Oglebay Park (Tour)

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1. Carriage House Glass and Oglebay Institute Glass Museum

Carriage House Glass and the Oglebay Institute Glass Museum both opened in 1992. Their shared building is designed to resemble a carriage house that once existed in the same place. Carriage House Glass offers glass shopping opportunities to Oglebay Park visitors, while the Oglebay Institute Glass Museum showcases Wheeling glass from 1829 to 1939. The centerpiece of the museum is the Sweeney Punch Bowl, the largest piece of cut lead crystal ever made. The glass institutions also offer workshops, glass blowing demonstrations, and other events.

2. Oglebay Mansion Museum

The Oglebay Mansion Museum offers tours of this historic house and provides information about its previous owners. The mansion itself is the oldest extant structure in Oglebay Park, having been built around 1844. Two major expansions to the house occurred in 1856 and the early 1900s, which transformed it from a smaller Greek Revival farmhouse to the Neoclassical Revival mansion it is today. Earl W. Oglebay — who donated the house and hundreds of acres to the city of Wheeling in 1926 — was responsible for the largest portion of the additions. The Mansion Museum was established in the building in 1930. It was the first facility in West Virginia to be accredited by the American Association of Museums and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

3. Bissonnette Gardens and Anne Kuchinka Amphitheater

The Bissonnette Gardens and Anne Kuchinka Amphitheater are situated behind the Mansion Museum in the Hilltop Area. The gardens were established under Earl W. Oglebay’s ownership of Waddington Farm, while the amphitheater was constructed in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps members. Both sites maintain a strong degree of historical authenticity.

4. Good Zoo

The Good Zoo houses fifty animal species, over twenty of which are rare or endangered. The zoo is the only facility in West Virginia to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The mission of the zoo is focused on education and conservation. A wide variety of programming is available year-round.

5. Schrader Environmental Education Center

Located in the Henry Stifel Schrader Environmental Education Center, a building constructed of recycled materials, this educational center is dedicated to the study of environmental issues. The center is a part of the Oglebay Institute and located within Oglebay Resort. One of the main goals of the SEEC is to help foster healthy and sustainable relationships with nature. Indoor and outdoor programs are offered for learners of all ages, though the primary focus of the center is school-age children.

6. Camp Waddington (Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, 1935 - 1937)

Camp Waddington was a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp located at Oglebay Park. The CCC was a New Deal program designed to employ young men while providing tangible and useful services across the United States. Camp Waddington members arrived at Oglebay Park in 1935 and conducted a bulk of their work before the end of 1937. Projects included natural beautification, construction of park structures, and maintenance of trails and roads. Several CCC constructed buildings, such as Caddy Camp and Camp Russel, are still extant. The Camp Waddington initiative was an enormous success. It engendered Oglebay Park to Wheeling locals, while simultaneously laying the foundation for the park’s infrastructure.

7. Crispin Center and Oglebay Pool

The Crispin Center is one of the quintessential buildings in Oglebay Park. The groundwork for the structure was laid by Camp Waddington Civilian Conservation Corps Members in the mid 1930s, while the center itself was constructed between 1936 and 1938. Of particular interest are the Pine Room and pool, the latter of which is an impressive surviving example of post-Depression-era Works Progress Administration pool. The Crispin Center is named after Crispin Oglebay, Earl W. Oglebay’s nephew and will executor. Crispin Oglebay was also instrumental in establishing the Oglebay Foundation. The Crispin Center and pool have changed relatively little over the past century.

This Tour is a Virtual Museum or Site Tour.

Oglebay Park

Created by Iain MacKay on March 1st 2021, 4:46:52 pm.

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Description

Oglebay Park is a self-supporting municipal park, the only one of its kind in the United States. The area on which the park exists was first occupied by Western pioneers in the late 1700s. A long procession of families farmed the land until mining magnate Earl W. Oglebay purchased the twenty-five acre plot. Oglebay expanded the holdings to include seven hundred fifty acres. He used the farm as a passion project for researching and developing agricultural advancements. After his death in 1926, the estate was willed to the city of Wheeling on the condition it be used as a public recreation area. Wheeling Park has expanded considerably since then and is a premier resort destination in northern West Virginia.

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Oglebay Park

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