Director

On the Courthouse lawn is a cannon, last fired in April,
1861 in defense of Fort Sumter. This cannon was called a Columbian Siege Gun.
It is 12 feet long, has an 8 inch bore, and weighs 8,500 pounds. The Town
fathers, thinking the cannon weighed 51,000 pounds, buried stone ten feet deep
under the foundation for the cannon. It took three teams of horses to bring the
cannon uptown from the Morgantown and Kingwood Railroad station. Plans for the
Soldier's Monument, which stands on the lawn, began in 1893. Lunches and
dinners were served at the courthouse to raise funds for the project. One year
later, the site on the Courthouse lawn was selected. Preston County led the
entire United States in Union patriotism by volunteering the largest percentage
of its population to government service. After almost ten years of raising the
money, the statue was placed on top of the 36 foot high monument of white beryl
granite from Vermont. On the day of dedication, 5,000 visitors attended,
including one hundred Civil War veterans. The Preston County Jail, built in
1925, sits just west of the courthouse. It is constructed of Kingwood
sandstone.

Clock located along Price Street (East Side)

View along Main Street (from northwest to southeast)

View along Price Street (from northeast to southwest); includes cannon and Civil War Memorial

Cannon, last fired in defense of Ft. Sumter (view from north to south)

Historic Marker depicting location of Price's Tavern where Preston County was formed (view from east to west)

Preston County Jail front view from Main Street (view from north to south)

Preston County Jail west side (view from northwest to southeast)

The Preston County Courthouse Complex was built in 1930.  It is a good example of the Art Deco or Public Style building of this period. There are only a few of this type of Courthouse in the state. It is constructed of beautiful pink sandstone.

Preston County Courthouse Complex

A walking tour of the downtown section of the Kingwood Historical District.

Downtown Kingwood Historic District Walking Tour

<div>Constructed over a period&nbsp;from the 1840s to 1870s for the family of James C. McGrew, this historic home (known to the family as "The Pines") now serves as an educational center dedicated to teaching about the history of the antebellum period and West Virginia statehood. The Society for the Preservation of the McGrew House started in 1989 with the mission to preserve the house and make the home an educational and cultural center, emphasizing the pre-Civil War period in northwestern Virginia and the creation of the State of West Virginia. The organization offers a number of exhibits that include antique furnishings, clothing, and artifacts related to the life of James McGrew. The organization also works to share the culture of the region and promote the history of economic development within Preston County. The society also operates a gift shop at the house, which is open on Fridays and Saturdays from May to October (the house itself is open during special events, on specific Sundays in the summer, and upon advanced request). </div><div>The first occupant of the McGrew House, James C. McGrew, played a prominent role in the development of Preston County and in the formation of the State of West Virginia, particularly as a representative of the county at the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. McGrew was born September 14, 1813 and&nbsp;married his wife Persis Hagans&nbsp;in 1841. He built the first iteration of their house in Kingwood shortly thereafter, which consisted of the two-story ell portion of the current structure built in the Federal style with symmetrical features, smooth facade, and gabled roof. From then until the outbreak of the Civil War McGrew was active in establishing multiple business interests in Preston County, which his father James had helped to found with John Fairfax. The latter McGrew, James C., was an early promoter of the town of Kingwood (incorporated on March 12, 1853), earning the contract to build its first courthouse in 1857 that many considered among the finest in the state. James C. McGrew also operated a store in nearby Reedsville with his business partner E.C. Bunker and served as the area's first postmaster in a new post office at Salt Lick Falls. Residents of Preston County elected McGrew and William G. Brown Sr. to represent them at the Secession Convention in Richmond on the eve of the American Civil War. At the convention, McGrew voted against secession and was&nbsp;one of the eighteen members of the gathering who held a secret meeting on the afternoon of April 20th, 1861 to discuss secession from Virginia rather than the Union. It was the germ idea that developed into the reorganization of the government of western Virginia into the state&nbsp;of West Virginia in 1863. According to local legend, the McGrew House itself also played a role in notable events during the era: Persis McGrew evidently barred invading Confederate soldiers from her home during her husband's absence with the pro-Union government in Wheeling.&nbsp; Considered a West Virginia founder, McGrew&nbsp;served as a member of the first state legislature, a responsibility that kept him away from home until 1870. That year, he added what is now the main block of the McGrew House, a two-story Italianate brick structure with broader roof planes, more centralized&nbsp;chimneys, and larger windows than the original section of the home. It was also during this time, however, that the residents of the Second Congressional District elected McGrew to serve in the 41st (1869-1871) and 42nd (1871-73) Congresses, a position that once more drew him away from home. After declining a third nomination McGrew returned to his home in Kingwood, but waited only a few short years before returning to politics. In 1879 he served as the mayor of Kingwood, then resigned to become a delegate to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference in London. When he returned he ran for mayor once more and won. James C. McGrew's&nbsp;son, William C. McGrew, meanwhile, was also prominent in state politics. He&nbsp;moved to Morgantown after spending his childhood in the house, and went on to become that town's mayor for five terms and serve as its representative in the state senate in 1878. Meanwhile, William's father remained in Kingwood for the remainder of his life, passing away in 1910 four days after his 97th birthday. After his death, the McGrew House and grounds passed through a number of private families hands before serving as the local senior center in the 1970s. The Preston County Commission purchased the property a decade later, but evidently did not realize the site's historical significance until 1989. That year,&nbsp;the Kingwood Tourism Committee began conducting research on what locals knew at the time as the "Gibson property." Shortly thereafter, local volunteers organized the Society for the Preservation of the McGrew House and nominated their namesake site for status on the National Register of Historic Places. The society continues the operation of the site to this day as a museum and gift shop&nbsp;devoted to the study of James McGrew and the local area. The gift shop is open Fridays and Saturdays from May to October, while the house itself is open on the third Sunday of summer months, upon advanced request, and for special events. </div><div> </div>

