Executive Director of Belmont County Tourism Council Jackee Pugh speaks about the monumental events happening in Belmont County in 2026.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Belmont County has a full and exciting event calendar this year, according to the county’s tourism council chief.

Jackee Pugh, Executive Director of Belmont County Tourism Council, provided the Belmont County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday a quarterly tourism update.

“I’ve been busier than ever, because 2026 is going to be a historic year for Belmont County. We have so many things happening, it’s such an exciting time, and the tourism office is up to our elbows in these projects,” Pugh said.

She added that her office is currently working on three major events happening in the county this year — the America 250 celebration, “The Wall That Heals” coming to the Belmont County Fairgrounds on Oct. 1-4, and the Belmont County Underground Railroad Museum’s move from Flushing to Morristown and the historic Black Horse Inn in the fall.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Pugh mentioned that, in addition to it being the country’s 250 anniversary, it also is the county’s 225 anniversary.

“So we formed a community committee. We’ve been working with partners and stakeholders all across the county, from civic groups to leaders, to nonprofits, to our museum partners, trying to combine everyone together to get on the same page in promoting America’s 250 celebrations so that we’re not overlapping dates,” Pugh said. “And we’ve got plenty of things, unique offerings to give visitors and our residents something to do to feel a part of this really big celebration for our nation and for our county.”

She added that, in preparation for the county’s 225th anniversary, her office created a logo, which she unveiled Wednesday to the Board of Commissioners. Pugh said that her hope is to get the logo in the hands of all community partners that are celebrating events so they can use it to promote and help brand Belmont County’s 225th celebration.

“Economic impact studies for tourism in Ohio say that 48% of Americans are aware of America’s 250th birthday. 61% are planning overnight trips. 65% are planning day trips,” Pugh said. “We love seeing those overnight trip numbers being so high because that’s how our office is funded. So ultimately, we want to bring people into Belmont County, have them spend the night, learn about all of the great things that we have here to offer, and in turn, by creating that economic impact, we’re creating a better quality of life for our residents tourism dollars that we bring into the county ultimately help help cut the tax that local residents pay currently in Belmont County.”

Pugh said the lodging tax cuts taxes for residents by nearly $700 per household because of how many people the county has staying at lodging facilities.

“We’re excited to help keep growing that number, 2026 looks so promising with events that are going to bring people in,” she said.

Pugh then spoke about the Wall that Heals coming to the county on Oct. 1-4.

The Wall That Heals is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a mobile education center. It is free for attendees but costs $12,000 to bring to the county and then another $12,000 to $15,000 in expenses. The four-day event is open to the public, 24 hours a day.

“It’s a big undertaking. We need volunteers around the clock there to support these efforts. So we have a community committee that has been wonderful. People from all corners of Belmont county are involved in this project, because we really see this as such a huge asset, not only to our county, but our whole region,” Pugh said. “It was in Noble County three years ago, which is the closest it’s been recently. Noble County saw over 20,000 people visit that wall in those four day spans. So there’s some big opportunity here, and we are excited about it.”

Lastly Pugh spoke about the Belmont County Underground Railroad Museum moving from Flushing to Morristown.

“This project has been a long time coming. I remember sitting in here talking about it, kind of being a pipe dream, like what if we move that museum into the Black Horse Inn and renovate and combine these two cornerstones of Belmont County history into one thing,” Pugh said. “I’m here to say it’s happening, we are well into the construction phase. It has not been without its hiccups. We’re working on a 200-plus-year-old building. Some of them were expected and some of them were pricey.”

In 2024 The Underground Railroad Museum received $3.9 million from Governor Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant Program. The program is part of a $154 million investment in Appalachian downtowns and destinations.

“We’re not getting any extra funds, that’s what we’ve got to work from. So with some of the structural issues we’ve encountered, we’ve had to cut back,” Pugh said. “One million of the $3.9 million is going just to the Underground Railroad Museum. So that is curating their exhibits, building these new experiences and interactive displays.”

She added that everyone involved in the museum project has been very cognizant of not forgetting the legacy of the Belmont County Underground Railroad Museum curator and co-founder John Mattox.

“We want to honor him and show his presence. We know that it is not ideal for flushing, to not have the museum anymore, so we want to be very aware of that, and want to honor his legacy,” Pugh said. “There’s going to be a bronze sculpture on a bench of Dr. Mattox, where you can actually sit next to him, because that’s what he would do. He’d say, ‘come and sit for a spell and let me tell you a story.’ He was the ultimate storyteller. So we’ve tried to find different pockets throughout the building to honor him.”

She added that although the $3.9 million needs to be spent by October. The museum does not have an opening date but will open during fall of 2026.