Blennerhassett Island

National Historic Landmark — Parkersburg, West Virginia — Wood County

Roster, Blennerhassett Island

Blennerhassett Island is a three-mile long land mass in the center of the Ohio River southwest of Parkersburg, West Virginia. It was home for American Indians since prehistoric times, including that of Nemacolin, a prominent Delaware, who lived there in the 1760s. Artifacts from the island are displayed at the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History in downtown Parkersburg. George Washington visited the island during his 1770 explorations of the Ohio, but the island is best known, and named for, Irish aristocrat Harman Blennerhassett, who made it his home in 1798. His 7,000 square foot Palladian mansion burned in 1811, but has been reconstructed for use as a central landmark at Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park. Blennerhassett and Aaron Burr were accused of treason by President Thomas Jefferson. Both were acquitted and released from prison, but Blennerhassett’s reputation was irreparably tainted.