Photo provided ABOVE: RE-ENACTORS DRESSED in period costume fire muskets during a past Frontier Days Festival at historic Fort Steuben, 120 S. Third St., Steubenville.

BARNESVILLE — Now that warmer weather is here many families are looking for places to go and things to see — and the Ohio Valley has no shortage of museums to help entertain and inform people.

The Belmont County Victorian Mansion Museum is gearing up for another season full of activities and tours. Located at 532 N. Chestnut St., Barnesville, the museum officially opens for guided tours on May 1.

The 26-room mansion features antique furnishings and ornate woodwork throughout. Construction of the mansion started in 1888 and was completed in 1893.

One of the mansion’s upcoming events is a Mothers & Others Tea at 2 p.m. May 11. The event includes sampling delicacies and tea. Reservations and pre-payment are required and due by May 8; call 740-695-0766. Participants can also tour the museum.

During the month of June, Nippon porcelain will be on display.

In July, the museum is planning a field trip to Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The date and time will be announced later.

“John Boilegh, an anthropologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, will lead a field trip to Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Village, the oldest site of human habitation in North America, provides a unique glimpse into the lives of prehistoric hunters and gathers. This National Historic Landmark, located in Avella, Washington County, Pa., features a massive rock overhang used 16,000 years ago for shelter by the first people in North America. Walking and some hills involved,” according to information from the mansion.

The field trip is free and open to the public.

Though not a brick-and-mortar museum, historic Epworth Park, 211 Virginia St., Bethesda, features dozens of cute, privately owned cottages set among large, mature trees and beside a small lake. Each summer it hosts the Chautauqua Homecoming Days & Bethesda Festival. Some cottage owners allow people to tour their tiny summer homes for a fee during the festival.

Also in Belmont County is the Underground Railroad Museum, East High Street, Flushing. The museum offers an extensive history lesson about slavery and the Underground Railroad in Ohio. The curator is John Mattox, who founded the museum with his late wife, Rosalind, in 1993.

The Sedgwick House Museum, located at 627 Hanover St., Martins Ferry, was built in 1870. It was donated to the city of Martins Ferry, which in turn created a historical society to operate the museum. Leroy Sedgwick was the co-founder and editor of The Evening Times newspaper in 1891; it later became The Times Leader.

The house contains several of the original pieces of furniture used by the Sedgwick family, along with china and garments, such as dresses. It also serves as repository of historic items related to Martins Ferry’s businesses, doctors, authors and more.

In recent years, the Martins Ferry Historical Society put a new roof on the building, along with new gutters and downspouts. The group also covered the original windows with storm windows and had the brickwork repointed and the entire building repainted.

Tours of the museum are done via appointment. To book a tour, call John Applegarth at 740-633-2648. A donation of any amount can be given to enter the museum. While visitors can make a donation to enter the museum, people can also become members of the historical society. Donations or membership checks written to “Martins Ferry Historical Society” can be mailed to: Box 422, Martins Ferry, OH 43935.

Those who donate $50 or more get a letter of thanks, as the society does not have the funds to purchase membership cards. Becoming a member helps run the museum and also grants access during tours without having to donate at the door.

In Harrison County, there is the Harrison Coal and Historical Reclamation Park, located on Ohio 519 between U.S. 22 and Ohio 9. It was founded in 1992 and is dedicated to preserving Ohio’s coal and surface mining heritage. The park features dozens of pieces of machinery artifacts related to coal mining such as blasting machines, dozers, dump trucks, mine cars, scrapers, blades, bucket and more.

The park is set to have its annual dinner/auction on May 11 at Sally Buffalo Park’s Wallace Lodge in Cadiz. For information, call 740-391-4135.

According to the group’s website, the coal park’s mission is “to preserve archives and machinery relating to the surface mining industry for display and educational purposes. The group’s goals include: Acquire machinery used in the surface mining industry to educate the public about our mining, engineering and industrial heritage; acquire and preserve archives relating to the surface mining industry; and educate the public on the importance of mining, coal, aggregates and industrial minerals play a key roll in everyday life.”

