Blennerhassett Island Historical State
Park
137 Juliana St.
Parkersburg, WV 26101-5331
History
Harman Blennerhassett,
a wealthy Irish aristocrat, settled on the wilderness island in 1798, where he
built a magnificent mansion. Designed in the Palladian style (like Mount
Vernon), the house contained 7,000 square feet of floor space. Its rooms were
furnished with furniture purchased in London and Baltimore, oriental carpets,
oil paintings, and porcelain made in Paris. The hardware on some of the interior
doors was made of silver. Alabaster lamps were suspended from the ceilings by
silver chains. A 2 1/3 acre flower garden and two huge lawns surrounded the
house. It was one of the most elegant estates in Virginia and was the most
beautiful home west of the Alleghenies.
In 1806, however, Harman became entangled in a mysterious military
enterprise with Aaron Burr. As a result, President Thomas Jefferson accused both
men of plotting treason in attempting to establish an empire in the Southwest.
Blennnerhassett fled
the island, but was captured and put into Virginia State Penitentiary. Although
Burr was tried and acquitted and Blennerhassett released from prison, the lives
of both men were ruined. Interestingly, most historians now agree that Burr had
set his sights on northern Mexico for his dominion, today's state of Texas.
The exquisite mansion accidentally burned to the ground in 1811, eventually
leaving no trace of its graceful, semicircular lines. However, modern
archaeologists rediscovered its foundations in 1973. Through a continuing
program of careful historical and architectural research, the mansion has been
recreated for visitors to see. Work on furnishing its interior is still in
progress.
Blennerhassett Island's antiquity spans back to Ice Age hunters 9,000
years ago. Native American tribes lived on the island almost continuously, until
white settlers began to flock into the Ohio Valley in the 1780s.
Many artifacts and tools dating to these ancient residents of Blennerhassett
Island are on display at the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History in
downtown Parkersburg, at 2nd and Juliana streets.
Blennerhassett Island is a noteworthy historic location for a variety of other
reasons. During the 1760s, the famous Delaware Indian, Nemacolin, made the
island his home. In addition, it was visited by many renowned figures including
George Rogers Clark, King Charles X of France, Johnny Appleseed, Henry Clay and
Walt Whitman.
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