pulled by ox or rolled along roads to the nearest ports. That’s how nearby Ox Road and Rolling Road got their names.
The Burke Historical Society donated the original hogshead model in 2014. Intended as a one-time display item, it proudly sat in front of the museum to remind visitors of transportation methods before the days of the railroad and why railroads were prompted in the 1840s. Exposure to the elements took its toll so museum volunteer Lisa Diernesse constructed a new one from scratch using the specifications provided by the historical society. The new model is more weather resistant which will allow it to remind visitors of the rich history of northern Virginia and Fairfax Station.
