Beverly Heritage Center

The Beverly Heritage Center has four permanent exhibits and one temporary exhibit.

Our exhibit in the Beverly Bank, “Travel a Turnpike through Time”, was opened originally in 2005. The exhibit discusses the construction of the turnpike, and how the roadway – and the communities along it – have evolved and changed over time. We focus on stories related to Beverly’s Bridge Builder, Lemuel Chenoweth, and about the importance of this road in the growth of this region. This exhibit has artifacts related to transportation and surveying, the Underground Railroad, and even a set of dominoes made by Mr. Chenoweth.

In the 1808 Courthouse, we feature an exhibit about Randolph County’s “Other Civil War – the Struggle for the County Seat”. This was a courthouse war between Beverly and Elkins from 1890 to 1899 which pitted the small town against two of the richest men in West Virginia. Three votes and an armed standoff eventually moved the courthouse and Jail from Beverly to Elkins. This exhibit features spittoons original to this building as well a full recreation of a 19th-century courthouse complete with judge’s bench, witness stand, and lawyer’s bar.

The 1907 Aries Hill building features an exhibit about “Beverly’s Heyday” as a popular stop on the Staunton–Parkersburg Turnpike that provided goods and service to travelers. We have a variety of stories to tell about commercial life in Beverly from 1870 to 1910. Our centerpiece is a saloon setup which is a nod to the Hill building’s history as a pool hall. We also have a small town print shop set up and a general store display that showcases local foodways. The building’s storefront windows are used as a rotating exhibit space visible from Court Street that has featured women from Randolph County such as Anna Laurie McClintic and Wilma Lee Cooper.

The 1854 Bushrod Crawford building focuses on the “First Campaign of the Civil War”. This building was the headquarters of General George McClellan shortly after the Union victory at Rich Mountain until he was called to Washington to lead the Federal army. This exhibit showcases many of the “firsts” of the War and features a saw used in the first amputation by a Confederate surgeon, artifacts recovered from the Battle of Rich Mountain, and a jewelry box owned by Laura Jackson Arnold.

For Information on Previous Exhibits, click here!

To learn more about our current Exhibit on African-American History in Randolph County, click here!