Our History
Belpre Historical Society, Inc. operates The Farmers Castle Museum & Educational Center. The museum’s artifact & archive collections are focused on Belpre Township and the surrounding rural townships of Barlow, Belpre, Decatur, Dunham, Fairfield, Palmer, Wesley, and Warren.
The Farmers Castle Museum maintains archives containing original municipal, school, family, business & organizational records, photographs, correspondence, newspapers, ephemera and all manner of documents dating from the 1790’s to the present. Artifact holdings include a Prehistoric collection spanning 11,000 years of Indigenous First People’s and First Nation’s presence in the region.
Also well represented are European trade goods from the period of exploration and 18 century documents and possessions of the early settlers. The collection includes a rich assemblage of furnishings and technology from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries with exemplary objects from life in the Ohio Valley throughout the period.
The Museum is home to the Underground Railroad in Southeastern Ohio exhibit which was named to the Ohio State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail in 2024.
The Society affiliates with regional museums & historical societies from neighboring communities in Ohio & West Virginia, including the Washington County Historical Society, Western Washington County Historical Society, Wood County Historical Association, the Sons & Daughters of the American Revolution, the Multicultural Genealogical Center of Southeastern Ohio, the Sumner School Association, the Museum of the Northwest Territory, the Tabler Museum and the Wood County Landmarks Commission.
The Society has partnered with the Washington County & Wood County Convention & Visitors Bureaus and the Belpre Area Chamber of Commerce.
Address
509 Ridge St., P.O. Box 731
Belpre, OH
Call Us
740-423-7588