Walter Carpenter remembers when the former Pleasants County Courthouse was destroyed in a fire...more than 85 years ago.

"I saw the flash of lightning and heard the thunder, and saw the bricks and debris flying through the air," Carpenter, 92, recals. "I was standing on my porch, and I was just a child then, and I looked up and saw it. And Judge Homer Woods, I think it was, declared the courthouse unsafe."

The history of the old and current courthouse is among the items in a display of photos and artifacts the historical society has been collecting since it began more than three decades ago. It opens this Sunday and continues periodically through mid-June. But it isn't just for Pleasants County residents.

"A lot of people in surrounding counties are related to people in Pleasants County," says Cynthia Alkire, whose Counties for Development (C4D) group is co-sponsoring the event, "or people who settled here and made it their home. We're hoping to attract quite a few people."

But this is a temporary display. The historical society and community leaders are looking for a more permanent site, in hopes of establishing a museum of pleasants county history.

"I won't have many more years to do this," Carpenter says, "but I'll keep collecting, identifying, dating, and hoping it will never be destroyed."

And it's hoped the brief exhibit will encourage others to get involved in preserving local history.

"A Historical Journey Through Pleasants County" will open Sunday, from two to four p-m, at the old Family Dollar store at Route 2 and Washington Street.

Other times it will be open, and free, to the public:

Friday, May 22, 2-4 PM

Saturday, May 23, 10 AM-3 PM

Sunday, May 24, 4-6 PM

Thursday, June 11, 4-6 PM (Open House Celebration)

Saturday, June 13, 1-4 PM