The Reuel B. Pritchett Museum at Bridgewater College is a fascinating general history museum that is a branch of the Alexander Mack Memorial Library. The museum was founded in 1954 when the Rev. Reuel B. Pritchett, a minister of the Church of the Brethren and a farmer from White Pine, Tennessee, bequeathed his large collection of historic and interesting articles of antiquity (nearly 6,000 items) to Bridgewater College. Other donors have generously given artifacts from China, Africa, India and the Philippines, as well as from the United States, creating a museum collection that today includes over 10,000 items of nearly every description.

The Museum contains artifacts from the American Civil War, Native-Americans, and pioneer life. Highlights of the collection include coinage, currency, weaponry, and more than 175 rare books and Bibles. Included among these are the three-volume Venice Bible from 1482, and one of the largest collections of eighteenth century Bibles printed by Christopher Sauer. The Museum also contains more than 1,000 bottles and glassware, a saber-toothed tiger skull and mastodon teeth, a cuneiform brick from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar (600 B.C.), a land deed signed by Thomas Jefferson, and Church of the Brethren memorabilia from China, India, Nigeria, the Middle East, the Philippines, Nepal and the Caribbean.

The museum is located in Cole Hall, lower level. Please call 540-828-5462 to schedule a visit. Admission to the museum is free. To reach the College from Interstate 81, take Exit 240 to Route 257, west.

The Museum is currently available for viewing from 1 to 4:30 or by appointment. Please contact Dale Harter for an appointment. Thank You.