History
The mission of the Barrier Islands Center (BIC) is to preserve and perpetuate the unique culture and history of Virginia's Barrier Islands through education and the collection and interpretation of artifacts. The islands were once home to vibrant fishing and farming communities, with rich wildlife that attracted people from up and down the East Coast to elegant hotels and exclusive gentlemen's hunt clubs. A series of major hurricanes in the 1930s forced those people to relocate to the mainland, but many of the old stories and traditions still echo in life on the Eastern Shore today. Founded in 1996 and opened to visitors in 2002, the BIC is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting Virginia's unique coastal history through free admission to exhibits with over 7,500 artifacts artfully displayed to tell the stories of the men and women who lived, worked and played on the barrier islands.
Specialties
It is a gathering place, graced by weathered porch rockers that welcome you into an art gallery and gift shop rivaling New York's finest. It is a creative educator, grounding small-town children in history and the arts while big-city kids savor a taste of country life. It is a museum that shelters yesterday's culture of the islanders and watermen, and it is a farm that follows today's best practices to cultivate the land. Yet it is, most of all, a storyteller, safeguarding the wisdom of our past for the sake of the Eastern Shore's future.