The Thacker family donated 47 acres to Audra State Park in West Virginia, expanding the park from 355 to approximately 402 acres. This donation includes a $15,000 contribution for trail development and signage, marking the largest addition since the state added 44 acres in 1961. The Thacker family's generous gift recognizes their historical connection to the area dating back over 175 years and enhances the park’s appeal for hiking, swimming, and fishing activities.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
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Story summary
A West Virginia family with ties to the Audra area for over 175 years donated 47 acres to Audra State Park, increasing its total land from 355 acres to roughly 402 acres. The donation, made on September 3 at the West Virginia State Capitol, includes a $15,000 contribution for trail and sign installation. This expansion is significant as it surpasses the park's previous largest addition of 44 acres in 1961. Located along the Middle Fork River spanning Barbour and Upshur counties, Audra State Park attracts hikers, swimmers, and anglers to its forested hillsides and rocky corridors, with the Alum Cave Trail being a popular hiking route. The Thacker family's donation honors their great-great-grandparents, Jacob Johnson Thacker and Sarah Ann DeMasters Thacker, providing space for future trail development.
Written for “Park Expansion Donation” on 2026-09-14,
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A West Virginia family with ties to the Audra area for over 175 years donated 47 acres to Audra State Park.
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In September, the Thacker family signed over the property at the state Capitol, along with a $15,000 donation for trails and signs on the new property, known as the Thacker Addition, according to a report by West Virginia Explorer News.
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This is a significant boost for a modest park nestled between two counties in the Appalachian foothills.
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With this generous donation, Audra State Park will expand from its previous 355 acres to roughly 402 acres.
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The donated land alone is larger than the 44 acres the state added to the park in 1961.
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A generous donation with family ties
On September 3, the family of Victor and Mary Thacker formally donated their property in a ceremonial deed signing at the West Virginia State Capitol.
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The Thacker family made the donation in honour of Victor Thacker’s great-great-grandparents, Jacob Johnson Thacker and Sarah Ann DeMasters Thacker.
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These 47 acres of land will provide space for future trail development, according to officials.
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‘West Virginia State Parks is deeply grateful for this extraordinary gift from the Thacker family,’ Dillard Price, acting chief of West Virginia State Parks, said.
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He called the generous donation an investment in the state's natural and cultural heritage.
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‘Each acre our state parks protect represents a lasting investment in our state’s natural, cultural and historical resources — a gift that directly benefits future generations.’
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The Thacker family's foothold in Barbour County, where the park sits, goes back nearly two centuries.
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While park officials did not specify whether the donated land itself stayed in family hands throughout those 175 years, the gift points to the family’s enduring ties to the region.
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Audra itself traces back to a small river community that emerged around the 20th century.
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By then, five families occupied the spot along the Middle Fork, according to the West Virginia Encyclopedia.
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A gristmill and sawmill anchored the settlement in those early years.
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The landscape around it was logged; later, Barbour County 4-H groups used the area as a camp between 1919 and 1923.
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Later, the state acquired the property.
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Audra State Park formally opened in 1950, with additional acreage added over the following decade as the park took shape.
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Today, it is known chiefly for the river gorge, the forest canopy and those established trails.
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With the Thacker family's 47-acre donation, the park will see an extension without erasing any of its past.
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More room to roam
Audra State Park stretches across Barbour and Upshur counties along the Middle Fork River, a landscape of forested hillsides tumbling towards a rocky corridor, making it a popular destination for outdoor recreation, especially among hikers, swimmers and anglers.
The park's signature hiking route is the Alum Cave Trail, a 2.7-mile loop that follows the Middle Fork through thick forest and beneath a distinctive sandstone overhang known as Alum Cave.
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West Virginia State Parks also lists a shorter trail called the Rock Cliff Trail.
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The Thacker Addition opens possibilities for expanding those options, though park officials have not yet released designs for the new trails the funding will support.
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Officials have also not revealed the location of the new plot, and it is unknown whether it includes river frontage.
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Regardless, this additional land will create more opportunities for hiking at the park.
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Park officials have not announced final designs for the trails yet.
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However, this generous donation means future visitors to Audra will have more ground to explore, more of the river gorge to hike and more reasons to return.
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