Blennerhassett Island

Images of America: Blennerhassett Island reveals for the first time the pictorial past of the Ohio River's most famous island. Located one-and-a-half miles west of Parkersburg, West Virginia, it sprang into national fame two centuries ago as the headquarters of Aaron Burr's 18061807 conspiracy to create an empire in the Southwest. The island also was renowned as the site of the American West's most beautiful home: the legendary Blennerhassett Mansion, completed in 1800 only to be destroyed by fire 11 years later. This
volume's more than 200 fascinating pictures -- most never published before -- will take the reader on an exciting adventure through time, beginning with the island's glamorous Burr/Blennerhassett years; through its 19th century steamboat era; and into the 20th century, when it became the playground of the Mid-Ohio Valley. The final images portray the 1980 creation of Blennerhassett Island as a popular West Virginia state park with the reconstructed
Blennerhassett Mansion as its centerpiece.

Ray Swick, a resident of Parkersburg, serves as historian of West Virginia State Parks. Christina Little, who also lives in Parkersburg, is a well-known authority on antiques. She and her husband, Jeffrey, are co-authors of the recent Arcadia publication, Parkersburg in Vintage Postcards.