Museum Memo

Hello from the Great Bend Museum in Ravenswood! Founded in 1972 by the Jackson County Historical Society, our museum was created to share the rich history of Jackson County and the Ohio River’s Great Bend region through objects, photographs, and archives. In 2020, the Historical Society entrusted the museum and its collection to the City of Ravenswood to carry on its mission of preserving and promoting local history.

Our Object of the Month is a fascinating mystery—a hand-carved wooden spoon inscribed with “Payne 1-89.” Two notable Payne families are connected to Jackson County. The first includes Levi and Mary Shrewsbury Payne, who established a prominent farm in Frozen Camp around 1870. Many of their descendants still live in the area, with others in neighboring Roane County. The second Payne has ties to George Washington. Mary C. Fitzhugh Payne, granddaughter of Washington’s niece and heir Anne Ashton, inherited part of his “Sand Creek” land holdings alongside her four sisters. This land, stretching roughly from present-day Sycamore Street to the Ritchie Bridge, was divided among them into five long, narrow latitudinal sections, with Mary’s section occupying the northern edge above Sand Creek. Around 1815, Mary’s sister Henrietta and her husband, Henry Fitzhugh, acquired four of the five shares of this property. By 1836, they finally secured Mary’s share and shortly thereafter moved to the area and founded Ravenswood, laying out the town’s boundaries within the Payne tract. What do you think the spoon’s inscription means, and who do you think it came from? If you have any information about this artifact, please contact the museum at museum@cityofravenswood.com or 937-418-4031.

We are thrilled to announce that we have received a $20,000 grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council to build our upcoming exhibit, Behind Clara’s Lens: The Life and Photography of Clara Weisheit, opening in May 2025. Clara, a remarkable yet enigmatic Ravenswood resident, used her camera to capture the intimate details of women’s lives in small-town America and her adventures across the country between 1918 and 1937. From her front porch to the Pacific coast, her photographs reflect a curious and adventurous spirit while reminding us of the meaning of home. To complement the exhibit, an anonymous donor has generously provided $15,000 for bimonthly events inspired by its themes. These include workshops, lectures, and activities exploring life in the 1920s and ’30s, the history and process of photography, women’s history, classic period movies, and more. Join us in rediscovering life in Jackson County a century ago!

We have been closed this month while we undergo some exciting new updates within the museum! We installed two large ceiling fans in the main galleries, which will help us better regulate our temperature and humidity levels. We are also installing new lighting in the North Room (the one with the hearse) and are moving the courthouse chandelier to a more visible location in that room. We’ve taken this closure as an opportunity to rearrange move and some of our exhibits in preparation for Behind Clara’s Lens, and we are so excited to reveal the updates after we reopen.

With recent fires in California as a stark reminder of the dangers flames pose, we want to help you protect your heirlooms, personal archives, and other treasures. Jackson County has seen its share of devastating losses to fire, including Ripley’s first courthouse, the Cottageville mill, Ravenswood’s first church, and the McIntosh Community Center. Fortunately, today’s advanced materials and technologies offer new ways to safeguard cherished items.

Invest in a UL-rated fireproof safe or storage box rated for at least 30 minutes at 1,500°F to protect paper, photographs, and small keepsakes. Include silica gel packets to control moisture. Digitize important documents and photographs, storing copies in the cloud or on external drives kept off-site. Label photos with a #2 pencil or archival, non-bleed ink to prevent “dissociation”—the permanent loss of identity for unlabeled images. Avoid storing treasures in attics, which are more vulnerable to fire and extreme climates, and are less accessible. Wrap fragile items in acid-free tissue or unbleached muslin and avoid newspaper, which is acidic, and plastic containers, which can melt. For irreplaceable items, consider a safe deposit box. Lastly, prepare an emergency evacuation plan with a checklist of essential items. ReadyWV and the West Virginia Center for Threat Preparedness offer excellent resources to help you get started.

We hope this column inspires you to explore and appreciate the beauty of our museum and the stories it preserves. The Great Bend Museum is a museum for all of Jackson County. Please share your experiences with us, bring friends, and help spread the magic of our history.

Located at 220 Riverfront Park, our hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Follow us on Facebook, visit www.cityofravenswood/museum, call 304-273-1999, or email museum@cityofravenswood.com.