Museum Likely To Move Civil War Artifacts Out Of Richmond

Posted: Wed 2:02 PM, Sep 05, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Fewer people are coming to the Museum of the Confederacy, so the museum may be taking its artifacts to the people.

Museum officials say they are exploring the idea of spreading the bulk of the world's largest collection of Civil War artifacts. The artifacts would be spread among three sites outside the former Confederate capital while continuing to maintain a presence in Richmond, Virginia.

Officials say two likely locations are the Appomattox Court House National Park and the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center near Fredericksburg, both in Virginia. The third site has not been determined.

The museum's attendance woes were the catalyst for the proposal. Visitation has fallen from about 92,000 in the early 1990s to 44,000 last year.

Survivor of helicopter fall involved in a truck rollover