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Friendship Hill is an historic home
twenty minutes drive from Morgantown.
The place was built by Albert Gallatin,
who played a HUGE role in the
early history of the United States.
I like going there and just looking at a piece of public land
kept trim and kept with some sense of civic pride (which is a little
rare round these parts).
The site
is run by the national park services.
The open up the house 9 to 5 most days (including weekends).
Inside, their's some nice period interior decoration.
Also, there's this ulta-cool display
including a great little hologram:
Albert's head jumps out from a wall and gives you a little summary of
his career.
Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland to a
wealthy family.
He emigrated to Massachusetts in 1780 and bough
Friendship Hill in 1784.
Early in his career, he worked
as a surveyor, charting the new lands.
Then he was elected to the state
legislature in 1790 then the United States Senate in 1793-
but got
disqualified on a technicality.
Some folks just can't quit so he got himself elected instead
to House of
Representatives in 1785. Next, Jefferson appointed him Secretary
of the Treasury a post he held 13 years (longest term ever). While
there, he reduced the national debt;
negotiated the finance for Louisiana purchase; helped
planned the Lewis and Clark Expedition; and lead the U.S. delegation
for negotiations in France after the war of 1812.
He never really looked back after that. The negotiation gig lead to a
seven-year appointment as U.S. Minister to France (a.k.a. ambassador?),
then Minister to Great Britain.
 Gallatin bought the
place here since it was close to the then transportation superhighway: the
Monongahela River. His wives hated it here. One just
died while the other
just rebelled at the isolation.
So when he retired, he settled with his wife in New York.
Most folks in Morgantown have never heard of Friendship Hill and the
place is rarely visited.
I've often gone there and had the whole place to myself- just me and the
park rangers.
See, West Virginia isn't big on parks. In
this part of the world, beauty is a resource to be hoarded and ignored
or mined. So the acres of well-kept grounds around Gallatin's place
are a real treat.
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