Landmarks / Museums

DUNLOW, W.Va. — The small, unincorporated community of Dunlow on WV-152 in southern Wayne County typically does not stir interest among passersby. Drive too fast, and you’ll miss its one significant landmark—a near-perfectly preserved train station sitting alone in an empty field.Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April, the Dunlow Norfolk & … Read more

GREENVILLE, W.Va. — I rarely have the opportunity to show my daughters a back-road attraction in West Virginia that they haven’t seen before. They’ve joined me on hundreds of adventures to remarkable places both on and off the beaten track.Each carries a W.Va. Gazetteer in her car and is usually up for a day trip, … Read more

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Two million lights will twinkle at the West Virginia State Farm Museum December 5-20, 2022, to celebrate Christmas, though volunteer groups and individuals are being sought to adopt buildings to decorate, according to Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.“This light show is one of the best in the state and a credit … Read more

MATEWAN, W.Va. — The first of two monuments commemorating the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia will be installed this weekend in Logan and Kanawha counties, acknowledging a history that state schools long worked to suppress, say organizers.Commissioned by the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, located on the Kentucky border at Matewan, the monuments … Read more

PINEVILLE, W.Va. — What did an authentic Appalachian pioneer farm of the 1800s look like? Perhaps there’s no better place to find out than in a remote corner of field and forest at Twin Falls Resort State Park in southern West Virginia.In the 1960s, while building the park, former superintendent Morris E. “Smokey” Harsh discovered … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va.—In search of funding for a historical tourism project? Two West Virginia agencies are working together to help tourism initiatives fund historic preservation projects.The West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office and the West Virginia Department of Tourism will host a webinar on August 18 for owners and administrators of privately and publicly-owned historic buildings … Read more

RALEIGH, W.Va.—A landmark industrial building near Beckley, West Virginia, has been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The former powerhouse for the Raleigh Coal & Coke Company—perhaps best known for the swastika motif that decorates its trim—was found eligible based on its architectural and industrial importance, according to Cody Straley … Read more

Editor’s Note: If you’re familiar with the outdoors in West Virginia, you’ve likely seen rocks piled in what might seem “the middle of nowhere.” Many were stacked by settlers and farmers, but others are prehistoric and sacred, according to archaeologist Charity Moore, who’s cataloging their forms and locations. During a routine archaeological survey in Doddridge … Read more