Published: June 11, 2009 03:22 pm      

Historical museum project launched

Current focus is to secure building

Editors note: Mary Catherine Brooks is a member of the board of directors for the Wyoming County Historical Museum.

Saving, and sharing, the history of Wyoming County is the focus of the Wyoming County Historical Museum, an all-volunteer, non-profit agency.

Located in the former Oceana town hall building, next to the current fire department, the museum will begin as a small undertaking, according to president Jesse Womack.

The current focus is on securing the building, Womack explained. Adams Manufacturing will cover the windows with bars. The steel for the bars is being donated by SteelCom of Beckley, Womack said.

With help from Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, an initial museum project is erecting an historical marker recognizing the McDonald Plantation, burned during the Civil War, just outside the Oceana town limits.

The McDonalds were among the first settlers in the county. It is believed that Edward McDonald and David Hughes may have been the first Englishmen to “set foot” in Wyoming County; they explored the area in 1784. McDonald returned to the area to build his home in 1802.

Oceana resident Joan Webster, a descendant of the McDonalds, has given her approval of the project, Womack said.

The plantation was burned by the Union Home Guard in 1862, according to historic accounts.

Womack is also working to obtain Native American artifacts unearthed during the construction of Westside High School, located in Clear Fork, the same area as the McDonald Plantation. The artifacts will become part of museum’s exhibit, he said. Browning has also been instrumental in this project.

Additionally, museum organizers are asking residents, or former residents, for copies of any historic photos, as well as other types of memorabilia, that can be displayed in the museum, Womack said.

Contributions will carry some type of marker recognizing the donor, Womack said.

Also, Mullens, Pineville, and Oceana areas will be featured inside the museum with exhibits outlining the history of each area. Womack also hopes to feature other communities, including but not limited to Glen Rogers, Baileysville, Herndon, Kopperston, among others.

“This will be a countywide museum, not just an Oceana museum,” Womack emphasized.

Organizers also hope to exhibit artifacts encompassing the county’s heritage involving coal mining, railroads, timbering, Native Americans, early settlers, among numerous other legacies.

The museum will also serve as an information center for the petroglyphs, located just outside town limits, near Lynco. The petroglyphs will soon be the featured attraction in a “day park” to be built around the ancient writings — a means to protect them and a means to share them with the public, according to David “Bugs” Stover, who serves as parliamentarian of the museum board.

The petroglyphs, or rock carvings, on rock outcrops south of Oceana, have fascinated archaeologists, scholars, and the public for decades. Some experts claim the carvings were done in the sixth, seventh, or eighth centuries AD, while others estimate they were created much later, in the 1300s to 1500s. A subject of fierce disagreement in the 1980s, the origin and meaning of the petroglyphs remain up for debate.

“The petroglyphs will be viewed, and the day park used, by a few thousand folks each year,” Stover believes. “Hundreds of those folks will be from out of state.”

Stover has been working for several years to bring the park to reality.

“This park will soon be built and will contain a small picnic area, as well as a viewing platform,” Stover explained.

Other officers include Epp Cline, first vice president; Larry Cooper, second vice president; Beverly Toler, third vice president; Allen Stiltner, fourth vice president; Jim Cook, secretary; and Tammy Morgan, treasurer.

Paul Ray Blankenship, well-known area historian, serves on the board of directors. As previously noted: Mary Catherine Brooks is also a member of the board of directors.

Thomas Evans III, Oceana attorney, has provided volunteer legal services, Womack said.

Goodsons Supermarket and Wyoming County Schools have also donated display cases, Womack noted.

Wyoming County Commission also provided some financial support for the museum.

For more information, to donate items, or to become a volunteer, contact Jesse Womack at 304-682-7448 or Oceana Mayor Nola Rose at 304-682-8311, extension 306, or write the Wyoming County Historical Museum Inc., P. O. Box 190, Oceana, WV 24870.

The group will meet again Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. in Oceana Town Hall.