West Virginia 2008 Official State Travel Guide - (Page 20) Gateway to West Virginia The West Virginia Division of 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. It operates six museums and historic sites across the state. Cultural Center Reader Response 151 Vandalia Gathering When you visit the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, you will find the state archives library, and a soon to be completed newly renovated state museum, slated to open in the first half of 2009. The Center hosts a yearly State Dance Festival, Vandalia Gathering and juried Quilt and Wall Hanging Exhibit. New this year is the Collegiate Series featuring lectures and performances by schools from around the state. In addition, the Center presents Cultural Heritage Lectures, Garden Festivals, and biennial events including the State Thespian Festival. When you travel to the Northern Panhandle, stop at the West Virginia Independence Hall Museum in Wheeling. Here you step back in time to the American Civil War–an era of political intrigue, treason, loyalty oaths and the threat of rebel invasion–when Wheeling was still in Virginia and West Virginia was not yet a state. Originally built as a federal custom house in 1859, the facility is considered the birthplace of West Virginia. Designated a National Historic Landmark, it also is listed on the Civil War Discovery Trail. Just a few miles south of Wheeling, visitors can see Grave Creek Mound Archaeology Complex in Moundsville. It features one of the largest and most famous burial mounds built by the prehistoric Adena people between 250-150 B.C. and the Delf Norona Museum. A 9,600square-foot wing was recently built on the northeast corner of the complex. It holds a state-of-the-art collections storage area, a conservation laboratory for curators, study area for researchers, library and observation area where visitors can watch the activity in the lab. Nestled in the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area of Cabell County, the Jenkins Plantation Museum offers visitors a window into the area’s agricultural history and the turbulence of the Civil War. The Jenkins house, built in the tradition of Tidewater, Virginia, was built by slaves between 1830 and 1835. It served as the home of Confederate Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Jenkins. The facility offers an opportunity for you to explore the lives of those who lived in Ohio Valley plantation households and their impact on the Quilt Exhibit West Virginia Dance Festival
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