R.R. Smith Center for History & Art

The R. R. Smith Center, named in honor of long-time state and community leader R. R. "Jake" Smith, is a collaboration of three leading non-profit organizations in the Staunton/ Augusta County area of the Shenandoah Valley: Augusta County Historical Society, Historic Staunton Foundation, and the Staunton Augusta Art Center. The center is housed in what was the Eakleton Hotel, a 25,200 square foot building designed in 1893 by noted local architect T. J. Collins. It is located in Staunton's Beverley Historic District, a National Register district. The Center houses exhibit galleries, a lecture hall, classrooms, archival storage, a library and reading room, board and committee meeting space, Museum Store, and offices for the three non-profits. The R. R. Smith Center is the region's only history and art center.

A Brief History

Few places in the nation can boast of a community heritage as rich, deep, and varied as that of Staunton and Augusta County. Augusta County once stretched to the Mississippi River - entire states were carved from her boundaries. For the better part of three centuries, Staunton has served both as the county seat and a community crossroads, hosting those settlers who came to stay and offering temporary refuge for those passing through. Over the years a number of artisans and artists have been woven into the fabric of the area culture: John Sheets, the rifle maker; Caleb Bingham, the painter; Grandma Moses, the folk artist; and T. J. Collins, the architect. Of these, Collins was one who stayed and left his signature on the local landscape through the more than one thousand public and private buildings designed by his firm, including the 1895 Eakleton Hotel which houses the R. R. Smith Center for History and Art.

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