In Jefferson County, a life-sized replica of the historic Fort Steuben, 120 S. Third St., Steubenville, is a permanent display. The fort opens Wednesday for tours. The fort is home to the annual Ohio Valley Frontier Days, slated this year June 1-2.

According to the city’s website, the original fort was built 1786-87 “by the first American regiment to protect government surveyors from hostile indians as they laid out the first seven ranges of the Northwest Territory. The fort was named after George Washington’s great drillmaster, Baron Von Steuben.”

The city of Steubenville was later named after the fort. The replica fort include exhibits and displays about the early life of soldiers and Native American tribes. There is an officers’ quarters, blacksmith, hospital, herb garden and more.

In Bellaire, the National Imperial Glass Museum is located on Belmont Street. It features all things Imperial, a glassware made in the factory in the village until it closed in 1984. The museum features thousands of pieces of glass, advertising memorabilia and other artifacts. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Oct. 31. For more information, call 740-671-3971. The museum’s docents are gearing up for the 43rd annual National Imperial Glass Convention set for June 6-9 in the village.

In Harrison County, Cadiz is home to the Clark Gable Museum on Charleston Street. Gable, who is famous for his role in the historical drama “Gone With the Wind” and several other films, was born in Cadiz in 1901. The museum was his childhood home. It is open May-September from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

Also in Harrison County, is the Franklin Museum in New Athens. Tom Saffell, president of the museum, said the facility started out as a college and later became Franklin High School. He attended all 12 years of school there, graduating in 1961.

Saffell noted he enjoyed attending school at Franklin.

“It was great. We had one of the largest classes. We had 18 in our class,” he said, adding there are now just four living members of the Class of 1961.

He said the teachers were caring and would take extra to help students who struggling. The school also had a good sports program.

“We played six-man football instead of 11. A lot of local schools, Flushing, Hopedale, had six-man football. We played 12 games a year,” Saffell said, adding since the schools were small there were only so many students available to play.

Saffell said when he began school there in 1949 the building did not yet have indoor restrooms. In 1950 a major renovation was complete and there were indoor toilets and a cafeteria in the basement.

The college was founded in 1818, but the current building is actually the fifth structure. All the others were destroyed in fires.

Saffell said today a small group of volunteers cares for the museum that contains 12 rooms full of local historical artifacts related to the school, region and its industry, coal mining and farming.

One room even has an antique water pumper in it used in the past by local firefighters. Saffell said when it came up for sale he purchased it. It was taken apart and re-assembled inside one of the classrooms for display.

“Most people are really amazed when they come and look through it,” Saffell said. “There is something for everyone.”

Saffell said the volunteers have been busy getting the museum ready for its opening on Wednesday. Tours are available by appointment only by calling Saffell at 740-968-6135.

Across the Ohio River in Ohio County, Oglebay Park is home to the Mansion Museum, 1330 Oglebay Drive. Built in 1846, the mansion was once the home of Earl W. Oglebay, the park’s namesake. It has beautiful antique furniture and fixtures. It also has a variety of artifacts, along with exhibits that are changed and others permanent. Each Christmas, the mansion’s rooms are lavishly decorated in different themes by various artists and decorators.

Oglebay’s Glass Museum has a collection of 3,500 of Wheeling-made glass and fine china, according to oionline.com. A highlight of the museum is the famous Sweeney Punch Bowl, which is “the largest piece of cut glass in the world.” People can also see glassblowing demonstrations in the basement of the building.

Also in Wheeling is Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center, 1330 National Road. The center, which is the historic Edemar Mansion, offers a variety of art and dance classes for a fee, but exhibits inside can be viewed for free.

In downtown Wheeling, the Wheeling Artisan Center, 1400 Main St., features a third-floor space where artists from across the region exhibit their works. The second floor has a retail shop where a variety of works of art and crafts are for sale by local artisans. It also features permanent historical exhibits related to Wheeling’s history and industry.

Also in Wheeling, WesBanco Arena is home to a museum — the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Sports Museum. It features information and artifacts from the early 1900s to present day. It has more than 100 display cases full of memorabilia, photographs, jerseys, trophies, medals, banners, helmets and much more donated by individuals and school districts from across the valley.

The museum, which opened in 2005, is free and open to the public during the arena’s hours of operation.