STAUNTON, Va. — Staunton, Virginia is at a crossroads rooted in the Revolution and the birthplace of the nation’s 28th president, Woodrow Wilson. Nestled by the Blue Ridge, this small city of about 25,000 it is also developing a reputation as the home of a one of a kind landmark.
At the corner of Beverly and Augusta streets, visitors are exposed to a colossal collection not seen anywhere else.
The Camera Heritage Museum is the largest cache of cameras open to the public in America.
”We just now hit 7,000 cameras in the collection. No duplicates," museum founder David Schwartz said. "[Sharing the collection with others] is the reason I opened it to the public. It should be opened. What good is it if you can’t enjoy it and people can’t enjoy it? That is what it is here for."
This collection was not created in a flash.
"My first collecting camera was this 8X10 wet plate. Wet Plate 1889," Schwartz said.
The former industrial photographer started amassing his cameras in 1970 and in the decades since, his obsession hasn’t faded.
"I can take a $10 camera and it gets me very excited," he said.
The museum opened as a nonprofit in 2011 and has welcomed visitors from more than 160 countries.
“I talk to people that come in. I talk to people all over the world that basically have the jaw dropping reaction like 'Wow,'" Ruth Lanum, a volunteer who started at the museum three years ago, said.
“Most people say ‘You’re kind of hidden.’ We call ourselves a hidden gem.”
The amateur photographer said visitors expect a collection like this to turn up in New York or Chicago, not the Shenandoah Valley.
“I mean you can find everything and its brother in other places but you can’t find something like this anywhere but here,” Lanum said.
Staunton boasts a proud picture-taking past.
“It was pretty good because this was at the time one of the wealthiest cities in the United States,” Schwartz said.
The famed Reflex Camera was actually invented and patented right here in 1872.
”There have been a lot of photographers in this area,” Schwartz said.
His stash of equipment includes nearly every version of the Brownie.
“The most popular camera ever built. It was the camera for the masses,” Schwartz said. “Of the 414 variations we have 412.”
The collection ranges from the silly to the serious.
”This is one of them that gets me excited every time I hold it,” Schwartz said referencing a camera that captured the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
It was donated by the Japanese pilot who took the pictures.
The museum is also home to 2,000 glass plate negatives detailing life in the region from another time-lapse.
“That is the only way you could date things how they looked. Their dress. Their surroundings,” Schwartz said.
What you won’t find in here? Pixels.
“A true film camera is better than digital,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz's focus is on rewind and retro.
“There are more pictures taken every day today than taken in the history of photography. But how many are kept,” he said.
As cameras transition away from film, Schwartz shutters at what is lost.
“This generation and the previous generation are throwing most of this stuff in the garbage. You don’t want to throw history away. It needs to be seen,” Schwartz said.
That is why he welcomes any and all donations no matter the make or model.
“I get just as excited as if it was the first one. Yes,” Schwartz said.
But he is running out of room. Only 22% of the collection can be displayed at any given time. David Schwartz said there is always room for one more on the shelf.
“We would love to have the old cameras. We don’t want them going in the trash,” Schwartz said. “Of the 100,000 pre-digital models we’re just now approaching 7,000 so we got a long ways.”
The Camera Heritage Museum is showcasing miraculous machines behind the Kodak Moment and other snapshots frozen forever.
“That is what we do," Ruth Launm said. “We preserve history. And we preserve people’s memories.”
The Camera Heritage Museum is open six days a week.
Click here if you would like to learn more about the museum or donate cameras,or call 540-886-8535.
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