Harman Blennerhassett was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, a member of the Society of United Irishmen who emigrated in advance of their rebellion in 1798 to become a socially and politically distinguished plantation owner in western Virginia. Implicated in the Burr conspiracy, an alleged military plot with Britain to separate Louisiana territory from the American union, he was twice arrested and financially ruined. His last years were spent in England.
Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia, United States. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metropolitan area. The population was 31,492 at the 2010 census. The city is about 14 miles south of Marietta, Ohio.
In the United States, Corridor D is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System. In Ohio, it follows State Route 32 from the eastern Cincinnati suburbs until a point west of Albany, where it becomes concurrent with U.S. Route 50. After crossing into West Virginia, it follows U.S. Route 50 until the Interstate 79 interchange in Clarksburg.
Parkersburg South High School in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States serves grades 9 through 12, and is part of the Wood County School District. The school's colors are navy blue and white, and the mascot is a Patriot. The school's principal is Betsy Patterson. As of the 2016-17 school year, the school has 1,859 students. The Wood County School District has 13,259 students in 29 schools. Feeder schools are Edison Middle School and Blennerhassett Middle School. Current business partners include Chemours and Community Antenna Services (CAS).
Hawks Nest State Park is located on 370 acres (150 ha) in Fayette County near Ansted, West Virginia. The park's clifftop overlook along U.S. Route 60 provides a scenic vista of the New River, some 750 feet below. The hydro-electric project tunnel that passes underneath nearby Gauley Mountain was the scene of the Depression-era Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster.
Opened in 1933, the 6,115-acre (2,475 ha) Cacapon Resort State Park is located on the eastern slopes of Cacapon Mountain in Morgan County, West Virginia, USA. Panorama Overlook, at the southern end of the park and 2,320 feet (710 m) above sea level, is the highest point in the park and in Morgan County.
Blennerhassett Island is an island on the Ohio River below the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, near Parkersburg in Wood County, West Virginia, United States.
The West Virginia State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of West Virginia, and houses the West Virginia Legislature and the office of the Governor of West Virginia. Located in Charleston, West Virginia, the building was dedicated in 1932. Along with the West Virginia Executive Mansion it is part of the West Virginia Capitol Complex, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an American Civil War battle site that commemorates the Battle of Carnifex Ferry. It is located on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, a town in Nicholas County, West Virginia. The 156-acre (0.63 km2) park features Patterson House Museum, three views of the Gauley River, hiking trails and picnic facilities. It is one of the oldest state parks in the United States. A Civil War re-enactment takes place on a weekend after Labor Day. As Carnifex Ferry State Park, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Babcock State Park is a state park located along the New River Gorge on 4,127 acres (16.7 km2) wooded in Fayette County, West Virginia. It is located approximately 20 miles away from the New River Gorge Bridge.
The Parkersburg–Belpre Bridge is a four-lane cantilever bridge that connects Parkersburg, West Virginia to Belpre, Ohio across the Ohio River. The bridge was completed in 1980. The bridge had been signed U.S. Route 50 (US 50) until June 13, 2008, when that highway was re-routed to the Blennerhassett Island Bridge a few miles to the west, as part of the completion of the Corridor D project around Parkersburg. The American Discovery Trail uses the bridge to cross the Ohio River.
The Parkersburg Bridge crosses the Ohio River between Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Belpre, Ohio. Designed by Jacob Linville, the bridge has 46 spans: 25 deck plate girder, 14 deck truss, 6 through truss, and 1 through plate girder. 50,000 cubic yards (38,000 m3) of stone were used for the 53 piers. The bridge was constructed from May 1869 to January 1871 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. At the time of its completion, the bridge was reportedly the longest in the world at 7,140 feet (2,180 m).
Cedar Creek State Park is sited on 2,588 acres (1,047 ha) along Cedar Creek in Gilmer County, West Virginia, located about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Glenville. Two of the buildings at the park are historical restorations of West Virginia's pioneer days, including a log cabin now used as the campground check-in station, and the Pine Run One Room School, an old one-room schoolhouse complete with restored school desks and potbellied stove. The schoolhouse is open for tours on Saturdays in the summer.
Chief Logan State Park is located on 3,988 acres (1,614 ha) about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Logan in Logan County, West Virginia, United States. The park, the town and the county were all named after Chief Logan, a Mingo Native American leader who lived in the region before the American Revolutionary War. Each summer the Liz Spurlock Amphitheater at Chief Logan State Park is the site for outdoor dramas, including the historical drama "The Aracoma Story" about Shawnee tribal members who lived at the present-day location of the town of Logan. The outdoor drama theater produces the Aracoma story and two to three other plays or musicals every year.
Little Beaver State Park is state park in Raleigh County, West Virginia. It is located near Beckley, West Virginia, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of I-64 at Grandview Road, exit 129A. The park sits on the shores of 18-acre (0.07 km²) Little Beaver Lake.
Pinnacle Rock State Park is a 374-acre (151 ha) day use state park in Mercer County, West Virginia. The park surrounds Pinnacle Rock, a sandstone formation that rises above the surrounding terrain.
The Wood County Courthouse is a public building in downtown Parkersburg, West Virginia, in the United States. The courthouse was built in 1899 at a cost of $100,000 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by local contractors Caldwell & Drake, according to the plans of architect L. W. Thomas of Canton, Ohio. The current courthouse is the fifth to be built in the county replacing one built in 1860. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its architectural significance. During his 1912 presidential campaign Theodore Roosevelt stopped in Parkersburg and spoke from the Market street entrance of the courthouse. On 2 July 2020 a new steeple was added to the bell tower replacing one that had been removed in 1952. With the new steeple the courthouse is now the tallest in the state at 164 ft.
Blennerhassett Hotel is a historic hotel located at Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. It opened in 1889 and is in the Queen Anne style. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. A full restoration took place in 1986. The Blennerhassett Hotel is also a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
"Oakland," also known as the James M. Stephenson House, is a home located in Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. Although a slaveholder and sympathizing with the Confederacy, Stephenson was also married to the sister of Unionist Arthur Boreman, and allowed then Union Army Col. James B. Steedman to use his grove nearby during the American Civil War. However, Union cavalry units occupied this his mansion for a time nonetheless, and damaged furnishings as well as the home and garden.
Margaret Agnew Blennerhassett was an English-American poet and aristocrat.
Drawing of the Blennerhassett home, circa 1800.
North end of Blennerhassett Island
Drawing from Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography
