While driving back from the east coast, my son wanted to see a paranormal museum. I googled the…read moreterm in each state we went through and found this place. It's not more than a 20 minute drive off Interstate 70. The proprietor, Steve, and his friend Vickie were working this evening. They were very friendly and accommodating. I had called earlier in the day to make sure they were open and he gave me detailed directions to find him. The museum is a fairly decent size collection of macabre artifacts and allegedly haunted items. There is a good collection of prison memorabilia. Plenty of explanatory signs for each. If you want to know more, Steve is more than willing to discuss what he knows. I really appreciated his sincerity and passion for The collection is in an older school building turned community center, which frankly was slightly creepy itself. This was just a very fun detour off the highway and well worth the time. Fun fact: you go through Glen Dale, WV to get there: hometown of Brad Paisley and George Brett if that interests you at all.

Some really interesting s**t!…read more Friendly curator who is very passionate about the Archive. I stopped in to take a break from a road trip and it was totally worth it.

It is an awesome place for the whole family. It's kind of stuffy and quite dusty. I sneezed a lot…read more However, it's in an old school building with several floors of displays. There is a lift for wheelchairs. There is a play room to build Lego things. You can touch nearly every display, which is unusual. Please don't break them. There was a room we could not enter because some kids climbed under the rail and destroyed a display. This place is fun and fascinating and it was well worth, more than worth the three hour drive for us to get there. You really should go. I thought it was better than Legoland. On a side note...I had two GPS units running and they both told me I had arrived when I was still two blocks away.

You can learn about West Virginia history at this free museum. Or you can be like my children and…read morejust glance at the exhibits while trying to find buttons to push and things to touch. Your call! If you did go through the museum purposefully, though, you'd find a lot information about how West Virginia, a Unionist state, separated from Virginia, a Confederate state. There are three floors of Civil War memorabilia, West Virginia things and ... honestly, I think I'm like my children, because I didn't read any of the information either. But I know if you want to learn more about West Virginia, this is the place to do it. I mostly just enjoyed walking around, looking at the old furniture, peeking out of the windows and observing all of the nicely preserved historical objects that the museum has so lovingly displayed for everyone to see. This is a beautiful museum, and there's so much to see and learn about that I'm kind of shocked it was free to visit. There was one woman working there when we visited. It's a quiet little museum, so one person working there seemed right. I could tell that she really wanted us to ask questions -- she had a lot of West Virginia knowledge rattling around in her head. Unfortunately for her, my family was only there to push buttons and touch things and gaze out of the windows, so she retreated back to her desk and let us peruse freely. We had a good time at West Virginia Independence Hall, and stayed maybe 30 minutes. But I could see other people staying an hour or more, especially if you are really into history, and you take your time to absorb all of the information that's available.

OMG This museum is FREE!!! It is full of West Virginia…read moreHistory, artifacts and gems. Parking is in the rear and FREE as well. Easy to locate in downtown area of Wheeling across from the B&O Railroad Building which is now part of the community college. For my birthday I wanted to go here so my hubby Tony, daughter Noel and her boyfriend Adam joined me. Outside on the corner is a hugh statue of Governor Pierpont, the first governor of the new State of West Virginia. Some historical markers, a monument to the civil war, and a cannon. Inside there is 3 levels. Top level is the courtroom, were the convention was held to declare, argue and vote on making a new State and breaking away from Virginia. It was here that West Virginia was born. Second levels there are various rooms stuffed full of historical memorable items. First floor there are some civil war informative displays, an old post office and a riverboat display. In the basement, bathrooms and theatre to watch a 18 minute brief film narrates how this all became about. This was originally the Old Custom House.

We all really enjoyed this place! Yes, it's an old schoolhouse in an old town in the middle of…read morenowhere but you're going for the Legos not to stare at the building. There are some really cool displays here and you get to walk around on your own and take as much time as you want. My kids love Legos and this was totally worth the trip. Plus it was way cheaper than the Legoland discovery centers and my kids still loved it. Before you judge, yes we've been to LDC's - five locations in four states. This place could use a good cleaning and better lighting but my kids didn't notice any of that. They noticed the Spider-Man and the Statue of Liberty and all the other displays built with Legos! I was definitely impressed by some of the things they had on display. This is a fun place to check out even if you don't have kids.

Dan has over done it!!! He has SOOOO many different creations, and it's ever changing!! Been there…read morenumerous times, and it's always different!! Awesome place to take the kids, and show them what creativity and hard work can do!! Time and patience is what is displayed here!! Fully recommend this Museum for Lego fanatic's, Children, adolescent's, and adults of all ages!! Affordable, easy to find, and unique!!

I agree with the previous review - not what I would call a "Children's Museum". It is definitely a…read moregreat play place, though. Anything you could imagine that kids would love is here - dress up, grocery store, climbing wall, play house, animals, building blocks of all shapes and sizes. Even a music area and a craft table.

