Weaverville – In August of 2019, the Dry Ridge Museum lost its home of 36 years in the bottom level of the Weaverville Library on North Main Street. The local museum houses the history of Weaverville and numerous artifacts from the town’s and area’s past.
However, last month the museum closed on its new home when the Town of Weaverville passed a lease agreement with the Dry Ridge Museum at their regular monthly meeting. The museum will be housed in the new Community Center at Dottie Sherril Knoll. The Community Center plans to hold a grand opening on July 4th, but the museum will likely not be open by that time. Dry Ridge Museum President Jan Lawrence said they hope to open by mid-July. She explained the museum has its collection stored in four locations, and it will take time to prepare the museum space and move the collection back to a central location.
Lawrence pointed out that through the pandemic, the museum has helped people with tracking family genealogies. They also took six or seven collections in for the museum.
“We are just thrilled to have this and can’t wait to be in [our new home],” said Lawrence when asked about the new museum location. “We are giving Weaverville something to be proud of.”
The location will be about 650 square feet. The new space allows the museum to offer new amenities, says Lawrence. These include wifi, a phone climate-controlled area and a website. It will also have a couple of hundred square feet for storage.
The museum hours will be Wednesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm in the months of April through November and Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm in the months of December through March.