The visitor center at Pricketts Fort is managed by the Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation to welcome, orient, and educate visitors. Completed in 2006, the visitor center includes a museum, library, gift shop, and space for programs.

The first visitor center was built in 1976, the same year the fort's reconstruction was completed. The Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation received state funding for this project. The visitor center housed Foundation offices, a small museum, and gift shop, but no restroom or program space. The building still remains on the property, near the lower parking lot and boat launch along the Monongahela River. The Foundation hopes to repurpose this former visitor center in the near future.

As the park continued to grow, a 19th century style barn was constructed in 1992. Built with reclaimed wood, the barn was designed to complement the Job Prickett House. The barn provided open space for programs and events such as dinners, weddings, and the annual Christmas market. The barn was renovated in 2002 to stabilize the structure. Volunteers reset the logs, added a new roof, and replaced wood siding and doors. In December 2004, just nine months after the barn reopened, an arsonist burned it to the ground. This devastating event, while a significant loss for Pricketts Fort, ushered in plans for a new visitor center, as well as renewed dedication from the board to see this project and construction of a Blacksmith shop to completion.

The Foundation hustled to complete the new visitor center between 2005-2006. The "wings" of the building were constructed off-site and moved to join the main building. A favorite feature of the new visitor center is the large porch that looks out to the fort.

Inside, the visitor center includes a museum orientation gallery, library, and gift shop.

Orientation Gallery

The museum orientation gallery houses educational exhibits on European settlement of the region, a timeline of the Prickett family and fort supplemented by broader events in early American history, Indigenous people, slavery, Blacksmithing, textile production, and the Pricketts Fort cemetery, A short introductory video discusses the history of Pricketts Fort.

Thomas Library

The Thomas Library houses books, documents, photographs, and digital resources that focus on 18th century America, the western Virginia frontier, Pricketts Fort community, genealogy, and related other historic subjects.

Museum Gift Shop

The Pricketts Fort gift shop offers a unique selection of keepsakes from handmade items to history books to Pricketts Fort memorabilia.

Bray, Greg. Images of America: Pricketts Fort. Charleston, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2014.

"Visit Pricketts Fort." Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation. Accessed May 31st 2022. https://www.prickettsfort.org/visit.html