The HSRAA Virtual Museum was created in 2008 as a virtual tool for cataloguing the rich history of the Horseshoe Scout Reservation. Contained within are images, videos, documents, audio and narratives that detail the various programs, memorabilia, events and historical happenings from the past 90 years of camping on the reservation.

The museum consists of 6 floors with 41 rooms. Within these rooms you will find 272 exhibits with 1666 displays containing 11453 artifacts.

The collection of artifacts in the Virtual Museum come from many sources as can be seen on the Credits page. These treasures have been amassed because someone stopped to take a picture or video, happened to save it and took the time to submit it to the HSR Alumni Association. If you have something to share, click here for more details on how to get your artifacts into the VM.

The museum is divided by content into floors, and subdivided by rooms, exhibits and displays. You can always access the VM's Directory from the museum menu or by clicking here.

Q. Why are captions important?
A. The HSRAA Virtual museum has lots of artifacts which span 80 years and a variety of different programs. While listening to or viewing certain artifacts may hold obvious value to some museum patrons, many others will not know the context of what they have seen or heard. Captions should describe: who is doing the action (if applicable and if known), when the artifact was created, where the artifact took place (if applicable) and what is taking place.

Q. I have no idea what to contribute!
A. Look around in them museum and this will give you an idea of what artifacts are already there. You may see something missing from a collection that you can scan or photograph. Also, visit the Most Wanted List to see which artifacts are most needed by the museum.

Q. When was the museum started?
A. Construction on the museum began in March 2008 and was opened to the public in November 2008. The museum experienced a "refresh" in 2018 for its 10th anniversary.

Q. I have an old artifact that is not in perfect condition. Should I contribute it?
A. While the HSRAA Virtual Museum strives to provide quality artifacts to its patrons, due to the age or circumstances of an artifact we recognize that allowances must be made for certain artifacts. If the same artifact in better condition is contributed later we will replace the one in poorer condition.

Q. If I contribute an artifact will it be automatically incorporated into the museum?
A. No. We must assess that the artifact is relevant (see Artifact Scope above), that the same artifact hasn't already been contributed and that the artifact meets our specifications (see Artifact Specifications above). We may crop and reduce file sizes / dimensions for images, documents, audio and video due to constraints on the site and for clarity of the artifact being displayed. We will also need to assign an artifact to its relevant floor, room, exhibit and display. For these reasons, artifacts cannot be automatically inserted and we cannot guarantee that all contributed artifacts will be displayed in the museum. We will strive to post artifacts as soon as we can but this is dependent upon the number of artifacts contributed in a similar period of time.

Q. What if I have a large number of artifacts that would be difficult to email?
A. Email the Museum Curator at curator@hsraa.org and another arrangement may be made.

Q. Why is there more focus on some artifacts and not on others?
A. There is no intentional focus on any artifacts in the museum. Some collections may be lacking because of poor user contributions in that area. If you have a certain focus in an era or program, the best way to make the focus appear equitable is to submit artifacts!

Q. When will the museum be 100% completed?
A. Hopefully never. As long as the history for HSR continues to be written, the HSRAA will continue to post it here.

Q. I noticed that the information displayed for one of your rooms/exhibits/artifacts was wrong. How can I let you know this?
A. For erroneous or incomplete information, email curator@hsraa.org.

Q. Why are many of the newer pictures, especially ones like staff photos, not displaying captions?
A. The HSRAA Virtual Museum is compliant with the Youth Protection policy of the Boy Scouts of America. Pursuant to this policy, we do not list the names of any youth (under 18) on the museum that are identified with the youth's photograph, even in a large group photo such a staff photo. When we are satisfied that all individuals in a photograph are 18 or over, we will display the appropriate caption. If we have a picture of youth we may add a general caption that does not identify the name(s) of the youth(s).