Photos Provided Scott Hagan’s V6 Memorial mural at the Campbell farm pays tribute to six soldiers who died in Vietnam.

BEALLSVILLE — Beallsville residents are celebrating their village’s founding 200 years ago with historical exhibits, soup beans cooked over an open fire, a parade, fireworks and more this weekend.

“There’s just a ton of cool stuff that’s going to grow out of this,” said Chris Pack, historian and event helper. “Maybe the biggest thing is to get people to remember why Beallsville is such a good place and why it’s worth remembering.”

Citizen Beall, born in Maryland in 1796, founded the Monroe County village in 1824, leading to two centuries of transition to what the community has become today.

The village plans to celebrate this milestone with its bicentennial celebration Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Washington Street in the village, with the opening ceremony starting at 4 p.m. Friday.

The observance begins with a presentation of the flag by the American Legion, the national anthem performed by Dana Williams and opening remarks and a proclamation from Mayor John Gramlich.

Friday’s activities include the crowning of festival royalty, food trucks, a WBNV live radio broadcast, the start of a scavenger hunt, a historical exhibit at the First Christian Church Fellowship Hall and live music by Malcolm Spence.

Beallsville High School alumni are ready to celebrate “Blue and White Night” on Friday evening, when the event honors those who graduated from the school.

On Saturday, festivities will include inflatables, a Teddy bear mobile, Kona Ice, food trucks, a WOMP live radio broadcast, a parade, the historical exhibit, live music from Usual Suspects, concession stands and fireworks at 10 p.m. The 6 p.m. parade will line up at 5 p.m. on Crum Road around the softball field area with Barnesville High School band leading it.

Pack said the fireworks show will be the largest fireworks display in the history of Monroe County. Locations to view the show include Washington Street and the football stadium.

For shopping convenience, a store filled with items including magnets, cups, T-shirts, plates and a local history book will be available for attendees to purchase these “future artifacts,” as described by Pack.

The 198-page book will have newspaper clippings in it and is designed to share the history of Beallsville from the centennial, the 150th anniversary and the 175th anniversary celebrations. Pack advised people not to miss out on purchasing any items because they will be gone quickly.

The company that made a commemorative plate in 1974 is now redoing it 50 years later with different scenes pictured on it. The limited edition plate can be preordered but will not arrive until October. Sixty-seven more spots were available to reserve a plate as of Wednesday.

Activities on Sunday will include a cruise-in, the historical exhibit, food trucks, a Raven Rocks hike, concession stands, live music, the end of the scavenger hunt and a closing ceremony. A chicken and rib dinner featuring Beallsville Fire Department’s own barbecue sauce will also take place Sunday, provided by the fire department.

To conclude this celebration, a time capsule item collection, recognition of sponsors and announcement of the scavenger hunt winner will take place.

“I think this is to prove that we’ve been here 200 years. We’re going to be here in 200 years,” Pack said.

Memorabilia from past celebrations will be on display at the event. Checks from the Beallsville First National Bank, an old wooden nickel, work from Beallsville artists, the Ohio River and Western Railway items, Citizen Beall’s top hat, antiques, quilts and many other items will all be at the event for history lovers to appreciate.

Information will also be provided regarding the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall’s visit to Beallsville 20 years ago.

After 200 years, the village has seen a lot come and go, from coal mining to a racetrack.

“Beallsville is just that great story of perseverance,” Pack said. “From the Vietnam stuff, from the Great Depression, from the coal mining going away to now oil and gas.”

Pack described the community’s boom years as 1879 to 1931 with the railroad carrying people and goods in and out.

Where the Convenient store is located now was once a schoolhouse built in 1896. It was torn down in the 1960s. The Beallsville Depot that once stood in the community is no longer there today.

During the Vietnam War era, Beallsville had the highest per capita death rate in the nation, which led to the traveling display being set in place to honor the six men who died. More recently, Barn Artist Scott Hagan completed the V6 mural on a local farm to honor their memories.

The former fairground was the location of the racetrack, which Pack said was the size of the racetrack at the Mercer County Fairgrounds in Celina, Ohio.

Seven cigar factories once operated in the village, along with a hospital that’s no longer there and two hotels that were once a part of Beallsville.

According to Pack, Citizen Beall died unexpectedly in 1862 in the Old Methodist Church, where he grabbed his hymnal and then dropped dead. He is buried across from where the old school used to be, and you can still find his marker.

Beall is not the only historic figure to be buried in Beallsville. Revolutionary and Civil War veterans are also buried in cemeteries in the village, and two of them are located at the old Presbyterian Church, which is now the Church of Christ building.

A church that sat across from the 1928 school does not exist anymore and is merely a memory from the past, while where the post office is now is where a post office was that intertwined with a drug store but burned down 100 years ago.

Pack said Beallsville has a story of getting knocked down and getting back up, and this event will celebrate that history to keep it alive and keep the village going in the right direction.

“Just to celebrate that history, keep that history alive, and then try to go in the next direction,” Pack said. “Everybody remembers the firemen’s festivals fondly, and so hopefully what’s going to grow out of the bicentennial is more of a commitment to do community days, heritage days, founder’s day kind of things.”

Pack said he would like to increase the overall standard of living in Beallsville by showcasing the art, music and the food of the local region. He described the celebration as a showcase representing all Beallsville is and what he hopes it to be.

“There’s so much potential down there that if people would just get their minds right, they can really blossom into something nice,” he said.