The West Virginia State Museum at The Culture Center

The footprint of the new West Virginia State Museum provides for layers of learning dedicated to the themes of community, identity, and character as they relate to the land, people, and culture of West Virginia. The unique areas are designated as Show Path, Discovery Rooms and Connections Rooms. They are presented as exhibitions following a chronological pattern beginning with prehistory and concluding in the 21st century.

The Showpath

The Show Path is an approximate forty-five minute tour through West Virginia history, which comes alive through dynamic re-creations of pivotal events and places in the state's past. Through first-person accounts, visitors will be immersed in each time and place.

The Discovery Rooms

Visitors will be able to access most of the 26 Discovery Rooms directly from the Show Path, allowing them to learn more about what they have just experienced. The Discovery Rooms feature artifacts, works of art, stories, music, film clips and follow a the timeline from prehistory all the way up to the 21st century. If you would like to view a short video of each Discovery Room courtesy of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Janet Kunicki and Beth Vorhees please click here.

The Connections Rooms

In the two connections Rooms, visitors can learn even more about the topics and events of West Virginia. Computer stations in each Connections Room allow visitors to explore photographs, documents, journal articles, and additional information about the state's fifty-five counties. Each Connections Room also offers a behind-the-scenes look at how artifacts are cared for in a museum.

Changing Exhibits Galleries

Before you begin your journey through the Show Path, the lobby area features a changing exhibit gallery that showcases popular artifacts from the state museum collection including our infamous dressed fleas. At the end of the Show Path, there is a second opportunity to visit a changing exhibits area, the Commissioner's Gallery.

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Quick Links THE SHOWPATH TOPICS & SETTINGS DISCOVERY ROOM 1 AN ANCIENT LAND DISCOVERY ROOM 2 PREHISTORIC PEOPLE DISCOVERY ROOM 3 CONFLICT AND SETTLEMENT DISCOVERY ROOM 4 FRONTIER LIFE DISCOVERY ROOM 5 JOHN BROWN'S RAID DISCOVERY ROOM 6 THE WAR WITHIN A STATE DISCOVERY ROOM 7 THE CASE FOR STATEHOOD DISCOVERY ROOM 8 THE BIG CITY DISCOVERY ROOM 9 THE FAMILY FARM DISCOVERY ROOM 10 THE COMPANY STORE DISCOVERY ROOM 11 CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN DISCOVERY ROOM 12 TRAINS AND RAILROADS DISCOVERY ROOM 13 BOATS AND RIVERS DISCOVERY ROOM 14 INDUSTRIALIZATION DISCOVERY ROOM 15 THE MINING LIFE DISCOVERY ROOM 16 THE STATE CAPITOL DISCOVERY ROOM 17 IT'S NOT ALL WORK DISCOVERY ROOM 18 THE GREAT DEPRESSION DISCOVERY ROOM 19 THE MINE WARS DISCOVERY ROOM 20 WEST VIRGINIANS AT WAR DISCOVERY ROOM 21 LATE 20th CENTURY DISCOVERY ROOM 22 CELEBRATING WEST VIRGINIA DISCOVERY ROOM 23 FROM HERE TO THERE DISCOVERY ROOM 24 PAINTING AND SCULPTURE DISCOVERY ROOM 25 A LEGACY OF CRAFTSMANSHIP DISCOVERY ROOM 26 TRADITIONS OF MUSIC