Reedville Fishermen's Museum

Christmas on Cockrell's Creek

     Mark your calendar now!  Christmas on Cockrell’s Creek will be celebrated this year on

• Saturday - December 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Sunday - December 9 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

    Historic Reedville is more romantic than ever at Christmas time when not only are the homes
beautifully decorated, but so are many of the boats tied up at their docks lining the shoreline of Cockrell’s Creek. Reedville has been enjoying a quiet renaissance and this year’s tour offers a peek inside five lovingly refurbished and restored homes - four on Main Street in the historic district and one on Fleeton Road. And for our contemporary home admirers, there is also a stunning new home open on Owens Pond.

    You will probably want to do Main Street as a walking tour, but a boat shuttle will also be available to take you on a scenic tour of the Reedville harbor and out to the open house in Fleeton.(Scroll down for info on all activities)

Bailey-Cockrell House 793 Main Street Residence of Beth & Blaine Altaffer     Believed to be built by Elijah Reed prior to 1884 to house his workers when Reedville was a booming fishing town, this wood frame Victorian was later owned by Dr. L.E. Cockrell who used it both for his home and office before building the small green home on the property  next door. The Altaffers purchased the home in 2001 and have decorated in traditional style accented with family pieces and antiques. Don’t miss Blaine’s collection of Reedville and nautical antiques and memorabilia.

The Williamsburg Kitchen 792 Main Street Residence of Donna & Fred Bowen The original part of this home built in 1970, is known as the Williamsburg Kitchen for its design modeled after a colonial kitchen dependency. Fred purchased the home - just two doors down from where he was raised - when he retired and moved back home to Reedville in the early 1990’s. Now doubled in size, this lovely brickhome with its traditional and antique furnishings, Persian carpets, lustrous oil paintings, and beautiful woodwork and paneling surrounding the fireplaces in the living room and den, evokes the feel of an English country house.

Capt. J. Henry Haynie House 726 Main Street Residence of Kate & PD O’Keefe A Victorian frame home, the Capt. J.Henry Haynie house was built in 1892. Capt.Henry owned the two-masted pungy ‘Pensacola’ and was a poundnetter and an oysterman. The O’Keefes have extensively restored and renovated the home since purchasing it in 2000, including adding a sunroom and guest room wing designed to be compatible with the original arch-itecture. You’ll enjoy their use of salvaged archi-tectural materials including doors from the old Bray’s store in Lilian, beautiful stained glass windows, and a kitchen island made from an old commercial egg incubator. (Boat shuttle landing)

The Dey Cottage 601 Main Street This home, built in 1926 for Russell Dey, is Reedville’s only Sears Roebuck kit house. Known as the Hathaway model, the kit was listed in the Sears catalog in 1921 starting at $1,299. For many years, the home was used as the office of the Texaco Oil distributor, and bulk fuel was delivered by boat and offloaded into the company’s storage tanks. Beth and Blaine Altaffer purchased the house last year and have restored it, bringing back to life its fine Mission style oak woodwork – including the staircase, doors and trim, and case- ment windows. The kitchen is spectacular and all brand-new featuring a granite countertop and stainless steel appliances. The house is currently unfurnished, but will be decorated for the season, with refreshments being served to house tour visitors. (Boat shuttle landing)

Harbor View 2270 Fleeton Road Residence of Diane & Sonny Harper   On Cockrell’s Creek next to Shell Landing, Sonny and Diane Harper have opened their beautifully restored Victorian farmhouse. With its original section, possibly built in the 1790’s, this home is one of the oldest in the area. It was owned by the Douglas family from 1832 until 1978. The house was extensively added onto in the Victorian style in the late 1800’s as the family prospered in the menhaden fishing business. The home is high-lighted by the Harpers’ fine collection of Victorian walnut and oak furnishings and decorative items. The old smoke-house and “outhouse” dependencies are also on the tour. (Boat shuttle landing)

Naulty-Hill House 239 Watermans Way Residence of Cheryl Naulty & Walter Hill On Owens Pond in the Twin Harbors community just off Fleeton Road, is the stunning contemporary home built in 2003 by Cheryl Naulty and Walter Hill. An open floor plan, lots of windows, and a 17-foot vaulted ceiling, set off this beautiful home on a point of land with waterviews all around. It is warmly decorated in a sophisticated southern traditional style. Don’t miss ‘Harriet’, Walter’s 1928 Model A Ford roadster.

Holiday Season Events
at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum

The Northern Neck Railroad  • The model train display just gets better every year! Come see our layout with trains running all the way to Fredericksburg through the scale model villages of Reedville, Heathsville, Irvington, and White Stone.    Fun for railroad buffs of all ages!
Open 10:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Fridays Saturdays and Sundays from the Friday after Thanksgiving through December 16; the week between Christmas and New Year’s; and weekends in January through January 13th. (Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day)

Breakfast with Santa • Bring the kids for a fun-filled morning with Santa. Children will delight in watching Santa cruise up Cockrell’s Creek on the museum’s historic workboat the Elva C. After a tour of the railroad exhibit, breakfast is served at Bethany UMC Church Hall where the children visit with Santa. Saturday December 8th - 9 a.m. (Event co-sponsored by Bethany United Methodist Church)

Boat Shuttle and Narrated Harbor Tours  • Step aboard Rescue I, Smith Point Sea Rescue’s
patrol boat; Seaboard, Wendell Haynie’s classic Matthews cabin cruiser; or Fishing Buddy II, Buddy Sylvia’s vintage deadrise workboat, for a narrated tour of the Reedville waterfront and transport to Harbor View in Fleeton.

Tablescapes  • “Celebrations: Festive Holiday Tables”, is a special exhibit of holiday table settings created by area decorators, designers and garden clubs. This year, the Tablescapes will be exhibited in the Reedville Masonic Hall, a brick two-story Colonial Revival temple-form structure built c. 1910
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Bake Sale  • Stop in at the museum’s pantry and bake sale in the Covington Building (museum) lobby and stock up on home-made treats for the holidays. Goodies include homemade candy, breads, cakes, pies, cookies, jams, jellies, and pickles.

Museum Gift Shop  • Choose from a wide selection of regional books, giftware, jewelry, gourmet treats, original artworks and prints, children’s books and toys. (Open during regular museum hours)

Spirit of 1607-1608: John Smith and Crew
Explore the Northern Neck •  In 1607 Capt. John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay on his voyage of discovery searching for that elusive passage to the Orient. Visit this year’s museum exhibit which portrays the environment that he found as he visited native settlements on the Northern Neck.

The Athena Winery, on Route 200 just across the Glebe Point bridge, will be conducting special tastings at their vineyard in conjunction with our tour weekend.

Christmas Tour Ticket Information • Block tickets are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the  tour and include admission to all houses, museum exhibits, and boat shuttle. VISA and MC accepted at the museum office for advance phone orders. • Individual houses may be visited for $10 each. • Please note: No food, photos, strollers or backpacks in houses. Each child under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Presented by the RFM with support from Bank of Lancaster/Bay Trust
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Copyright 2002 - Reedville Fishermen's Museum  PO Box 306   504 Main Street  Reedville, VA 22539
(804) 453-6529         email: RFM Office