Point Pleasant, West Virginia: Mothman Museum

Everything Mothman, from movie props to models, and a well-stocked gift shop.

Neat memorabilia and stories, knowledgeable staff, fun statues and sights to see. Grab a t shirt, bumper sticker, or button!

The Mothman Museum is dedicated to the story and legend of Point Pleasant's Mothman, a mysterious creature first sighted in 1966. The museum is packed with articles related to The Mothman and, I think most interestingly, three of the four original hand-written accounts from the first four Mothman eyewitnesses taken just after the sighting at the local police station (the fourth hand-written account is lost to history).

Also on display: props from television shows such as Monster Quest, as well as props created for the Hollywood film The Mothman Prophecies.

If all this isn't enough, you can take a Mothman tour for $20, offered at 1 pm and 3 pm ($17 if you have paid the museum admission). The tour will take you to where the creature was first sighted and other points of interest related to the legend. Tours are conducted by museum founder and life-long resident Jeff Wamsley, also author of two books on the subject, who provides a detailed account of what was documented to have happened instead of what was depicted in the Hollywood movie. Jeff's first-hand information from personal interviews makes the trip. In this traveler's opinion the tour is definitely worth the extra cost.

There is a Mothman Festival there every fall! The Mothman Museum is great...lots of weird/interesting/fun memorabilia from the movie and from sightings back in the 1960's. Interesting speakers are scheduled throughout the weekend. While there, I highly recommend a hayride tour of TNT Area at night.

Festival is already scheduled for 2007: September 15-16.

A neat museum opened in October of 2005, I was told. They have an awesome collection of everything Mothman, from the movie props to nearly 100 newspaper articles from the '60s. Also huge Mothman stand-up sculptures and a hanging 3-D mothman from the ceiling, big media room with over 6 hours of documentaries on Ole Red Eyes to watch, gift shop has t-shirts, hats, stickers, buttons, books, and comics too.