The historic Jenkins Plantation Museum, located in the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area of Cabell County, will host a Civil War Camp on Saturday, May 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The living history program is free and open to the public.
Spectators at the outdoor event will get a glimpse of how soldiers lived and fought during the Civil War. Civil War enthusiasts in period costume will demonstrate how combatants lived in the encampments and take part in military exercises and drills similar to those led 140 years ago by Albert Gallatin Jenkins, a Confederate general with the 8th Virginia Cavalry. Civil War reenactors will conduct military drills throughout the day.
In addition, Civil War-era artifacts from the collection of the West Virginia State Museum will be on display, and special hands-on activities will help children explore Civil War life. The historic Jenkins family home also will be open for tours, and visitors can enjoy hot dogs and soft drinks while supplies last.
To round out the day’s activities, author Jack Dickinson of Huntington, W. Va., will be at the Jenkins Plantation Museum to present a lecture about the Jenkins family at 1 p.m. Dickinson has written several books, including two in the Virginia Regimental History Series: Eighth Virginia Cavalry and Sixteenth Virginia Cavalry. He also wrote Jenkins of Greenbottom: A Civil War Saga. Dickinson will have copies of the second edition of his book Tattered Uniforms and Bright Bayonets: West Virginia’s Confederate Soldiers on hand and available forpurchase.
The Jenkins Plantation Museum is located on West Virginia Route 2 between Huntington and Point Pleasant. A facility of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, the museum features the former home of General Albert Gallatin Jenkins. The 1835 house, built in the tradition of Tidewater, Va., is noteworthy for its architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Civil War Discovery Trail. The museum’s regular operating hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information about the Jenkins Plantation Museum, contact Matt Boggess, site manager of the museum at (304) 762-1059, by e-mail at [email protected], or call the Division at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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