Beauchamp-Newman Museum

Beauchamp-Newman Museum Beauchamp-Newman Museum The Beauchamp-Newman Museum, long known as the “Old Red Brick” is the oldest brick building in Elizabeth. Rev. The desk of Mr.

It was built around 1835-40, by Alfred Beauchamp, grandson of the first settler in the community. It is believed that the bricks were made from local clay deposits on his land, probably by slaves. On January 19, 1848 Alfred Beauchamp was honored by the Virginia Assembly in a bill creating Wirt County from Wood and Jackson Counties. His hometown of Elizabethtown was to be the county seat. On May 23

, 1848, the first County Court convened at the Beauchamp home and on April 4, 1848, the first Circuit Court convened there. The first Wirt County Bar was instituted at the meeting and Arthur I. Boreman, first governor of West Virginia obtained permission to practice in the commonwealth. The River Room of the dwelling also housed a store and post office for many years. Later Dr. Trout had a dental office there and Dr. Cramer treated many complaints and set many bones in the building. Ed Black purchased the home and divided the rooms into apartments. The Elizabeth Beauchamp Chapter Daughters of American Pioneers purchased the historical building in 1953 from the Snodgrass family and established the Beauchamp-Newman Museum. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 due to the efforts of Pioneer Daughter, Dorothy Parks Roberts. Housed in the historic old landmark are priceless relics and memorabilia of early life in Wirt County. Items include the original county seal, weapons, tools, and personal possessions. Alfred Beauchamp and a large square piano that belonged to Elizabeth Beauchamp Baldwin grace the Newman room. A cradle made by a Newark furniture maker in 1862, a high wooden bed made when ropes were used instead of springs and its low trundle bed, also with rope “springs”, and an unusual copper bathtub are among the items in the upstairs bedroom. Other rooms display dolls, cupboards, old cooking utensils, cobbler’s bench, glassware, mannequins in costume and rooms of period furniture. Recent contributions to the museum include a World War II uniform that belonged to the late Jim Roberts, owner of Robert’s Store. The uniform, a typewriter and a wooden telephone from the historical old store was donated by Pat Roberts. The Museum is open holidays and by appointment. Donations for tours are appreciated.

01/31/2026
RESCHEDULED: Sunday, December 21, 2025, from 1 - 4 pm.
12/13/2025

RESCHEDULED: Sunday, December 21, 2025, from 1 - 4 pm.

46th Annual Elizabeth-Wirt Volunteer Fire Department Ice Cream Social, July 5, 2025: Celebrating Elizabeth Beauchamp C...
07/08/2025

46th Annual Elizabeth-Wirt Volunteer Fire Department Ice Cream Social, July 5, 2025: Celebrating Elizabeth Beauchamp Chapter of the Daughters of American Pioneers, Chartered in 1950. 75 years of preservation of Wirt County's history and artifacts at the Beauchamp-Newman Museum located in Elizabeth, WV.

04/15/2025

Elizabeth, WV (West Virginia), the seat of Wirt County, was chartered in 1822 and named for Elizabeth Beauchamp, the wife of settler David Beauchamp. The town figured prominently in the Burning Springs Oil Boom before the Civil War. Located at a crossing on the Little Kanawha River, the sleepy villa...

VISIT: SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8. HOURS: 1 pm...
12/06/2024

VISIT: SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8.
HOURS: 1 pm. to 4 pm.
BEAUCHAMP-NEWMAN MUSEUM Tours: 1 pm.
Location: "Old Red Brick" behind the Courthouse. Light refreshments will be served and children will be given a surprise!

2024 Report of Pioneer Day Activities:
10/14/2024

2024 Report of Pioneer Day Activities:

10/08/2024

PUBLIC EVENT: The Sons of the American Revolution will have a patriot grave-marking ceremony on October 13 at 3:00 for William Beauchamp, 1743-1807, (A008209), staff officer (MD) and carpenter on the ship "Defence", CDR George Cook. This will take place at the Beauchamp Cemetery on Rt. 14 in Elizabeth. Members from the Elizabeth Beauchamp Chapter, Daughters of American Pioneers, and the new Wirt DAR chapter will also participate in the ceremony. Shirley Boggs McCoy, Linda Sams, and Laurie Moore will have a part in this event. Gloria Batten will lay a wreath for our new chapter in Wirt County and recite the American Creed at the ceremony. This event is open to the public.

