Barrier Islands Center

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Almshouse Farm at Machipongo, now known as the Barrier Islands Center, is a historic almshouse for African-Americans located at Machipongo, Northampton County, Virginia. The oldest of the three main buildings was built about 1725, and is a 1 1/2-half story structure built in two parts, one brick and one frame, and probably predates the almshouse use of the property. The main building was built about 1840, and is a frame, two-story building in the vernacular Greek Revival style. It housed residents of the almshouse farm. A building dated to 1910, is a one-story frame building in a form resembling that of one-story frame school buildings from the same period. Also on the property are two contributing small, frame, late-19 or early 20th-century outbuildings. The Northampton County Almshouse Farm was in continuous operation between 1803 and 1952.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.Barrier Islands CenterThe Barrier Islands Center is housed on the former site of the Almshouse Farm. The Center has three main activities, as a local history museum, as an education and enrichment center, and as a community gathering place.The Barrier Islands Center Museum interprets the culture and history of the people of the Barrier Islands using historic photographs and artifacts.The Center offers programs, workshops, concerts and events about the arts, culture, nature, science and history for all ages.