September 24, 2024 — The Reedville Fishermen’s Museum in Reedville, Virginia, will create a new space in the middle of town for the public to honor the town’s waterman tradition.
Helen M. Birkel recently gifted the museum 2.3 acres of land on Main Street in town to allow expansion for a watermen’s heritage park and to provide the community with more public space.
Since 1988, the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum has spread the story of Reedville’s commercial fishing heritage through programs and exhibitions. The cultural landscape of the unincorporated community of Reedvillle was shaped by the menhaden fishery that was introduced to Chesapeake Bay in the late 19th century by Maine fisherman Captain Elijah Warren Reed, the community’s namesake.