Clarksburg History Museum

What Clarksburg History Museum does

The Clarksburg History Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit local history museum founded in 2017 and opened to the public on November 11, 2018, occupying space inside the Harrison County Board of Education Building (Old Hope Gas Headquarters) at 445 West Main Street, Clarksburg, West Virginia. The museum's mission is to teach, inspire, and strengthen connections to history for everyone in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia and beyond, and it operates free of charge to visitors. Core offerings include permanent and rotating exhibits spanning military artifacts (one of the largest private military memorabilia collections in West Virginia, curated by founding member Al Ford), a School Room, television and radio memorabilia, and Civil War/19th-century displays. Supporting products include the "Around and About" podcast (Seasons 1 and 2), a historical blog, the Digital Archives Project launching in 2025 to digitize yearbooks and local publications, the online Goldenseal Magazine archive (live October 2025), and a complete on-site print collection of Goldenseal dating back to 1975.

The museum serves four horizontal customer segments: the general public and local community, school and educational groups, researchers and genealogists, and community partners and local businesses. Programmatic surfaces include school and group tours booked by appointment, monthly First Fridays community events launched October 2024, the inaugural "History Friends Gathering" cocktail reception held June 26, 2026 with the first-ever History Keeper Award presented to Patricia Rummel, and ticketed special events such as the "A Haunting at James & Law" paranormal tour launched October 18, 2025 in partnership with ParaHouse Magazine. The Keepsake, an annual member publication, is slated to debut in December 2026.

The business model is a multi-stream nonprofit model reliant on community support. Pricing is structured as: free admission, $25 annual memberships (including member card and The Keepsake), gift shop merchandise at unit prices ranging from $4 for stickers to $26.50 for t-shirts, undisclosed ticket prices for special events, and tax-deductible monetary and artifact donations. Additional revenue flows from grants supporting general operations and specific initiatives such as exhibits and the digital archives. Operations are substantially volunteer-driven, with leadership provided by President Michael Spatafore and an extended team of volunteer contributors, blog authors, and a podcast host. The museum holds West Virginia Civil War Trails and West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Trail listings, and received the NSDAR Historic Preservation Recognition Award from the Daniel Davisson Chapter on April 23, 2024.

Name

Clarksburg History Museum

Legal name

Clarksburg History Museum

Website

https://clarksburghistorymuseum.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Clarksburg History Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit local history museum in Clarksburg, West Virginia, founded in 2017, offering free admission, exhibits, school tours, a podcast, gift shop, and community events, funded by memberships, donations, and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum and Cultural Heritage Services

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Libraries and Archives (519210)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAJADAB

History Museums

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

SECONDARYTHAJADAI

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations)

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

SECONDARYBPAGAHAA

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYEDAEAGAJ

Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation)

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

Keywords

• Local history museum
• Cultural heritage exhibits
• Historical artifact preservation
• Educational school tours
• Community history programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Clarksburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Memberships: The museum operates primarily on monetary donations from supporters and members. Memberships are sold at $25 per year, providing a member card and a copy of The Keepsake annual publication.
2. Gift Shop and Merchandise Sales: The museum operates a physical gift shop open during regular hours and an online storefront selling stickers, t-shirts, books, postcards, and other historical memorabilia.
3. Event Tickets and Tours: The museum sells tickets to special events such as the Haunting at James & Law paranormal tour and offers group/school tour bookings, with proceeds supporting educational and preservation initiatives.
4. Grants: The museum receives grant funding to support general operations and specific projects such as exhibits and the digital archives initiative.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Clarksburg History Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit history museum that provides free admission to exhibits showcasing local Clarksburg and Harrison County history, including military memorabilia, a school room, television/radio artifacts, and Civil War/19th century displays. It operates a physical and online gift shop, offers school and group educational tours, runs an oral history podcast, hosts community events, and is developing a digital archives project. Funding comes from donations, memberships, grants, gift shop sales, and event tickets.

