Tangier Island Museum

Stroll through the island museum while on the island and learn more about the history, culture, and heritage of the people who live there.

The museum contains an enormous number of artifacts from the island you can browse and you can view a five layered painting of the island, created by resident artist Ken Castelli,  from 1866 to 1917 to 1942 to 1968 to 2001, which shows the size of the island and the impact erosion has had on it over the past 140 years. You can also look at some of the paintings of places on the island that by Ken Castelli, has created.

You can learn some of the over 300 sayings the islanders have used over the years, from "She ain't no good!", which means she is beautiful to "snapjacks", which refers to firecrackers to "He's adrift!", which means what a hunk. There are several sayings used regarding the weather, such as "Colder than a Darlene Bar", which means you are chilled to the bone or "It's softening down", referring to the fact that the weather is hot and humid.

So stop by and enjoy all the heritage Tangier Island has to offer.

Resident artist Ken Castelli painted a topological map of the island currently, based on aerial photos.

A museum visitor reads some of the more than 300 sayings the islanders have used over the years.