Our Story

Preservation Alliance of West Virginia serves as the statewide grassroots organization dedicated to the support and promotion of historic preservation.

With a commitment to preserve our unique cultural heritage, PAWV and its members work to save our past for the future, supporting and promoting historic preservation through education & outreach, advocacy, preservation tools, and heritage tourism.

In September 1981, a group of dedicated volunteers established the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV).  Founding members of PAWV included Dr. Barbara Howe, Ralph Pedersen, Eugene Harper, Jeanne Doughty, Dr. Emory Kemp, and Beverly Fluty.  These volunteers were determined to build interest in, knowledge about, and legislative support for historic preservation through grassroots advocacy, education, and outreach. Officially incorporated the following year, the organization quickly began making significant, positive contributions to the preservation of West Virginia’s vast, proud heritage.

With similar goals in mind as were in 1981, PAWV continues to build on the original insight of its founding members.  The organization continues to grow and focuses on how historic preservation can be a tool for economic and community development throughout our Mountain State.

Timeline of Significant PAWV Milestones:

1984 – Published Preservation Sourcebook for West Virginians and created a traveling exhibit showcasing West Virginia success stories that traveled all over West Virginia.

1987 -  Played a role in restructuring the different state agencies that ultimately came to fall under the Division of Culture and History.

1991 and 1997 - Successfully lobbied for the passage of business and residential tax credits for preservation at the state level. The first West Virginia History Day was held in 1997, and also that year, PAWV published a booklet called Economic Benefits of Preservation. This was the first manifestation of what has become a staple of PAWV’s platform: the direct link between economic development, tourism, and preservation.

2003 - West Virginia Cultural Heritage Tourism program became a focal point for PAWV under the guidance of Program Coordinator Martha Ballman.

2005 –Hired its first full-time executive director and the organization began planning a series of home repair and preservation workshops.

2009 – Hired its first full-time statewide field services representative, revived the West Virginia Endangered Properties Program, and held the first annual historic preservation awards banquet.

​2013 – Began the Preserve WV AmeriCorps statewide service program with 11 AmeriCorps members at sites including Adaland Mansion, Wheeling National Heritage Area, Main Street Morgantown, Main Street Fairmont, and the Old Hemlock Foundation.