Mount Airy Museum of Regional History — Attraction in Mount Airy

The museum itself is great; 4 floors of history, I loved it. The 2nd floor is under renovation but was not a hindrance. We will be back. However the Ghost Trolley Tour which is connected with the museum, was $70.00 (2 tickets) worth of disappointment. The guide gave more of a history tour. His supposed ghost stories were like those you tell at Boy Scouts around a campfire. You know when a person says something and it sounds like they might know something about what’s coming out of their mouth as opposed to when they say something that they may have heard from someone else. Yeah… we had the latter. The guide had cards with notes so he wasn’t too prepared. I know everyone needs help sometimes but at least turn your back to the crowd when you’re checking the cards. Some of the “ghost stories”, the guide did not know the names of the person who had become a ghost. The guide asked the driver several times to assist with the information. Thankfully the driver knew the information or maybe the driver made it up… I don’t know. But at least it kept the story line going or we would have missed out. One lady googled the name of the person on her phone, so that helped. The whole “Ghost Trolley” theme was killed by the driver turning on interior lighting at the request of two very talkative individuals; who seemed to have known more about the tour than the guide. Not to mention the guide made multiple claims of being a ghost hunter who has been from one side of America to the other, successful hunting ghosts. Oh and the guide seemed to have a very deep hatred toward the Baptist Denomination along with Mrs. Gertrude Smith; one of the ghosts, who when alive hated the Baptist Denomination. Of course the windows for the trolley were open to set the ambience. When the driver turned around in Mrs. Smith’s driveway, I had to hold out my arm to avoid my wife from being slapped in the face by the Baptist Denomination hating Mrs. Smith’s tree. The driver nor the guide showed any concern as to actions of these trees, maybe it’s because we’re Baptist. So what I’m saying is that I’ve been on multiple ghost walk/graveyard/trolley tours from Wilmington to Charleston to Savannah, and now Mount Airy. The others were less expensive and we experienced some actual activity. This tour was a group of strangers riding a trolley around Mount Airy listening to the guide tell kiddies stories while two know-it-alls chatted and...

What a delight! So much to see and the exhibit explanations were even interesting to read! You have to be sure to go around every corner because, just when you think that's all on that floor, you round a corner and there's more. Well done on the variety of exhibits celebrating the area. I don't have small children, but for those who do the children's play area could entertain any child and offers parents a place to relax while you watch them. I went to the rooftop observatory, it was nice but too many small windows. Large windows would make for better photo ops of the city. Still, a great place to visit and one I would take visitors to see. Something for everyone - history buffs, fashion lovers, sports fans, medical personnel (the tonsillectomy chair -...

We enjoyed the museum. It has a nice history of Mt. Airy along with Surry County as a whole. The exhibits are nice and well put together. They are placed in a chronological order after exhibits of local wildlife. Initially the exhibits are more generalized then as you go upstairs exhibits include individuals. On the top floor there are hands on exhibits. Also, they have a lookout at the top of the stairs where you can look over Mt. Airy. The bottom floor exhibits firefighting equipment. The staff is polite and helpful. This is a neat place to go and you can spend minutes or hours...