The Bell County Historical Society recently hosted a field trip from Ellen Myers Elementary School in Harrogate. Fifty-eight third graders and their teachers took a tour of Middlesboro’s historic district.

They started at the Bell County Museum where docents related the history of the area by explaining the various exhibits, starting with the geological beginnings and the meteorite crater and going through to a present day exhibit, that of the P-38.

The students then walked down to the Coal House and saw the Coal Museum. They continued by taking the Canal Walk, learning the history of the canal (and enjoying some close encounters with the ducks), to end up at the Arthur Museum.

There they were introduced to Alexander Arthur, founder of Middlesborough and of Harrogate, and his family. The tour finished with a short walk around the Victorian Garden.