The Heritage Farm Museum and Village: Huntington, West Virginia

The state of West Virginia is in the eastern United States of America. Originally part of the state of Virginia before segregating from that state during the American Civil War during the early half of the 1860’s, the state is mostly mountainous with very few cities. West Virginia has the largest wilderness area in the United States east of the Mississippi. With little urbanization, it clings to the name ‘Wild and Wonderful West Virginia’. Even to this present day the state has little life of massive urbanizing apart from the region of the eastern panhandle being a part of the Washington D.C. metropolitan region. As for the rest of the state, they love the tranquility of the lack of urbanization.

Welcome to the Heritage Farm Museum and Village located outside of Huntington. The Heritage Farm Museum and Village displays the old rural life of the state. Founded by Mike and Henriella Perry, who created the village by acquiring old structures to bring to life the days of yesteryear. The village consists of old cabins, blacksmith shop, log church, a homestead site, a petting zoo, a few museums where their collections of antiques are displayed and an artisan center where great artisans do their craft. A visit to the Heritage Farm Museum and Village will be a visit that will take you back in time.

Now some of you are saying, “Wow! This is wonderful. I love West Virginia. This state is a great refuge from the urban meccas of New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Columbus. I really love the tranquility this state has to offer. I am proud of the fact that the Heritage Farm Museum and Village is preserving the states rural heritage. However, there is one big problem with this place. As you can see, this place has absolutely nothing to do with the railroad. Therefore, I see absolutely nothing that is wild and wonderful about the Heritage Farm Museum and Village.”

So, what is so special about the Heritage Farm Museum and Village? It is a farm and village of course. It has a few museums. What museums? You have the School Museum which depicts the life of schools in early America. You have a Children’s Activity Museum, a Doll and Carriage Museum and the Country Store Museum.

Now you are saying, “Wow! Great! Museums! No trains.”

Then you come to the Museum of Progress. What is the progress museum? It talks about the progression of life in America. One of the displays in this museum is two model train displays. The displays have trains rolling through the days of early America to the modern day.

By the way, there is more.

You then have the Museum of Transportation. It displays transportation from the old wagon days to the modern day to include railroads, and you see plenty of them here. This also has two model train displays.

If that is not enough for you, here is one more thing.

The Heritage Farm Museum and Village feature overnight accommodations that include old farmhouses, but it also includes a caboose from the Virginian Railway. Yes, you can spend a night in a caboose.

Therefore, if somebody tells you that the Heritage Farm Museum and Village has nothing to do with the railroad, they have not visited the place because although they focus on the rural lifestyle, they do have model trains and a caboose to sleep in. The great thing is that they are open year-round, but hours do vary by day. (They are closed Sundays and Holidays.) You can get more information at http://www.heritagefarmmuseum.com/.