7 Best Museums In West Virginia

The seven best museums in West Virginia are anything but ordinary. In Beckley, you can don a hard hat and ride into a real underground mine, while in Wheeling, the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum will have you reliving your childhood with shelves of vintage toys and endless model trains. Let the Museum of American Glass in Weston sparkle, while the Huntington Museum of Art balances fine art with nature. Of course, no trip to West Virginia is complete without delving into wild and wacky, like at the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant and Sutton’s Flatwoods Monster Museum. Tie it all together at the West Virginia State Museum in Charleston, where you’ll discover the state’s sweeping history, from ancient mountains to modern marvels.

Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and Youth Museum, Beckley

Nothing says West Virginia more than an authentic coal mine museum, where you can descend underground through dark passageways aboard a coal mine “man trip,” a small rail car once used to carry miners in and out of the shafts. With the help of guides who are veteran miners, you’ll learn about the mine, the history of coal mining in the region, and make stops along the way at various points of interest. The immersive underground tour is only one part of the visit to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, as you can also explore a period coal camp, which includes buildings like a Coal Company House, a three-room restored house from Sprague, West Virginia, a Superintendent House once belonging to a coal baron dismantled and moved from Skelton to Beckley, a Miner’s Shanty from Helen, and many more.

Included in the price of admission, you can also visit the Youth Museum, which features three rotating interactive exhibits annually, as well as a planetarium. Behind the museum, you’ll discover a Mountain Homestead representing a typical 19th-century settlement on the Appalachian frontier, complete with a blacksmith shop, a general store, a log house, and more. After working up an appetite in the coal mine, head nearby for gourmet burgers at local favorite The Dish Cafe.

Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum, Wheeling

What began as a dream for father and son, Allan Robert and Allan Raymond Miller, became a reality when they opened the doors of the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum on September 1, 1998, in Wheeling, West Virginia. Housed in a Victorian-era red-brick school built in 1906, the historical building is the ideal location for the duo’s massive collection of Lionel Trains, 1950s playsets, dolls, dollhouses, and other items. The exhibits are arranged in various rooms throughout the two-story building, including a Doll Room filled with Barbie dolls and baby dolls dating back to the 1920s, a room of Miniatures, a Game Room featuring vintage board games, a Puzzle Room, a Historic Train Room, and more.

For serious train lovers only, stay overnight in a former Baltimore & Ohio caboose C-2019, which includes access to a full bath, an extensive train library, a small dining room, and a TV. Otherwise, enjoy being a kid a bit longer and head over to Oglebay Good Zoo, West Virginia’s only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and home to Luna, a rare albino American alligator, and three enchanting, endangered red pandas, Xena, Fia, and Keti.

Museum of American Glass, Weston

West Virginia has a deep connection to glassmaking, primarily thanks to its abundant deposits of silica sand. It was one of the leading glassmaking centers in the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While many factories are now closed, the Museum of American Glass in Weston preserves the legacy of the industry. With over 20,000 pieces of glass in its collection, the museum serves as a virtual time capsule of America’s glassmaking history. It showcases a diverse range of items, including delicate Depression glass, milk bottle glass, and even an insulation tile that flew in space on the Space Shuttle Columbia. A few standout exhibits in the museum include an extensive display of stunning marbles, a collection donated when the National Marble Museum in California closed; the Martin Massman Steuben Art Glass Collection, the second-largest Steuben glass collection in the world; and a 13-room glass dollhouse.

After gazing at all that glass, head over to Appalachian Glass, where you can arrange a glass-blowing demonstration by members of the Turner family—three generations of glass-blowers keeping the tradition alive. The Museum of American Glass Gathering festival will take place from October 23 to 25, 2025, and include visits to other nearby museums, presentations, a silent auction, a banquet dinner, and additional festivities.

Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington

The largest art museum in West Virginia, the Huntington Museum of Art, opened in 1952 when Herbert Fitzpatrick donated his private collection of 435 art objects and 52 acres of land for the museum’s location. Today, the museum’s massive collection includes more than 16,000 objects, ten exhibition spaces displaying American, Asian, Haitian, European, Inuit, and Near Eastern art, an interactive education gallery, the James D. Francis Art Library of about 28,500 volumes, and the unique C. Fred Edwards Conservatory, home to tropical plants, two outdoor sculptures, and hiking trails, including a quarter-mile paved accessible Sensory Trail for the visually impaired. The museum hosts a weekly program called Saturday KidsArt for junior artists, and admission is free every Tuesday.

Huntington is a college town, home to Marshall University, and the university is deeply tied to the community’s identity, due to the tragic 1970 plane crash that killed most of the football team, coaches, and fans. After visiting the art museum, head to the Memorial Fountain, which commemorates the event also depicted in the 2006 film, We Are Marshall.

Mothman Museum, Point Pleasant

Located in the heart of Point Pleasant, you’ll find the world’s only Mothman Museum + Store, dedicated to the legendary winged creature said to have appeared in the area in November 1966. The world-famous Mothman is a legendary cryptid said to haunt the Point Pleasant area between November 15, 1966, and December 15, 1967. The first witnesses described a terrifying figure lurking in the West Virginia woods, almost human in form, but with glowing red eyes and an enormous wingspan stretching nearly ten feet. When they reported the sighting to the local sheriff, the legend was born. And because every good legend deserves a spin-off, there’s a book by author and ufologist John Keel called “The Mothman Prophecies,” a film adaptation starring Richard Gere, and a giant Mothman statue. Don’t forget to pick up some Mothman merch on your way out.

Keep the intrigue going, and hit up the local Village Pizza Inn, a 1972-founded institution in the small town, and order “The Mothman.” The pizza comes with cherry peppers, green olives, pepperoni, and mushrooms, strategically placed in the shape of the town’s most famous resident. A must for both pizza and folklore lovers.

West Virginia State Museum, Charleston

Located inside the Culture Center in the West Virginia State Capitol Complex in Charleston, the West Virginia State Museum is the state’s flagship history museum, founded in 1890. It showcases exhibits on West Virginia’s natural and cultural history, geology, paleontology, art, and more. Take a chronological journey through the state’s history, from prehistoric times through the settlement years, the Civil War, coal mining, to the present day in the Mountain State. There’s even an exhibit depicting the long-standing feud between the Hatfields and McCoys that played out for decades after the Civil War, with the Hatfields living in West Virginia and the McCoys living over the border in Kentucky along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River.

Wander over to the Capitol Market, a lively indoor+outdoor market inside a renovated 19th-century train depot where you’ll find the Charleston Visitors Information Center, Mea Cuppa Coffee, and Holl’s Swiss Chocolate.

Flatwoods Monster Museum, Sutton

In an unrelated incident that predates the appearance of the Mothman by over a decade, the Flatwoods Monster appeared in Sutton, Braxton County, on September 12, 1952. According to reports, a glowing object was seen streaking across the sky before crashing on a nearby hill. Witnesses describe the creature as ten feet tall, levitating, with a head shaped like a shovel and glowing eyes. The encounter sparked curiosity, and soon tourism increased, with the news making headlines at a time when UFO spotting was practically a common American pastime during the Cold War era. You can learn more about the monster at the Flatwoods Monster Museum, which is dedicated to the alien-like creature and the culture of UFO lore.

If the Flatwoods Monster Museum has you hankering for more mysterious cryptids, walk 400 feet down Main Street and visit the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum, first established in 2021. You can’t miss the famous six-foot-tall, solid hemlock Bigfoot carving out front. If you’re a Sasquatch enthusiast, mark your calendar for the 6th annual West Virginia Bigfoot Festival on October 9-11, 2026.

Summary

In the heart of Appalachia, West Virginia is a state where history, folklore, and natural beauty all meet, and there’s no better place than a museum to capture that spirit perfectly. Whether you’re stepping into a coal miner’s shoes, wandering through rooms of glittering glass, marveling at fine art, or chasing legends of cryptids like Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster, each stop offers a new way to experience the Mountain State. Visiting museums here isn’t just about artifacts on display; it’s about stories, adventure, and the joy of discovering what makes West Virginia so uniquely fun.