Marshall County History Museum
301 13th Street, Moundsville, WV 26041

Like us on Facebook at: Marshall County WV Historical Society

Hours:
April-October:
Mondays - 10-3

Year-Round: Saturdays 10-3 (when volunteers are available)

Tours available outside opening hours by appointment.
The Marshall County History Museum is located in the former Hughes Mission Church, constructed at the corner of 13th and Lockwood in Moundsville, in 1922. The church later housed Messiah Lutheran Church until 1964, and finally Gateway Apostolic Church. The Marshall County Historical Society was fortunate enough to aquire the building in 1996. The museum features displays of artifacts related to Marshall County businesses, industries, military veterans, agriculture, education, and much more! There is also a family genealogy and research center on site, which houses an extensive archive of historic records, documents, photographs, maps, and publications for public use. The museum is staffed entirely by volunteers and has recently undergone a major overhaul, featuring new displays and never before seen artifacts from our collection. The Marshall County Historical Society is always looking for new additions to its museum and archives collections.

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Historic Cockayne Farmstead Museum
1105 Wheeling Avenue, Glen Dale, WV 26038

Hours:
Monday-Saturday, 10-4
Winter Hours:
Monday-Friday, 10-4

​ The Historic Cockayne Farmstead Museum is owned by the City of Glen Dale, WV and is leased and operated by the Marshall County Historical Society. The 1850 farmhouse museum prides itself on being "frozen in time", in a state of preservation, rather than restoration. The Cockayne Farmstead showcases the story of one of Marshall County's earliest settling, and most prominent families. The Cockaynes settled in what was then known as Gravel Bottom, Virginia (present Glen Dale, West Virginia) in the 1790s. Upon the death of Samuel Cockayne in 1850, the family farmstead was divided among Samuel's two sons, Bennett and Vincent Cockayne. Vincent retained the family's original homestead at the south end of Glen Dale (just north of the Glen Dale Drive-In theater site), while Bennett built this beautiful 12 room farmhouse on the northern half of the farmstead property. The farmhouse served as both the first school in Glen Dale and the first post office.
The wealthy Cockayne family raised many varieties of livestock and crops, the most prized of which were their Merino Sheep. The Cockayne Farmstead, also known as Leahurst, became internationally known for their fine Merino wool, when Samuel A.J. Cockayne won the top prize for his wool, at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The home was also a prominent social and cultural hub during the Victorian Era, most notably for the artistic and musical talents of the five Cockayne sisters who grew up in the home during the 1880s-1890s.
The final member of the Cockayne family to live in the home was Sam Cockayne, a reclusive WWII veteran of the Pacific Theatre. Upon his death in 2001, the untouched, historic home and its collection of thousands of artifacts, spanning two centuries, was left to the City of Glen Dale to be used for the good of the people of Marshall County. The Marshall County Historical Society was approached by the city to create a museum for the public, and the rest is history! The property also features a small, unexcavated Adena burial mound, that was protected by the Cockayne family for generations.
The Cockayne Farmstead offers a variety of family and youth programming throughout the year, with Autumn's "Scarecrow Lane", "Christmas with the Cockaynes", and a summertime lecture series known as "Hungry for History" topping the list for local residents looking to learn and experience what agricultural and social life was like in Marshall County during the Victorian Era.