HistoryMobile Heading Back to Manassas

A walk-through, interactive "museum on wheels" was unveiled at the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas in July of 2011 and now it is heading back to Manassas for the commemoration of the Second Battle of Manassas, Aug. 24-26. 

The tractor-trailer will be arriving to the Manassas Visitor Center (9431 West St.), at the corner of West and Prince William streets in Old Town, Thursday, Aug. 23, where it will remain for the weekend. Admission to the HistoryMobile is free.

Its arrival and opening to the public will be marked by a reception and remarks event Thursday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. That will be followed by entertainment by the Army Blues Band at the Harris Pavilion as well as the 1-2-3 Art Exhibit at the Art Beat Gallery, Creative Brush Studio, and the Manassas Art Guild at 7 p.m.

The HistoryMobile exhibit takes the visitor on a journey to the battlefield, homefront and shows the impact of the Civil War on Virginia's people.  

Approximately 700 people were expected to tour the exhibit in 2011 near the National Park Service Henry Hill Visitor Center in Manassas, where dignitaries and officials responsible for the HistoryMobile participated in a ribbon-cutting prior to the first visitors being admitted on July 23, 2011. Among others, the ceremony featured Virginia Sesquicentenial of the American Civil War (VSACWC) members: Dr. James I. Robinson,  Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech; Dr. Paul Levengood, President and CEO, VHS; and Charles J. Colgan, President pro tempore, Senate of Virginia (Prince William County), and Vice Chairman, VSACWC. 

The expandable 78-foot tractor trailer exhibit is transported by a specially-equipped Volvo tractor-truck manufactured at the New River plant in southwest Virginia. It is designed by the National Park Service and the Virginia Historical Society (VHS), and will travel throughout the state and beyond to promote tourism through 2015.

More information the Civil War 150 HistoryMobile and the initiatives of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission can be found at www.VirginiaCivilWar.org. For information on visiting Civil War sites throughout Virginia go to www.Virginia.org/CivilWar.

Editor's note: Larry Gibson contributed to this report