Northern West Virginia’s largest and most heavily industrialized city, Parkersburg (pop. 33,099) is located strategically at the junction of the Ohio and Little Kanawha Rivers. The town’s economy is based around an unusual pair of employers: the federal Bureau of the Public Debt, which redeems U.S. Savings Bonds, and a massive DuPont Teflon factory.
Though the first impression can be fairly bleak, Parkersburg does merit a closer look. The Blennerhasset Museum (closed Mon.; $2; 304/420-4800), housed in a turn-of-the-20th-century brick warehouse at 2nd and Juliana Streets, traces regional history, with a focus on the escapades of the Irish aristocrat Harman Blennerhasset, who in 1806 conspired with Aaron Burr to establish an independent fiefdom in Texas and the Southwest. If you’re interested, you can ride a paddle wheeler to and from the Ohio River island on which Blennerhasset built the palatial home where the plot was hatched. The house has been reconstructed as a state park (tours $2), and boats ($8) leave hourly for the island from Point Park, which is two blocks west of the museum, under the railroad bridges and on the far side of the 25-foot concrete flood walls at the confluence of the rivers.
Parkersburg also has a good range of motels and a couple of coffee shops along US-50, like the 24-hour Mountaineer Family Restaurant (304/422-0101), at 4006 E. 7tth Street, near I-77 on the east side of town.
