‘Historic Tales of the Upper Ohio Valley’
Former executive director of Historic Fort Steuben, columnist turns love of local history in to book
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- The former executive director of Historic Fort Steuben in Steubenville will return to familiar territory when he gives a presentation on his first book -- "Historic Tales of the Upper Ohio Valley."
That happens April 29 at 2 p.m. when Paul Zuros, now Hancock County administrator, will be available to sign copies and discuss his book during the free program at 120 S. Third St., Steubenville. For information call (740) 283-1787.
A graduate of West Virginia University and Duquesne University, Zuros has used his love for history and the Ohio Valley to explore and research various topics as part of his bi-weekly column published in the Valley Life section of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.
He's compiled them into the book published on April 10 and available for purchase at the fort's gift shop, at the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center and the Top Shop at the Top of WV CVB in addition to online at arcadiapublishing.com.
Aside from the book signing on April 29, Zuros has one scheduled on May 13 at the Weirton museum with a time to be announced.
Born and riase in Weirton, Zuros said his parents were interested in history and that fostered his own love for the past early on.
His interest in local history started when he volunteered with the Hancock County Museum in New Cumberland and then later with the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center.
A graduate of Weir High School, Zuros went to West Virginia University where he pursued a degree in history and a minor in public relations and Italian studies. While at WVU, he worked for the National Park Service in Richmond, Va., at the city's Civil War sites. Zuros graduated from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh with a master's degree in public history with a concentration in decorative arts.
Through the years, he worked with the John Heinz History Center in its library and archive, the Fort Pitt Museum and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Before returning to the Ohio Valley to take the reins as executive director of Historic Fort Steuben, Zuros was operations manager with the West Virginia Humanities Council and served as the executive director of the Historic Craik Patton House, a historic house museum in Charleston, W.Va.
Now working as the Hancock County administrator, Zuros has been a guest columnist in the Valley Life section of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times for the past four years, writing a bi-weekly local history column -- "History in the Hills."
He resides in Weirton with his wife, Abigail, and their our children Paulie, Francis, Arthur and Stella.
Zuros never thought he would write a book.
"It was on the bucket list for me, but I don't consider myself much of a writer as proven by my grades in high school English," he noted. "My love for reading, however, stems from my family. Growing up, my parents had books on anything I would ever want to read. My father was always getting new cool history books, and my mom would often take me to the Mary H. Weir Library where I would take part in Story Hour taught by Sandy Reardon as a youngster," he reminisced.
"I can remember vividly being read favorite stories by my parents, sister and grandparents. Those were important foundations for me. My grandparents had the books on the history of our area, like David Javersak's book, 'The History of Weirton,' and one written by Frank Pietranton called 'The History of Weirton and Holliday's Cove' penned in 1936," he continued.
"Many hours were spent asking my grandparents about the things I would discover in those books. Today, reading is still a huge part of my family. My wife reads voraciously and could read circles around me. My son Paulie is constantly in a book and his siblings are right behind him. When they visit my parents, every trip back home is accompanied by several books returning to my house. I am glad that this love of reading is being passed onto another generation. I'm glad I'll have a book on the shelf with so many of my favorite books," he said.
His love of the area's history is what Zuros said motivated him to write the book.
"I have always tried so hard to learn as much as I could about our history because once it's lost, it's lost," he pointed out. "I also am fiercely proud of our area. It always bothered me when people in my generation said that they couldn't wait to leave and have a life someplace else. Sometimes you can't always help those situations like family issues, jobs, etc., and I think there is a fair amount of this feeling when you are young and want to try someplace new," he commented. "I think that because of our more recent history, specifically changes in our local economy, people have maybe lost touch as to why this area is important. I firmly believe we should be proud of our area and proud of our history. So in a nutshell, that's why I feel this book is needed. I want people to rediscover that history along with me and share it with those who are close to them."
Zuros said he made it a point to collect as many stories as possible from here, largely to see where local history fits in with that on a national scale.
"When I started at Historic Fort Steuben, one of the board members suggested that I write a local history article for the newspaper so folks could get to know the new director," he said. "Judy Bratten and Jerry Barilla encouraged me to reach out to Ross Gallabrese, the executive editor, to see if that would be something he would be interested in publishing."
It was.
"This article would be a bi-weekly column and would be called 'History in the Hills.' My first article came out on Sept. 22, 2019, and almost four years later, I am still writing. The idea for the book came about from my wife. She mentioned to me that I should compile my work into a single publication and add pictures to accompany my work. The book is not all of my work, but some of it," he explained..
The book is a collection of his articles and is divided into region and subject with a section on Weirton and Hancock County and Steubenville and Jefferson County.
"So it could be read as short stories, each one standing on its own in the chapter. It is a good book to pick up and put down at your leisure," Zuros observes.
"I would like my readers to realize that there is so much history wrapped up here," he commented. "Often, I get asked if I will run out of topics to write about, but my spirit will fail before the topics do. I want readers to be proud of our area and be excited about our past. My book will give a glimpse into the past and what it was like living in the Upper Ohio Valley generations ago. "
Zuros is available as a speaker to talk about local history and his book. He can be contacted by phone at (304) 224-8606 or by e-mail at pzuros@gmail.com.