Centennial Chapter of the Daughters of the American Pioneers Regent Charlotte Modesitt examines an Edison player that recorded music on cylinders in 2025 at the Henry Cooper Cabin Museum. (File photo)

PARKERSBURG – The Henry Cooper Cabin Museum in Parkersburg City Park will have a special celebration Sunday to open the 2026 season.

The Centennial Chapter of the Daughters of the American Pioneers operates the museum, which has been open every summer since 1910. The group will host an “anti-tea party” in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and Henry Cooper Day, in recognition of the cabin’s builder and namesake.

The museum will be open from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, with admission free to the public. Guests can enjoy refreshments and tea party fare of cookies and small sandwiches.

After that, the museum will be open from 1-4 p.m. every Sunday until Sept. 1. Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children.

Group tours on other days can be scheduled by calling 304-428-3145.

The Henry Cooper Cabin has been the home of a museum in Parkersburg City Park since 1910. (File photo)

The anti-tea party – which features coffee, lemonade and crumpets – is the first of six such events planned for local historical sites in honor of the America 250 celebration. They celebrate not only the Boston Tea Party but other similar protests leading up to the American Revolution.

“There were really about 17 revolts around the tea tax … through the colonies,” said Senta Goudy, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. The center’s Arts Collaborative of the Mid-Ohio Valley is helping to coordinate America 250 activities in Wood County.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

John Hancock’s signature on a 1900-era reproduction of the Declaration of Independence at the Henry Cooper Cabin Museum. (File photo)