Seniors Venture Into Moundsville

 Moundsville, a small town in Marshall County nestled in the northern panhandle of scenic West Virginia is a growing community rich in heritage and history. Seniors learn that its name comes from the many Adena Indian burial mounds constructed more than 2000 years ago.

Moundsville was settled in 1771 by Samuel & James Tomlinson. Elizabethtown, as Tomlinson’s community was called, was incorporated in 1830. Nearby, the town of Mound City was incorporated in 1832. The two towns combined in 1865.

Fostoria Glass Company, specializing in hand blown glassworks, was headquartered in Moundsville from 1891 to 1986. The retired West Virginia State Penitentiary operated in Moundsville from 1867 to 1995 and has been placed on the National Historic Register.

 Senior Travelers Find Burial Mounds

Moundsville is home to the largest conical burial mound in North America. The area is not only a land of sacred pasts, but of promising futures. The town is a melting pot of fine education, a strong blue-collar workforce, bountiful heritage and beautiful landscapes. 

The Grave Creek Mount Archeological Complex is well worth a visit. The heart of the site is the most famous and certainly the largest of the Adena Burial mounds. A massive undertaking, construction of the mound required the movement of more than 60,000 tons of earth.

Construction of the mound took place in successive stages from about 250-150 B.C., as indicated by the multiple burials at different levels within the structures.

In 1838, road engineers measured its height at 69 feet and its diameter at the base at 295 feet. Originally a moat of about 40 feet in width and five feet in depth with one causeway encircled it.

I always wonder who figures out stats like that. Artifacts and exhibits interpreting the lifestyle of the Adena people are displayed in the Delf Norona Museum, adjacent to the 2,000 year old mound. The Museum opened in December 1978 and is a thoroughly modern facility and an architectural tribute to a prehistoric era.

 Seniors Visit A Theater and a Toy Museum

The Strand Theater is another must see site in Moundsville that has its first opening back in November 1920. The first pictures featured were Norma Talmadge in “The Branded Woman” and Fatty Arbuckle in “The Garage.” Remember Fatty? Admission prices were 17 cents and 33 cents.

If you bring along grandkids, plan to enjoy the Marx Toy Museum as the company became the “largest manufacturer of toys in the world.”

Up on McCreary’s Ridge Road you will find Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold that is reminiscent of a heavenly kingdom.

High atop the Appalachian foothills, healthy mountain air carries the sweet fragrance of countless garden flowers and is home to one of the 100 top award-winning rose gardens in the country.

The Palace is rated as one of the 8 religious wonders to see in the U.S. by CNN.

So set your GPS for Moundsville and enjoy all that it offers along with some awesome West Virginia scenery. -jeb