Highlands Museum and Discovery Center

The Highlands Museum and Discovery Center is a heritage center and science center located in Ashland, Kentucky, United States.^[1] The museum displays exhibits on local history and specialized science displays for children along with providing educational outreach programs.

In 1864, Eliza Jane Poage Gartrell purchased the property at 1516 Bath Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky, upon which she built her home. Subsequent owners: Thomas Means → John Kobs Sr. → John Hager.

In about 1912, Alice Jane Mayo Fetter (widow of coal entrepreneur John C. C. Mayo) was moving to Ashland from her “Mayo Mansion” in Paintsville. She offered to buy Ashland Central Park to build a mansion but was denied by the city due to the construction freeze ordinance in World War I. Instead, she bought the Bath Avenue property and remodeled it by largely demolishing and rebuilding the 17,000 sq-ft Beaux-Arts mansion in its place, known as the “Mayo Mansion” of Ashland.

Subsequently, the mansion passed through several private owners, including the Stapleton family and in 1978 to Dr. Michael B. Minix, Sr., M.D. Mrs. Stapleton occupied the third floor until her death.

Dr. Minix said the mansion had been neglected and was in shambles. Dr. Minix obtained an easement to be used as his ophthalmology office, Minix Optical, and family residence on the second floor. Dr. Minix and his wife Connie Minix restored it for the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. In 1983, Dr. Minix moved out of the mansion. He conceived its occupancy by a museum to attract residents throughout the tri-state area - not just a Boyd County. Therefore, he chose to name it “Highlands Museum” rather than Boyd County Museum reflecting one of his medical staff memberships at Highlands Regional Hospital in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Dr. Minix donated significant funds to support the museum’s beginning operations which had an informal inside arrangement with exhibits and public tours. A canopy was placed over the stained glass entrance panel.

It focused on local history, culture, and coal-industry artifacts. By 1987, Dr. Minix offered the mansion for sale. Grants were sought from the Kentucky Heritage Council and the Institute of Museum Services to buy the mansion which were denied because they required building ownership. In 1988, Dr. Minix sold the Mayo Mansion. The museum opened to the public as a tenant in the Parsons building. By November 15, 2013, the museum officially purchased the Parsons building and celebrated "A New Beginning" as the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center.

By 1994, additional space was needed and the museum was moved to the former C.H. Parsons Department Store Building in Ashland's Commercial Historic District. The museum was renamed the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center in 1997.^[2]

In 2003–2004, the museum began developing plans to renovate and expand spaces, with specific plans of implementing additional interactive exhibits which focus on the history of Ashland and the Eastern Mountain Coal Fields. Phase I of redevelopment began in November 2005 and was completed in January 2006.^[2] Phase II began in the fall of 2006 after Perry and Susan Madden, the owners of the Parsons Building, donated the structure to the Community & Technical College Foundation of Ashland. The donation required that the museum must remain a tenant in the Parsons Building and that it must join a partnership with Ashland Community and Technical College, allowing the college to use the building in its educational programs.^[3] However, in July 2013, the foundation, citing economic conditions and other factors, placed the building for sale.^[4] The museum finalized the purchase of the building in November 2013.^[5]

• List of museums in Huntington, West Virginia

• Highlands Museum and Discovery Center
• Permanent Exhibits