barbour county historical museum

Having read about "Mummies of the Insane" on RoadsideAmerica.com, I had to see them while I was in West Virginia. It is WELL worth the trip. I arrived around 3 PM on a Friday and they were open. The museum seems to open only on weekends; you should probably call first to see if they're open. The docent was magnificent, showing me around the museum - it's so cool when you get a private tour! The mummies are kept in a separate, climate-controlled room and while they don't require you to pay a dollar, they do request a donation. The nice lady then told me the percentages of how much of that dollar goes to the high school, the library and the maintenance of the museum. They use the donations well.There were a LOT of interesting things to see in the museum; I wish I had come earlier in the day to spend more time here. The two-lane covered bridge, just outside the door, is the only one in existence STILL being used by a Federal Highway (US Route 250) and the park on the other side of the river has information signs, as well. Philippi is not only the home of the mummies and the bridge, it's the site of the first land-battle of the Civil War and the first amputation - and the victim of the amputation went on to found one of the largest makers of prosthetic devices and is still in business today.One of the things the lady mentioned was the baggage room of the depot has a floor that's made of wooden bricks - you can see the rings of the trees in the floor. I went into that room - that's where the model of the bridge is - and, sure enough, you can count the rings in the floor!Do NOT miss this museum.

Throughout the day long trails of railroad cars travel passed the Philippi Train Station, but the trains no longer stop for passengers. Instead, the cars are loaded down with coal and other products and pass by the small station with its stucco roof. Visitors come to the station for a different reason now. Housed within the retired station is a miniature historical museum dedicated to the town, the county and its citizens. The Barbour County Historical Museum contains many interesting and curious artifacts gleaned from around the county. There is a drum that was played at Appomattox Courthouse when General Lee Surrendered. A telephone switchboard that was built by a Philippi doctor that connected him to his patients around the county. There is a heavy weight winter coat and gloves made from the hide of a black bear as well as a lighter coat made from seal fur. There is a large wooden model of Lemuel Chenoweth's dual lane covered bridge that crosses the Tygart River just outside the doorway of the museum. Numerous items from the Civil War are on display as well as items from other American wars. Of interest to me were the many panoramic photographs of the town throughout the years showing the town's expansion. Also of interest were the many photos taken of floods that occurred in the town. One leg of a pianoforte is all that remains of the instrument after it was washed away and recovered following a major flood. A pair of station doors that floated down river and were recovered miles away are now back on their hinges in the earliest section of the station. Of most interest to visitors are the two female mummies that reside in a small room in the museum. They are a result of experiments by farmer/amateur scientist Graham Hamrick who was interested in how the ancient Egyptians mummified the Pharaohs. Hamrick experimented on smaller creatures such as snakes and mice before proceeding with humans whose bodies he obtained from the Weston Hospital for the Insane when the deceased had no family or burial instructions. At one time there was the body of a young boy, but the damage from flooding caused deterioration of his body which was then buried. You will find websites that detail the story of the Philippi mummies should you be curious to know more. The museum is manned by volunteers who try to have it open on weekends. So either call ahead or take your chance at finding it open. There is no fee to tour the museum, but to enter the mummies' room cost a dollar which is a very small price to pay to see these oddities. If you can afford to pay more, the money will be appreciated. A visitor can spend a half hour or so browsing the museum and its gift shop, then step outside to view the covered bridge and walk around main street where there are several 19th century structures many of which sadly need major repair. Getting back in your car, drive to Adaland and enjoy the pastoral beauty of this lovingly restored estate.

If you are already in Philippi and you have a spare hour this place is worth checking out, it has many civil war exhibits and even two mummies.

We dropped in here only expecting to stay for maybe 5 minutes, since the main reason we even stopped was to take pictures of the covered bridge. There was a neat old lady inside that pretty much explained Philippi's history to us with lots of detail! We didn't get to see the mummies, but she told us all about them. You could tell that she was very passonate about the town's history and the items in the museum. I wished we could've stayed longer, but we really soaked up a lot of information in the short amount of time spent here (maybe about 45 minutes). It's definitely worth the stop if you have free time and low on money (although you could be rich to enjoy it).

Would that we could have spent much more time in this fascinating museum . . . the attraction had been the Philippi Covered Bridge but so happy to have found the museum, with its 'mummies' as well as so much historical knowledge imparted by lady tour guide on 06 May 2006 (my apologies for having lost note with lady's name, but she was great!)The typewriter which prints from the sides . . . amazing! The old lawn mower and vacuum cleaner also quite interesting . . . whole experience was wonderful! Have been telling all about this from West Virginia up toward Wisconsin, then Minnesota & all states between there & our Texas home . . . now e-mailing all on address book to make it a point to visit this wonderful place.