Places of Interest

Museum displays

Flower "bed"

Photo by Jerry Gammon

Poquoson Museum

Museum displays

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Poquoson Museum

This museum includes both indoor and outdoor exhibits. The indoor displays are housed in a historic 1900 farmhouse. The property also includes agricultural out-buildings, frontage along the marshes of Topping Creek and a country store known as “Miss Becky’s Store” that served residents for many years.

In addition, you can enjoy a marsh walk with 750 feet of raised platforms with signs highlighting different native wildlife and plant life.

Whitehouse Cove sunset

Surf Rider restaurant

Whitehouse Cove Marina boat slip

Whitehouse Cove sunset

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Whitehouse Cove

This charming secluded bay has much to offer. It's most visited by seafood lovers who come to dine at Surf Rider, a laid-back, Southern-inspired restaurant built on the water. It features local beer options, a daily catch and a variety of always-fresh seafood creations.

The cove also includes the Rens Road Public Boat Ramp and Whitehouse Cove Marina, which holds over 150 boat slips for rent.

Details on all boat landings and marinas >

Water Cross

Photo by Sandra D

Family flies a kite at Messick

Sailing practice

Water Cross

Photo by Sandra D

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Messick Point

Located just inside the Back River inlet on a small peninsula at the southern end of Poquoson, Messick Point is most famous for its frequently photographed water cross (shown at left) and also its wildlife. This area also features Messick Point Marina and Messick Point Landing public boat launch.
Details on all boat landings and marinas >

Come ready to buy fresh wholesale crabs, oysters, fresh fish, scallops, clams & shrimp at Bill Forrest Seafood. You'll be supporting four generations of a family business. Also enjoy the scents of cooking BBQ from Surf's Up, whose smokehouse is located at the point (you can dine at their seafood and BBQ restaurant further inland).

Watermen's Monument

Erected in 2020 near Messick Point, this monument is dedicated to the memory of Poquoson watermen who lost their lives at work. Its creation was the result of a public initiative.

Harbor Seal at Plum Tree

Plum Tree marshes

Plum tree sunset

By Mitch Walker

Harbor Seal at Plum Tree

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Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge

A huge resource for wildlife watching from your boat. Due to the fragile habitats and safety concerns associated with its former use as a bombing range, public access to the land is prohibited, but there is much to see from the perimeter, as shown in these photos.

Encompassing the largest contiguous salt marsh ecosystem in the lower Chesapeake Bay, the refuge offers diverse salt marshes, tidal streams, and wooded ridges that support fish, waterfowl, marsh and wading birds, and shorebirds. Serene shorelines offer secluded habitat for breeding and nesting wildlife, including the northern diamondback terrapin.

Rollins kids running

Picnic table Rollins

Rollins grassy shoreline

Rollins kids running

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Thomas Jefferson Rollins Nature Area

Also known as Amory's Wharf, it has space for the kids to run around, a public ramp for small watercraft, picnic tables and benches for admiring the abundant wildlife there. It also happens to be historic ground.

This 104.23-acre plot of marsh and woods traces back to a land grant from the king in the 1600s— the original landing area of the first English settlers to what would eventually become Poquoson. It was the arrival point for Poquoson settlers through the 1700s, and in the 1800s a wharf was added. It became a busy port for seafood and produce, and was later the site of a Civil War skirmish where the U.S. Navy sank six Confederate schooners. In the 1900s, it served as a commercial hub for commercial oysters.

Greenhouse

By Nancy Noel Talcott

Tulips in bloom

By Nancy Noel Talcott

Credit Holly Hyatt - tulips

By Holly Hyatt

Greenhouse

By Nancy Noel Talcott

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Poquoson Learning Garden

Located at the Poquoson Museum, this garden serves as an educational resource for the museum and the York-Poquoson communities. It provides hands-on interactive educational sessions for schools and students of all ages. The approximately one-third acre garden is composed of individual raised bed sub-gardens for vegetables, herbs, cut flowers and perennials. There garden also features an outdoor classroom pergola to host gardening workshops. The garden has a Mailbox Information Center with details on the garden, native plants, butterflies, birds, pollinators, bees and the museum.

This accessible garden has many adaptive gardening features, including stable pathways, wheelchair-accessible raised beds and planters, an “A” frame for growing vines; various vertical planters for persons who cannot bend down to the ground; three multilevel raised beds plus a raised bed with seats, and benches set at different heights.