During your visit to this Parkersburg, West Virginia attraction, learn about the history of the Ohio Valley through permanent exhibits drawn from the Museum’s collections and special exhibits. Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History also offers shopping in the Friends of Blennerhassett Gift Shop.
Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History Highlights
Start your visit to the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History with a short video presentation that provides a wonderful overview of the history of Parkersburg and the Ohio Valley as well as information on the lives of the Blennerhassett family and the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park. Three floors of exhibitions showcase priceless historical artifacts that interpret the Ohio Valley’s past. Artifacts on view include prehistoric Indian tools, jewelry, household items and weapons from around 9000 BCE. Oil paintings, old clothing, guns and military equipment, furniture that belonged to the first governor of West Virginia, 19th century automobiles, farm equipment, and 19th century jewelry and glassware that date from 60 to 200 years old are also on display. Highlighted among the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History Museum’s exhibit is its 18th and 19th Century exhibit. Find a “burning glass,” a “bubby pot,” some of Ohio Valley’s oldest manuscripts and maps, and a mourning fan.
Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History Building
Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History is housed within a four-story brick building that is an interesting part of Parkersburg’s colorful past. Learn about the history of the building, constructed in 1902 to house the Starr Grocer Company’s offices and warehouses. The company doubled the buildings size in the 1920s, but suffered during the Great Depression and eventually went out of business. The structure was purchased in 1947 by the Guthrie-Morris Campbell Company of Charleston, West Virginia who used the building until they sold it in 1983 to the Blennerhassett Historical Park Commission, which renovated the building from 1985 to1986 and opened the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History.
Shop the Blennerhassett Museum Gift Shop
Be sure to stop by the Blennerhassett Museum Gift Shop. Items to remember your visit to the history museum including handmade gifts, art and souvenirs as well as special holiday gifts and keepsakes are available to purchase.
- The Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History is ADA compliant.
- Food and drinks are available to purchase from Point Park Concessions, located between the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History and the boat dock in Parkersburg.