Home of the World's Oldest Ham and the World's Oldest Peanut
​Founded in 1976, the Isle of Wight County Museum tells the story of the county through its interactive exhibits including a turn-of-the-century country store as well as displays interpreting colonial history, the Smithfield ham industry, the Blackwater River, the Civil War and the Cold War. 

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​Below is our HAM CAM where you can keep tabs on the world's oldest ham 24/7!
If you can't visit the museum to rub (pork) shoulders with our ham, this is the next best thing.

​The ham in the center is THE ham. (And he has his own Twitter account.) In 1902, one of P.D. Gwaltney Jr.'s cured hams was overlooked, and for 20 years, it hung from a rafter in a packing house. By 1924, the pet ham was kept in an iron safe which was opened daily for guests to view, and it was advertised as the world’s oldest Smithfield ham. Gwaltney fashioned a brass collar for the ham and took it to shows and expositions to exhibit the preservative powers of his smoking method. The ham was featured in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not in 1929, 1932 and 2003.

Location & Hours
103 Main Street
Smithfield, VA 23430
Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday - Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday
Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and staff in-service day
(757) 356-1223
$2 admission for adults
Group tours and programming available. To book: (757) 357-0115.

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