The Joe and Nellie Parriott Archival Center has opened its doors, offering a new hub for genealogy and local history research in the Ohio Valley.
Initiated by Jim Stultz, president of the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, the center, located at 509 Morton Ave., aims to collect and preserve the rich history of Moundsville, originally known as Elizabethtown before its name change in the 1860s.
“I just think it’s important for people to understand where they came from, how they originally settled in this town,” said Tanner Skym, the center’s archivist.
The center boasts collections from across the Ohio Valley dating back to the 1800s and is in the process of digitizing these materials to make them accessible online.
“I’m excited to digitize these collections, have them available for people online and all around the area and even across the country,” Skym said.
With hundreds of photos and books now available, Skym hopes the center will attract more visitors eager to trace their lineage.
The center is also set to collaborate with the Marshall County Historical Society on upcoming projects.
“We are going to make a podcast titled Marshall County Memoirs,” Skym said. “In this, we plan to interview many people around the area, and just talk about at any point in time, any history of families, and we are very excited to start that project.”
Currently, the center is open by appointment only. For more information, contact Skym at (304) 843-1082 or via email at [email protected].