Point Pleasant River Museum

Yesterday, Adam reminded me that the next time we were near Point Pleasant WV that I had promised to take him to the Point Pleasant River Museum. Well, we were in the neighborhood, so we went.

I had been meaning to go to the museum for several years. But it was so close by and so convenient that I kept forgetting or procrastinating.

So yesterday we went, and I kicked myself for taking so long.

Adam spent some time looking at the model of the Silver Bridge. I explained what I knew about what caused its collapse. I also told him that I wrote a paper for my History of American Journalism class about the Silver Bridge using contemporary newspaper and magazine articles as sources. He made sure we watched a video about the collapse, and we were both impressed by the computer animation of what happened.

We had to make at least three trips through the room with the aquarium holding several species of Ohio River fish.

Adam spent some time looking at this model of the towboat AEP Mariner. Of course, he found a couple of differences between the model and the actual boat.

Adam tried out the calliope ...

... and he rang a bell, but I couldn't talk him into operating an old steamboat whistle. My grandfather, who died in the 1950s, used to sit on his back porch by the Ohio River and identify far-off boats by the sounds of their whistles.

The museum is a must-see for anyone interested in the Ohio River or the Kanawha River. You don't have to be a riverboat fan or a local history hobbyist to enjoy it.

For more information, the museum's Web site is here.

If you're on Facebook, the museum's page is here.