Owned and operated by The New River Historical Society, the Wilderness Road Regional Museum is located in Newbern, Virginia which had its official beginning March 3, 1810 when Adam Hance laid off 28 lots fronting on the Wilderness Road. Because of its early significance, Newbern was placed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1979 as a unique remnant of our 19th century frontier, pioneer villages.

The earliest building restrictions drafted by Adam Hance required each purchaser of a lot to build "a hewed log house at least one and a half stories high, with a shingle roof, brick or stone chimney, seams filled with lime mortar, two glass windows with twelve lights each." These were the minimum requirements set forth.

Henry Hance built such a house in 1810 that is now the eastern portion of the Wilderness Road Regional Museum; it was stained red. In 1816, a weatherboarded house was built by Adam Hance that is today the western portion of the Museum; it was painted green. By 1851, the dog trot which connected the two domestic units was replaced by the present Giles room. Henry's log house and father Adam's weatherboarded house, combined with the additions, resulted in the 100 foot length building of today. In the Hance and Alexander families until the 1970's, the house was acquired by the New River Historical Society in 1980.

In addition to the house, a granary, outside kitchen and slave loft, loom house, buggy shed, barn, and slave cabin exist on the 6 acre property. In addition, the Museum contains a library and archives of historical and genealogical books and records including the earliest collection of Pulaski County papers.