Some people say the Civil War will never really be over.

Here in West Virginia -- the only state birthed in the Civil War -- that's a good thing.

Right behind its seasonal brochures pumping the Mountain State's renowned ski season and whitewater rafting, Civil War brochures are the West Virginia Division of Tourism's most popular.

And that fervor to embrace, visit and promote the state's Civil War past keeps growing.

Last year, at least 16 percent of all overnight visitors to the Mountain State stopped by historic sites, according to a recent survey, said Justin Gaull, a marketing specialist with the Division of Tourism.

That number is much higher for daytrippers. Those numbers are bound to go up as the state ramps up its Civil War and heritage tourism marketing efforts by recently hooking into the Civil War Trails, another effort to link up travelers with the state's more than 20 Civil War sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This fall is a great example of the continually growing economic benefits of Civil War heritage tourism, Gaull said.

In the Eastern Panhandle, Harper's Ferry has been hosting anniversary events marking John Brown's Raid. Here in Cabell County, Guyandotte celebrates its 20th Civil War Days Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8, looking to draw in re-enactors from New York to Florida and as many as 6,000 spectators over the weekend.

"If you look at Civil War Days and if we think of the economic benefits of not only the 400 re-enactors coming but all the family and people coming in to watch, that really is a great economic impact on the area," Gaull said. "I don't think there's been a huge growth in new events, but I think there is a surge in the popularity of them. I think they are growing in the number of attendees and of interest."

Gaull said the Civil War Trails program, which collects Civil War events and sites in Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, has been successful in drawing tourists, most significantly in the bordering state of Virginia.

"There is a big market for us in West Virginia to tap into," Gaull said. "We have a lot of stories that haven't been revealed to Civil War travelers like they have in other states."

Gaull said the state already is marketing the Mountain State's sites nationally in such publications as American Heritage magazine, as well as additional niche Civil War-related advertising.

The state is already promoting for 2011 (the war's 150th anniversary) and then 2013, the 150th anniversary for the state of West Virginia.

Gaull said tourism officials are working with Tyson Compton, the new executive director of the Cabell-Huntington Convention and Visitors Bureau, to get the area's historically significant sites listed in the state's info now being disseminated on the Civil War Discovery Trail and the Civil War Trails Web sites. Among them are the Jenkins Plantation in Greenbottom and the Z.D. Ramsdell House in Ceredo, both on the National Register of Historic Places.

Right now, no local sites are mentioned on those Web sites, and Civil War Days is not even mentioned as an event in West Virginia's 2009 Official State Travel Guide.

Gaull said there couldn't be a better time to promote since heritage tourism nationwide is seeing a spike.

"Overall there is an increase in things like heritage-based tourism," Gaull said. "People are looking for things that are interesting but that are low cost and that doesn't require a high admission price. Heritage tourism is something that is really appealing to that group."

Recognition of that fact is growing locally.

In addition to such permanent heritage tourism hotspots as Heritage Farm Museum and Village, and the Gen. Jenkins Plantation, there also have been several re-enactments from the newest, the fourth annual Battle of Barboursville (set for July 2010), and the more established re-enactments at Hurricane's Valley Park in March re-enacting Scary Creek, and Guyandotte's November Civil War Days.

Linda Miller, an area Civil War buff, who first came out to watch Civil War Days after finding out her great-great grandfather fought in the battle, has been one of those fervent volunteers spreading the love of history.

Miller joined the nonprofit group of volunteers that puts on the annual event about six years ago, and now is one of the volunteers that has also organized the third annual Battle of Barboursville, a Civil War Re-enactment to be held July 16 to 18, 2010.

That event has grown from about 75 re-enactors the first year to more than 150 last summer.

The crowd has blossomed to about 500 spectators this past year on Saturday and 700 on Sunday.

"My dream is to see the lake surrounded with units," Miller said of Barboursville's Lake William. "That is my dream. I hope that it eventually happens. That is what I am hoping for."

Miller said she, like many who work Guyandotte, are carrying on the torch of history for many of those volunteers who have died, such as John Lavery, a local historian who died at Civil War Days a few years ago of a heart attack.

"West Virginia was born out of the Civil War, and that is why I think that is so important for people to learn about their stories of the state and the county," Miller said.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Confederate and Union soldiers re-enact a battle during the 2008 Civil War Days in Guyandotte. This year's event is set for this weekend.

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