9/14/01
The Jenkins Plantation Museum, located in the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area of Cabell County, will celebrate its 166th year at the Homestead Gathering, an evening of games and traditional music on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 6 - 10 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The evening activities will include period music from The Allendale Melodians, a traditional string band. Civil War re-enactors from the 8th Virginia Cavalry, 36th Virginia Infantry, 91st Ohio Infantry, 82nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the Kentucky Light Artillery will be on hand, in full uniform, to answer questions. In addition, visitors will be able to take a hay ride in a tractor-pulled wagon. Participants also can take a tour of the house and enjoy refreshments.
Operated by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, the Jenkins Plantation Museum gives people an opportunity to explore the lives of those who lived in Ohio Valley plantation households and their impact on the region in the 1800s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Jenkins house served as the home of Virginia merchant William Jenkins, who used the fortune he made trading grain in South America to create an impressive plantation.
Upon his death, his youngest son, Albert Gallatin, inherited the home and grounds. Albert served as an attorney and U.S. congressman, but resigned to take a commission in the Confederate Army, leading the 8th Virginia Cavalry. Born in 1831, General Jenkins died in 1864 from wounds suffered in the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain near Dublin, Va.
The 1835 house, built in the tradition of Tidewater, Va., features period furniture and exhibitions. The Jenkins Plantation Museum and the unique wetlands ecology of the surrounding Wildlife Management Area offer visitors a chance to learn more about this interesting part of West Virginia’s history. The museum is located on West Virginia Route 2 between Huntington and Point Pleasant. It is open to the public for tours on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
For more information about the 166th anniversary celebration, call Stan Bumgardner at (304) 558-0220, ext. 121, or the Museum at (304) 762-1059.
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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