Nice museum. They do have a small parking lot on the west side of the building.

Charming place with friendly workers. Recommend stopping in on your boardwalk stroll. Everything is free, but $2/person donation suggested for the museum, which is reasonable. I liked learning about the history and development of wooden ducks. The punt gun is also really neat!

Went here on 11/15/20 while walking down the boardwalk. For a $2 per person voluntary donation, you can check out historical waterfowl decoys used in hunting ducks to sell their meat at the markets and to supply local restaurants.These handmade decoys are quite rare due to the fact that hunters used to burn them for firewood if they were damaged after the hunting season was over.I enjoyed the film in the museum and wish it was available for purchase. It showed how these decoys were made by hand, including using shards of glass to sand the birds, prior to the advent of commercial sandpaper. I learnt that aside from glass, dried sharkskin was used to sand down wood.The only thing that would make this museum 5 stars would be to add placards to the exhibit so you could know what exactly youre looking at without needing to ask the volunteer docent.While we were sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch of the museum, a volunteer was leading a hands on woodworking demonstration which was neat.

Very cool and unique place with a ton of historical significance.

Free to the public, donations recommended. Theres a resident carver available to tell you about the hunting club and history of the waterfowl dummies. The first floor is dedicated to waterfowl and the second floor has more historical items. A small video presentation is available as well. A nice little museum! There is also a small gift shop on the first floor if you need to buy anything beach or bird themed.

Really enjoyed my visit.

Love the unique things in the gift shop. The artifacts in this historic building are wonderful too. The beach views from the grounds are great. Love all the outdoor events they have here.

Small but good experience. History of building and market waterfowl hunting

Small but interesting place, especially if you are a duck hunter.

This place is a hidden gem! The history and story of the museum and cottage is one of a kind. Family and love have kept this place alive for 125 years! The Dewitt Cottage is available for private functions as well.

So great to see the historical reference of a family cottage in Virginia Beach. Also a great wedding spot. A brides room has recently been added!

Very educational and a walk in the past

Awesome place. Came today for wine, beer and gin tasting. Met Dixie the owl and was able to pet her Coming back Dec 7 for Santa and the red truck!!

A beautiful reminder of Old Virginia Beach and all the wildlife that surrounds us in our city! I wish I could have stayed longer. I cant wait to see the garden this spring!

Theres some cool stuff showing local history of beach life, also lots of beautiful carved birds. The wood-carver Pietro told and showed us the techniques he uses and was very kind, but he could talk about other things as well for hours so we had to step out after some time :-) Nice things in gift shop!

This museum is in the Dewit Cottage right on the boardwalk at the oceanfront. Its collection includes hand carved wood decoys and other birds and animals. I talked at length to a wood Carver named Hank who was carving a small shore bird from bass wood. He was very friendly and informative.Upstairs is a collection of old photos and memorabilia about the good old days in Virginia Beach. Small quaint place but lots of neat stuff.

Gorgeous little museum! Highly recommend.

This place is pretty cool, a lot of museums are closed for the month of January but this place was open so I decided to give it a look. Theres a lot of cool stuff to look at and the people there are awesome. They have volunteers a few times a week carving ducks and they have some pretty awesome stories and history to tell about the place, which really made the experience visiting this museum memorable. Highly recommend giving this place some time.

Very interesting memorabilia of Duck decoys and wood carvings. Very nice gift shop.

Waterfowl history of VA Beach! Susan the Carver was very informative and knowledgable!

Wonderful gem to find on boardwalk. Very interesting. Beautiful carvings, pictures, ships in bottles and an absolutely amazing carved doll house.

DeWitt Cottage is the oldest house...built in 1895...along the oceanfront. Amazing place with lots of historical information about the area plus hand carved decoys...definitely worth visiting to see what is was like back in the day.

Sanctuary in a middle of the modern world fast life... Beautiful, peaceful Garden Thank you to everyone who cares for this amazing, carefully preserved little island

Very cool and informative! Good prices in the store.

A nice place to visit, my kids enjoy it very much. For some reason instead of running around like crazy kids,theyre actually interested in the museum. The crew there must be doing something right, cause at home the kids go nuts again...

Our first visit to the museum. We love ducks and wildlife living on a lake in SW VA.A craftsman was working while we visited which made the trip even more fabulous. A large number of decoys are exhibited throughout the museum. No admission charge, but donations are encouraged.A must visit if you are at the beach.

Had some cool local history.

Took my 8 year old granddaughter with me and she enjoyed it more than me. The decoy carvers was especially informative and very interesting. Really surprised that its on a well populated beach and some developer hasnt replaced it with a 5 star hotel. The grounds were beautiful and the history of the house was very interesting. Will go back. after the summer season is over. Was really sorry that more visitors werent there. A couple from Wisconsin was there. Enjoyed talking to them. Thanks for being there.

Excellent find in the middle of resort hotels. History of Virginia Beach was well worth the time spent in this wonderful little gem.

Lots of history there. A place i stop at every year. Great when you can catch a carver or gunner to talk with.

Very butifull place

It was nice to learn an interesting part of Viginia Beaches history.

Great glimpse of what Virginia Beach used to look like.

Informative and quaint. Speaking with their resident decoy carver was fascinating.

Lots of interesting history to see here!

Very cluttered and disorganized museum. Just a collection of old items jumbled together.

Very interesting place to go and learn.

Super personable carving demos and awesome exhibits!

Learned how to carve ducks. Interesting

Expected something different. All they had were wooden decoys and a few paintings.

WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE FOR ALL AGES WAS THE OBVIOUS ATTEMPT THIS MUSEUM PLANNED - IT WORKED!

If youre visiting from out of state you have to check this place out. The history of Virginia Beach starts right here. There is a lot to learn from the very first mayor of Virginia Beach and why Virginia Beach came into existence. A great place to bring your family while on vacation.

This is an unexpectedly interesting find on the oceanfront. Theres more to it than you would know until youve been in here. Come for a visit!

Learned quite a bit here. Very nice museum to see the past of the beach and learn about ducks and birds on your beach vacation.

Nice but not enough of the wildfowl or migratory bird information.

Museum was closed for the holiday when we got there. Bummer, boyfriend and I were really looking forward to it! Must see next time we’re in Virginia Beach!

So much history! Wonderfully set up to enjoy learning about VB

Amazing little Museum on the history of Virginia Beach and early days of hunting in the area, with a most excellent Tour by the on-site carver.

Cool place to check out. Small so it doesnt take too long to go through but still a very interesting place! :)

Small but nice.

Cant go to the beach without visiting the gallery!

This place is worth the visit. Just dont plan on leaving quickly and let the people there Enlighten you to all the things that you dont know

Was there 12/21 at 4:30p. As I walked up the stairs to enter the women inside turned to sign over to closed never uttering a word and walked away. The sign said they closed at 5p. I thought it rude of her to say nothing as I was in front of the door in plain sight. Wont return.

Great muesum

Lots of duck decoys and history. Right on the beach!

Nice bit of history in the midst of a commercial Babylon.

Very beautiful place and interesting facts

Nice place to visit. Friendly staff

Great educational museum. I recommend it to everyone.

A great spot to see some history of Virginia Beach!

No charge & lots of information. Oh. Get the double dipped chocolate peanuts

Very interesting

Ok

Great place, clean, great staff

Joe is a GOAT

I love it!!!! its beautiful and people are extremely friendly!!!