Product overview

The Clarksburg History Museum operates as a traditional history museum with free admission, offering a unified portfolio of visitor experiences and products. Core offerings include physical museum admission with exhibits (Military Artifacts, School Room, Television & Radio, Civil War/19th Century), the CHM Gift Shop selling merchandise (stickers, t-shirts, books), the 'Around and About' podcast series, educational school/group tours, and the annual History Friends Gathering event. The museum also operates an online gift shop (Squarespace-based e-commerce) and maintains digital archives (launching 2025). Membership program ($25/year) provides exclusive 'The Keepsake' publication. Special events include First Fridays community events and paranormal 'Haunting at James & Law' tours. The museum is a 501c3 nonprofit founded in 2017.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Admission
• CHM Gift Shop
• Lew Dobbins: Behind the Microphone (Book)
• Harrison County Images of America: West Virginia Series (Book)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• DAR Daniel Davisson ChapterminorOthers · 23 April 2024The Daughters of the American Revolution Daniel Davisson Chapter nominated and awarded the Clarksburg History Museum with the Historic Preservation Recognition Award in April 2024. The award process involved researching media sources, collecting letters of recommendation from community leaders, and recognizing the museum's volunteer-driven preservation efforts over five years.
• ParaHouse MagazineminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParaHouse Magazine (founded and edited by Clarksburg/Bridgeport native Melisa Shaw Kennedy) partnered with the Clarksburg History Museum to co-promote the 'A Haunting at James & Law' paranormal fundraiser event. ParaHouse provided social media support and collaborative promotion for the event held October 18, 2025. The partnership leverages Kennedy's hometown connections and ParaHouse's paranormal and historical audience.
• The MorrisminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Morris, a historic event venue in Clarksburg, partnered with the museum to host the inaugural History Friends Gathering on June 26, 2026. The partnership provided the venue for the museum's cocktail reception and award presentation event, aligning the museum with a prominent local venue.
• West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Trail PartnershipminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Clarksburg History Museum is a partner in the West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Trail, a regional culinary tourism initiative. The partnership involves collaboration with the Clarksburg Visitors Bureau, Greater Bridgeport CVB, Upshur County CVB, and Marion County CVB to promote local bakeries and food heritage. The museum blog features Tomaro's Bakery, D'Annunzio's Italian Bread, Rogers and Mazza's Italian Bakery, and Home Industry Bakery as key trail stops.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Wood County Historical Society & Museum: West Virginia local history museum with similar exhibits, archival collections, and gift shop — comparable in scale, programming, and reliance on volunteers and donations.
• Hampshire County Historical Society: County-level West Virginia historical society that maintains local archives, exhibits, and educational programming — directly comparable in mission, geographic scope, and nonprofit/volunteer structure.
• Greenbrier Historical Society (North House Museum): Small West Virginia local history society and museum operating a historic-house site with volunteer staff, exhibits, and a gift shop — closely mirrors CHM's operating model, scale, and community-heritage mission.
• Beverly Heritage Center: Small Randolph County, WV heritage site focused on Civil War history and local preservation — directly comparable given CHM's Civil War Trails integration and similar volunteer-driven preservation model.

Regional players

• Jackson's Mill State 4-H Camp & Conference Center: Historic WV site tied to Stonewall Jackson's childhood home, operated as a heritage and educational facility — comparable heritage-tourism positioning in the same WV Civil War Trails ecosystem that CHM participates in.
• Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park: West Virginia state-run historical site offering museum exhibits and heritage tourism along the Ohio River — comparable as a WV heritage attraction with curated exhibits and visitor programming, though state-operated and geographically separate.

Broad incumbents

• West Virginia State Museum: The flagship state-funded history museum in Charleston, WV — operates in the same mission space (WV heritage, exhibits, education) but at significantly larger scale with state budget support, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct competitor.
• Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: National Park Service site at the confluence of WV/MD/VA with major Civil War and historical exhibits — comparable subject matter and tourism draw but vastly larger scale and federal funding.

Emerging players

• WVU Libraries — West Virginia & Regional History Center: Archival and research collection focused on West Virginia and regional history — closely comparable to CHM's digital archives and Goldenseal collection work, with deeper institutional backing from West Virginia University.

Others

• West Virginia Humanities Council: Statewide nonprofit supporting humanities programming, grants, and heritage preservation across West Virginia — comparable mission and grant-issuing role, and a potential funder/advisor for CHM rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ClarksburgHistoryMuseum
• Instagraminstagram.com/clarksburg_history_museum

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Clarksburg History Museum