It costs $2 per adult and $4 per kid. If this was in Columbus and near my house, then I would get…read morea membership and use it during the winter as a play space. I would not call this place a museum in the same sense as the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. I believe the name is misleading and it should be called a play space. As a play space this place would get 4 stars but as a museum it would get one star. I averaged that and gave it 3 stars for affordability. The place is basically one big room but it has some walls to divide the space up a little. They have animal alley with a tarantula, fish, lizard, turtle, and a snake. They have a climbing wall, craft area, chalkboard, train table, and a sand table. One of the cooler stations is the lego station as they have a good collection of lego parts. They also have a station with an Ipad attached where one can video tape their actions and replay them. They have the bigger lego blocks in some small bins. They have the blue imagination blocks for constructing as well. My kids the loved the dress-up outcove the most as they have a kitchen and numerous outfits to put on. They have a small house type structure to climb steps. My 3 year old walked up it and was disappointed to not see a slide. All in all this place is a decent place to play on rainy or cold days. It is open enough to let the kids run around while one relaxes a little. Bring your own food and drink. There is a hot dog stand across the street and a restaurant on the corner. If you are traveling and need a place for kids to run around and be engaged then this place is better than the playspace at Burger King in St. Clairesville.

Recommend fun experience for you and your family. If you want to have a time where you have toys…read morefrom your childhood with your kid or kids go to toy and train museum. Three floors of pure joy, but the bottom floor/basement is full of Peanuts characters. There is an I spy room where you find dinosaurs. There is also an old fashioned Merry-Go-Round.

This is our favorite stop whenever we travel through the area. The trains are amazing, but the toys…read moreare impressive. New to us this time is the Peanuts collection, so fun!Hopefully will be back this way again soon.

I was really impressed by the museum of natural history and the art museum. The natural history…read moremuseum had cool fossils, beautify rocks/minerals, and breathtaking dioramas that really put you in the habitat of the creature they are portraying. The museum was relatively empty when I went except for multiple field trips of elementary school students. Admission for one adult to the museums was only $25 for the whole day, which felt like a steal. There were plenty of opportunities for children to enjoy the exhibits as well. The museum was clean, inviting, easy to navigate and had staff all over to help give directions.

Hey, I liked the first "Jurassic Park" and was raised on Saturday morning episodes of "Land of the…read moreLost". However, I've got to admit I'm just not into giant dinosaurs. Truth be told, the key reason I came here was that the $25 admission gave me concurrent access to the Carnegie Museum of Art since the two museums share the same building. If dinos are your thing, the scale was indeed impressive. Just be mindful they didn't move and were ironically crowded together in one section (Photo 7). There are rooms dedicated to wildlife dioramas from eons past, including the fabled La Brea Tar Pits (Photo 9), as well as more current ones representing North America, the polar caps, and the African savanna. I thought the most arresting exhibits were the rooms dedicated to minerals, gems, and jewelry. The Hillman Hall focuses on natural forms and dramatic shapes (Photo 8), while the Wertz Gallery presents more of the finished, polished results (Photo 10). It felt like Tiffany's without the breakfast or Holly Golightly. It was quite a family-friendly hodgepodge of attractions. It seemed I deal for a junior high school field trip, probably somewhat less for out-of-town curmudgeons like me. RELATED - Exploring Pittsburgh? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/ygLhKUK9LU

I've been to a number of different museums that cover World War II whether it's the Imperial War…read moreMuseum in London or the D Day Museum in Bedford Virginia. This is the first museum that I can recall which honors the contributions from the home front. Dennison Depot was a stop for these soldiers on the way to the front and the town went out of their way to ensure they were supported, serving up thousands of gallons of coffee and millions of cookies and so much more. The museum itself is a series of railroad cars that have been recovered and restored. As you walk through the cars, there are signs and captions that show the history, explain the memorabilia and more. Friendly folks who were happy to have a visitor this morning. I found the display really interesting and well worth the price of admission. [Review 20456 overall - 189 in Ohio - 1436 of 2023.]

They did a phenomenal job with the Polar Express. High energy, well-orchestrated, fun excursion for…read morechildren. The staff and volunteers were friendly and knowledgeable. They have a well-greased machine. I was a little concerned at first, because the waiting room was so loud and chaotic, but once we got on the train, everything ran smoothly. My 3 year old loved the limbo contest and "conductor says". Santa was so nice and spent quality time with each party. I don't know if we'll do it again, but it was absolutely money well-spent.

This is the quintessential Brownsville historical attraction. If you are looking for a prize of…read morelocal history you cannot find anywhere else then look no further

I have heard of Nemacolin Castle, but had thought it was near the resort by the same name. It…read morewasn't until I entered the address into the GPS that I learned it is located in Brownsville. Husband and I decided to visit when the Christmas tour was offered. We got a history lesson on the man who founded a trading post and built the castle. The Bowman family was quite influential in the area. It is impressive to be made aware of the history behind the family and the home. The home is managed by the historical society and volunteers. It would be great if they would get some additional funding for restoring the home. Right now, they rely on donations and admission fees to maintain the upkeep. There are areas of sagging floors and peeling wallpaper. It is fortunate that most of the furniture items were actually owned and used by the family. The piano is beautiful and one of the first to come to the area. The home was decorated for the Christmas holiday. Admission is $15 for adults and tickets may be purchased online or at the door. On busy times, I would recommend reservations. Our guide was knowledgeable and friendly. We were in a tour of about 18-24 people which was too large of a group. The some of the rooms were small and we were crammed in to hear the guide. Still, it was a nice way to spend a rainy Saturday before Christmas. I want to return when they have a haunted tour next fall.