King William County Historical Society

04/03/2026

Happening tomorrow 🎉

A state historical marker approved by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources will be dedicated in King William County this weekend. The marker, entitled “Racial Integrity” and the Tribes of King William, highlights the perseverance of Virginia’s Indigenous peoples who struggled against a 20th-century state law that obstructed their tribes’ efforts to gain state and federal recognition. The dedication is free and open to the public. To learn more, check the 🔗 in the comments.

01/19/2026

CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER --- The King and Queen County Historical Society invites the public to its quarterly meeting on Sunday afternoon, January 25, 2026 at 3 o’clock p.m. at the New Court House Building (Admin) Building, King and Queen County Courthouse, 23085. The speaker will be Ms. Katie Gibson Harlow, researcher with Kenah Consulting, who works with tribal nations on cultural heritage management, federal grants, and archiving. She is Vice-President of the King William County Historical Society and serves on the Board of the Historical Society of West Point. She holds an undergraduate degree in History from The College of William and Mary and a Master’s Degree in History from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She has written papers about hookworm and public health.

Ms. Harlow’s subject will be “Bathurst Brown Bagby, M.D., His Contributions to Public Health in Rural Communities”. Dr. Bagby was born in 1879 in the Stevensville area of King and Queen County. He practiced medicine in King and Queen, West Point, and other communities in Virginia, and held state health offices. His focus on the causes of poor health in both white and black rural communities and preventative measures was ground breaking at a time when there were very few public health systems. In his book Recollections, published in 1950, he left behind a picture of, in his words, "the every-day life of our relatives and friends in Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties of Virginia, during the period following the Civil War.” In 2024, the Historical Society of West Point erected an informational marker about Dr. Bagby near Bagby Street in West Point.

Refreshments will be served following the program.

12/18/2025

Ho Ho Ho 🎅🏼
Still not sure what to gift that special someone who has EVERYTHING? Gift a membership to the King William County Historical Society!!🎁

We’ve made it super easy to join with our PayPal link here: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/FQMLMGY6LE4MG

Happy Holidays from the King William County Historical Society🎄

12/08/2025

Don’t forget to come see us and Mr. and Mrs. Clause THIS Sunday 🎄

Mark your calendars Santa is coming to the museum dec 14 we will be open 1-5 but Santa has to go back to the North Pole at 4

11/14/2025

11/14/2025

Mark your calendars Santa is coming to the museum dec 14 we will be open 1-5 but Santa has to go back to the North Pole at 4

11/10/2025

November is National Native American Heritage Month. Explore the history of Virginia's Indigenous tribes with primary resources in Document Bank of Virginia.
https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/items/browse?tags=American+Indian+History

Image: Dancers at a 1928 gathering of five Virginia Indian tribes in King William County, Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Photograph Collection, Visual Studies

09/10/2025

Happening Tomorrow 📣

Here's a reminder that we will have a King William Dig Day tomorrow! Stop by anytime between 10 and 4 to see our progress at the Hills Hotel!

07/10/2025

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has announced newly approved historical markers including one for King William!
The King William Historical Society worked on this project with Dr. Ashley Spivey of Kenah Consulting and Tribal leaders from Mattaponi Indian Tribe & Reservation, Pamunkey Indian Tribe & Reservation, and The Upper Mattaponi Tribe to complete this marker regarding the resilience of the tribes in the face of racial discrimination. The full marker text can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

🔔 9 historical highway markers have been approved by the state's Board of Historic Resources! The markers will feature various topics in the Commonwealth’s history, including one of Virginia’s oldest continuously published newspapers; one of the nation’s longest-operating African American women’s book clubs; and the consequences of a 1924 Virginia law that effectively excluded Indigenous people from official state records.
🔗 Check the link in our bio to learn more!

05/31/2025

Tribal Truths returns this Thursday, May 29! New episodes of the podcast, supported in part by a Virginia Humanities grant, will premiere every other Thursday.

The stories told this season are important history, including how histories are passed down by the women quilters of the Patawomeck Tribe; the fight to register as Indigenous in Virginia during WWII; and Indigenous interpretation of the Powhatan's Mantle and why it's in a British museum.

🔗 Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts: https://loom.ly/KkpGyv8
📸 Upper Mattaponi Chief Ken Adams