Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park

Harman Blennerhassett was a wealthy, well-educated Irishman who came to America and, around 1798, bought part of this Ohio River island and built an elegant mansion far grander than anything on the surrounding frontier. He and his wife Margaret filled it with fine furnishings, books, and scientific instruments, and for a few years they lived a genteel life that visitors found astonishing in such a remote place.

The land the island sits within had long been part of the ancestral homeland and hunting grounds of the Shawnee and other peoples of the Ohio valley, none of them federally recognized in West Virginia today, with descendant communities continuing elsewhere. The Ohio River was a great highway for those nations long before it carried the settlers and the wealth that built the Blennerhassett house.

In 1805 and 1806, Blennerhassett was drawn into the orbit of Aaron Burr, the former Vice President who had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel and was now casting about for a bold new venture in the West. Burr's plans were murky and much debated even at the time, involving armed men, boats, and vague designs on Spanish territory or a breakaway western empire, and Blennerhassett put his money and his island at Burr's service.

The scheme collapsed, and both men were arrested and tried for treason. Burr was acquitted in a famous 1807 trial presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, and the charges against Blennerhassett were eventually dropped, but the affair ruined him. His fortune was gone, his mansion was later occupied and then destroyed by fire in 1811, and he died abroad in reduced circumstances. The island kept his name and his story.

The state acquired the island and, working from research and archaeology, reconstructed the Blennerhassett mansion on its original foundations, recreating the Palladian design with its central block and curving wings. Costumed guides lead tours through the furnished rooms, telling the story of the family, their brief glory, and their fall, and the archaeology that helped rebuild the house.

Beyond the mansion, the island invites unhurried exploration. Horse-drawn wagons carry visitors along the lanes, walking paths wind through woods and meadows, and the river slides past on every side. It is a rare combination of a genuine natural retreat and a serious piece of American history, all on an island you can only reach by boat.

The classic way to reach the island is aboard a sternwheeler paddleboat that departs from Point Park on the Parkersburg riverfront and crosses the Ohio to the island landing. The short river passage is part of the experience, giving a taste of the steamboat era that once ruled these waters. The park operates in the warmer months and closes for the coldest part of the year.

Summer is the fullest season, with the boat running, the mansion open, and the island green and inviting. Early fall brings cooler air and color to the riverbank trees. Whenever you go, planning around the sternwheeler schedule is the key to a smooth visit, since there is no other regular way across.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.