PARKERSBURG - Items from the Oil and Gas Museum are now on display in Charleston in a new exhibit that celebrates West Virginia's history and importance of the industry.
"The exhibit opens today for a conference," said Dave McKain, director of the Oil and Gas Museum.
The exhibit, "The Oil and Gas Industry: West Virginia's Gift to the World," includes items donated on loan by the Oil and Gas Museum in the West Virginia Culture Center.
"It's a big deal for us to have our items on display in the Culture Center," McKain said. "Because the Culture Center is a major stopping point for people coming through West Virginia, it is a big opportunity for the Oil and Gas Museum."
The culture agency stated the exhibit will feature gasoline pumps with clear glass cylinders, antique oil drums and "yellow dog" lanterns, which were named such because their two burning wicks resemble a dog's eyes glowing at night.
McKain said the local museum sent "a truck load" of items to the Culture Center that included maps, photographs and other artifacts.
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Items from the Oil and Gas Museum are now on display in Charleston in a new exhibit that celebrates West Virginia's history and importance of the industry.
Oil and Gas Museum director Dave McKain said the local museum sent "a truck load" of items to the Culture Center that included maps, photographs and other artifacts.
Many of the artifacts the Oil and Gas Museum has donated to the exhibit are items the museum has doubles of.
"We loaned them a lot of things that we have doubles of and really don't need here," McKain said.
Other items on display in the exhibit are a vintage Pennzoil gas-station sign, wooden and glass oil cans, drilling tools and a double-piston oil pump.
All of the pieces are from the collections of the local museum as well as the West Virginia State Museum, the West Virginia State Archives and Columbia Gas.
It is free to tour the exhibit, which is in the State Capitol Complex. The display will be open to the public for the next six months.
"It is worth the drive down to Charleston to see this because it really is a wonderful display," McKain said.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the state Department of Education and the Arts with the goal to bring together the past, present and future through programs and services that focus on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums.
"It's the story of the history and life of West Virginia," he said. "It's a huge display and I'm proud the Oil and Gas Museum is able to be a part of it.
"The display illustrates how important oil and gas is to the economy of West Virginia and has been since the 1840s and 1850s," McKain said.
