Museum Set To Open; Calling For Volunteers

The Barbour County Historical Museum awaits visitors for the 2024 season. Days and hours for this year are Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays by appointment. The Museum is housed in the former train depot and sits on the corner of Museum Street and Main Street just before the Philippi Covered Bridge.

The Barbour County Historical Museum is set to open for the 2024 season on Thursday, March 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a Museum spokesperson. The Museum will be open for visitors on Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays by appointment.

The Museum features numerous historical artifacts from the area including items from the Civil War; the Myers family, Barbour County’s well known and respected medical professionals; and area farming and mining. The Museum’s most famous items are the two Philippi mummies, mummified by Philippi farmer Graham Hamrick, using a secret mummification formula and fluid and following his own procedure for creating the mummified body.

In addition to the historical artifacts, the Museum also hosts the recently fabricated statue of former Philippi resident Ted Cassidy as the character Lurch from the 1960’s TV show, The Addams Family. This statue has been an item of much interest as Museum visitors enjoy having their pictures taken with Lurch.

The Museum is also the source of many souvenir items. Note cards, magnets, key chains, shot glasses, mugs, all emblazoned with pictures of the Philippi Covered Bridge, plus a variety of Civil War toys are all available for sale.

To keep the Museum open for visitors throughout the spring and summer months, the Museum is issuing a call for volunteers. Community members wanting to volunteer for the Museum are invited to a meeting of the Barbour County Historical Society on Thursday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Museum. At this meeting, volunteering for the Museum will be discussed and interesting people will be able to sign up to help keep the Museum open for the hundreds of visitors who drop by the Museum during the spring and summer months.

Anyone who has questions about volunteering for the Museum can call the Museum’s current volunteers Wade Alexander at 304-918-3162 or Ed Larry at 304-669-7679.