STORIES & TRAILS
Robert Higgins House
Higgins House Publications & Reports
Stories from an 18th Century House
Interpretive Master Plan Report
Robert VanZant Higgins: A Man to be Known Higgins is the museum’s primary story, exploring the life of Robert Higgins and how the evolution of our nation is embodied in the life of this man. A quote, attributed to one of Robert Higgins’ sons, asks, “Must one be KNOWN to be great?” Higgins did not live a life profoundly different from many other men of his time.
He moved with his family to the western Virginia Backcountry, was a child during the French & Indian War, a farmer, a husband and father, an officer in the American Revolution and a prisoner of war, the builder of a log house, possibly a merchant, and the founder of a town in the Northwest Territory frontier. His life paralleled both our country’s revolutionary rise to independence and the challenges brought by the indigenous population’s displacement.
Historically, the decisions made during the revolutionary period impacted the world, our nation, and Robert Higgins life and, without question, they have ramifications still. This little log house and this man’s life give us an opportunity to connect to that history, making it relevant to our community today.
The History of Log Cabins exhibit on the 2nd floor explores European influences on American log cabin construction and the Higgins House’s place in that history. Architectural and dendroarchaeology reports provided the basic information about the house. Fortunately, despite the years of renovation, the log interior of the House remained basically intact. Built, possibly burned and rebuilt, renovated, subsumed, revealed, and restored, the Higgins House holds clues from all these stages of its existence.
The first floor is accessible; however, the second floor cannot not be made so. In response to this, the 2nd floor interpretive panels and displays will be replicated on the first floor in a video. A developing educational program will include stationary iPads to expand upon the information on the interpretive panels, provide links for further research, and allow for new material to be added as we learn of it.
The Hardy County Visitors Center shares the space with the Higgins House Museum. A 501c3 nonprofit organization, the Hardy County Convention & Visitors Bureau manages the museum and visitors center. We greatly appreciate the support of the Town of Moorefield, Hardy County Commission, WV Humanities Council, WV State Historic Preservation Office, Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, Hardy County Community Foundation, and The WV HUB.
