09/30/2023
KUMP CORNER: Visit Kump House This October
Kump Education Center will be open from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. every Tuesday in October (except Halloween) and on Forest Festival Thursday, Oct. 5. This is a great opportunity to see the historic preservation work done at Kump House to bring the 98-year-old building back into service. The Kump House was busy when the Forest Festival began in the 1930s, and several family members were active volunteers on various committees.
Over the years Cyrus Kump and cousins, Henry Harness and Phil Harness, served as directors of the Forest Festival. Edna’s sister, Mildred Scott Smith, actively helped create and maintain the elegant dignity of the queen’s court. Suzie Kemp Kump continued those traditions that bring polite and gracious behavior into the 21st Century.
In the 1930s, the Kump property was an eleven-acre farm stretching from Seneca Road to the railroad track across the hill on the south side of Highway 33/48. The Kump family was active in 4-H, and the children helped to care for chickens, cows, and horses. There was a large garden big enough to produce food and help sustain the extended family. Also when necessary, the Kumps shared their home nephews and nieces who had lost a parent.
When the last of Governor Kump’s children died, she left the house to the City of Elkins. Now, the Kump house serves many educational purposes:
1. KEC offers Math Magic, SOLE Summer School, and Targeted Tutoring to help elementary students reduce their COVID-19 learning gap. Better school performance is a real attraction for young families moving to town.
2. KEC is home to the City Tree Nursery, Tree Walk, & Wetland Conservation Area. These assets are useful for Davis & Elkins College Sustainability Studies and local environmental education. These initiatives are excellent ways to support local efforts to plant trees, improve water quality, and combat Global Warming.
3. KEC developed a Wild, Wonderful Woods exhibit and lecture series, making local people more aware of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area [AFNHA]. This new national designation is something many local business leaders need to understand better because it offers great potential for business opportunities in Monongahela National Forest based in Elkins.
4. KEC focuses on projects to increase international understanding such as our Spanish Camp, Saudi Arabian Travel Log, and a Multicultural House Tour for YMCA Day Campers. We believe learning more about the world is the best way to increase the possibility of doing business with other countries.
We hope to promote community pride in Elkins by making our working wetland more attractive. We have planted many trees and hope to build boardwalks in the wetland. This fall we plan to have small-group volunteer days to remove invasive species: multiflora rose, honeysuckle, and teasel.
