Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Collaboration is key when it comes to putting together a museum. It’s taken years for members of the Northern Pocahontas Historical Society to gather items and get a building, but all the hard work came to fruition when the Northern Pocahontas Heritage Center opened its doors to the public in mid-July.
In 2024, the organization received $200,000 from the Pocahontas County Commission to start the museum and in April of this year, that money was used to purchase a building on Main Street in Durbin. The three-story building which includes rentals on the top two floors, is now a haven for history lovers.
The first floor is an open floor space filled with displays of artifacts from schools, businesses and individuals that were part of the forming of northern Pocahontas County.
Several of the displays were originally at the Durbin Library but are now at home in the museum space.
NPHS members Judy Fuller and Carolyn Bosley said the organization may be small, but it worked hard to get the museum open in time for Durbin Days Heritage Festival.
“We decided when we got in here, it could use a freshening up,” Bosley said of the first floor. “We started painting. We did the trim and the pillars. They were a rusty color. My brother-in-law, Evan, works for Interstate Hardwoods and he spoke to Alan Sisler. They donated all the lumber that you see in here for the pillars and molding.”
The former owners of the building, Frank and Janet Ghigo, made a donation back to the museum which helped with the freshening up, as well.
Many display items came from locals who either loaned their artifacts or outright donated them to the organization.
At this time, the museum has small displays for both Durbin and Green Bank schools, Howes Leather Tannery and Bruce Bosley – a local boy who went on to play football at West Virginia University and was drafted to play in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons.
While the museum is located in Durbin, Bosley and Fuller assure that the museum is for all the communities in Northern Pocahontas County.
The museum is open Thursdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Those interested in loaning or donating items to the museum may contact Bosley and Fuller at [email protected]