Below are the vendor space assignments that are marked on the map pictured. Lawn is clearly marked with numbers. Looking...
10/05/2024

Below are the vendor space assignments that are marked on the map pictured. Lawn is clearly marked with numbers. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

21 Almost Heaven Apiary
69 Amazing Art
53 Annet Slack
22, 23 Appalachian Willows
15 Aunt Bs Candles/Primitives
45 B.A.Miller Woodwork
36 Blue Goose Sweets
54 Carol Gibbs
12 Carole Tent
42 Charlene Stanley
11 Cherished Creations
50 Crochet Mama
62 Cunningham Crafts & Creations (Dawn C.)
44 D C Creations
20 Dwayne Shaffer
8 Elizabeth/Wirt VFD
63 Elva & Mama's Jams & Jelly
13 Friends of the Levy
34 Hallelujah Global Methodist Church
35 Happy Jims
65 Heavenly Honey Supplies
9 Hill Billy Heavenly Honey Apiary and Supplies
porch Howard Anderson
52 Janet Jett
19 Jennie Gibson
Street Joe's Dogs
46 Kim's Uniques
30, 31 Knicley Made Pottery
Street Laurel's BBQ
68 Leze's Creations
Street Little Stirr
Street Living Hope Ministry
32, 33 Mack Family Creations
39, 40, 41 Markleys Makins
29 Mom and Me Creations
47 Nanette Wagoner
10 Nelson Animal Retreat, Inc.
18 NRA
43 O'Dell Foutty
Parking Lot Overdrive
16, 17 Pack 30 Boy Scouts
Street Pappy's Lip Smackin' BBQ
58, 59 Rebecca Almashy
37 Relay Royalty
14 Ruble Church
4 Smoky Bear
55 Sparkle & Shine
25,26 Stephens Cotton Candy/ Lemon Aid
67 TGR Author
48 Trappers/Furs
Space # Vendor
jail porch Weaver & Bag Piper
70 Wirt Domestic Violence
WC Womens Club of Elizabeth
56,57 Wooden Rose

21ST ANNUAL Wirt County Pioneer Day Civil War Skirmish and Battle Reenactment Times: Shirmish, Saturday, October 5, 20...
10/01/2024

21ST ANNUAL Wirt County Pioneer Day Civil War Skirmish and Battle Reenactment Times: Shirmish, Saturday, October 5, 2024, on Court Street, Elizabeth WV at 3:30 pm. The battle is on Sunday, October 6 at the Intersection of Rt 5 and Rt 14 (field near the bridge).

Pioneer Wirt County Pioneer Day, time changes!
09/30/2024

Pioneer Wirt County Pioneer Day, time changes!

09/29/2024

Holy Days in the Apple Pi Inn: A month of Sundays
It is said that the first sermon was preached in this area the same year that Manlove Beauchamp, son of the first white setters, began work on his three-story log cabin: 1800. As I put the finishing touches on the room dedicated to the circuit riders of Almost Heaven, I wonder which scriptures were cited. Those texts had a long lasting effect; 224 years later there are still followers of Jesus in this valley.
Early circuit riders stayed in this old inn, according to the records, so the space has a Wesleyan spirit. There’s a gavel carved from a Georgia tree said to have sheltered the Wesley brothers as they preached and sang. It rests beside an 1888 ME Book of Discipline. Closer to home is Essays on the Truth of the Christian Religion, written by William Beauchamp Jr. who moved here from Delaware in 1807 to stay with his father and brother, Manlove. It’s claimed to be the second book puplished in the Northwest Territory in 1811.
Prominent on one shelf is my copy of The Women Came Early, edited by Mary Lou Grove, Sharing pride of place with a cross-stitch gift from the same gifted hand. It traveled with me for our 37 years of ministry. A newer piece of handwork is my WV stole, created by Colleen Hintz. It honors the shared tradition of the Wesleys’ Anglican/Methodist roots.
Barn shutters from Delaware(1778) hold a sketch of a circuit rider and a plate from the first Methodist German church, a gift of my preaching colleague, Kathy Black. The list goes on..,
A visitor asked: “Why barn shutters, each decorated with a candle?”
Because “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”

09/23/2024

Address

29 Beauchamp Drive
Elizabeth, WV
26143

Telephone

+13042753569

Website

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