Parkersburg, West Virginia - Blennerhassett Island - Seditionist Utopia

This is the historic island on the Ohio River where Harmon Blennerhassett and his family built a plantation complete with slaves and a mansion in what was then the Indian dominated wilderness. He was branded a seditionist/terrorist by the British goverment for his part in attempting to free Ireland from British rule. In the early 19th century he was visited by Aaron Burr, who conspired with Blennerhassett to develop and train a militia on his isolated island and then take over the south west. Thomas Jefferson sent soldiers to the island to arrest them for sedition which led to the "trial of the century."

The mansion later burned down and a nice reproduction was built on the original site in the late 1980s. Every summer there are paddle-wheeler boat rides to the island where a costumed tour is given. [Marcus Barnard, 05/31/2004]