This home was constructed for James and Persis McGrew in the early 1840s. The McGrews raised each of their three children here and expanded the home after the Civil War. McGrew, an influential representative that supported the Union during the Virginia Secession Convention, used his influence along with others to garner support for secession from Virginia and the creation of the pro-Union state of West Virginia. His home also served as the childhood home of William C. McGrew, a state delegate and mayor of Morgantown. After James McGrew's death in 1910, the home passed through a variety of hands before the town scheduled it for demolition. The local tourism bureau and a group of volunteers saved the house, however, with a successful nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The Society for the Preservation of the McGrew House now operates as a museum and educational center devoted to the study of James McGrew and local history. While the house is open every third Sunday on summer months, during special events, and upon advanced request, the society's gift shop is open from May to October on Friday afternoon and evening and on Saturday mornings.

McGrew House

The stone was quarried at nearby Zeverly (Pleasantdale). The more
prominent features include the second floor balcony/porch above the corner
entrance door, which is carved from stone as well. There are square pilasters
that have ornately carved Corinthian composite capitals. On the west and south elevations,
second floor, there is a bank of three windows separated by stone columnn mullions
with carved capitals. The main cornice of the building is a simple but massive
affair with curved brackets. The construction cost was $15,000.00. The bank closed in
June 1931.

The Kingwood National Bank building, built in 1908, stands on the northeast corner of Main and Price Streets.  This is a fine two-story, Romanesque Style structure with rusticated ashlar stone facades.  The building currently houses the law offices of Virginia Hopkins.

Kingwood National Bank

James W. White was the next owner until 1899, when he sold
it to Horatio S. Whetsell. The Whetsell family owned the Journal for sixty-eight
years. In 1967, it was purchased by Delbert and Linda Benson, who later sold to Gary and Tina Bolyard and Dennis and Carol Peters. Today the papers are owned and printed by NCWV Media who publishes the Preston County Journal on Tuesday, and the Preston County
News on Friday.

The Preston County Journal Building was built in 1880 by William 0. Dawson, who established the Journal (a local newspaper), later became Governor of West Virginia.

Preston County Journal Building

According to local legend, when attorney James A. Brown constructed a house for his wife Isabel on Main Street in 1859 she did not care for the building's signature feature: the word "Home" printed across the structure's roof in colored slate. Still, their home it remained for the short duration of their marriage, which ended abruptly a year later when Isabel succumbed to smallpox. Built in the Federal style, with symmetrical, smooth features, side gabling, and stone lintels, the house that now operates as the Preston County Inn under Jean and Deb Guillot is most notable for its association with Brown himself. From the 1860s to the 1880s Brown played a prominent role in local politics, serving as prosecuting attorney for Preston County from 1861 to 1863 and running for judge of the Third Circuit Court in 1880. After his death, the house he built for Isabel passed through a number of hands before reopening as an inn in 1932. It has continued in that capacity since then, with the Guillots taking over operations after a visit to the area in 2007. They currently run a restaurant, which is open for lunch and dinner, and offer guest accommodations on the second floor. The inn&nbsp;is also noteworthy for its&nbsp;seven fireplaces, three of which are&nbsp;downstairs and four upstairs.Shortly after his wife's untimely death the residents of Preston County elected James to serve as one of their prosecuting attorneys, which he did from 1861 to 1863. Preston County was predominantly pro-Union on the eve of the Civil War, most likely as a result of the area's dwindling reliance on slave labor over the course of the antebellum period. The proportion of slave to free labor in the county reached its peak in 1830, when there were 125 enslaved African Americans and 27 free Black residents listed in the census. By 1860, those numbers had shifted to&nbsp;67 and 45 respectively, ensuring little sympathy for secession among the majority of Prestonians. Their representatives at the Virginia Secession Convention, James McGrew and William G. Brown, Sr., voted against leaving the Union, and worked to leave Confederate Virginia and form the state of West Virginia in 1863.&nbsp;While men like James McGrew worked to keep the entire region&nbsp;in the Union others,&nbsp;like James Brown,&nbsp;worked to ensure that federal law and authority remained in force on the local level. This task had considerable challenges. Union loyalties may have been strong in Preston County, but the area was not free of Confederate sympathizers and it was Brown's job as a representative of the criminal justice system to mediate any possible threat such individuals might have posed to federal governance there. He evidently performed well in this capacity, ultimately stepping down the same year that West Virginia became a state&nbsp;While Brown's career in politics began with the outbreak of the Civil War, it came to a close with that era's conclusion. When he ran as a Republican in 1880 to become a judge of the Third Circuit Court, he enjoyed considerable support in Preston County but ultimately lost to the Democratic majorities that made up the&nbsp;rest of the counties in the circuit. He was by no means alone in defeat: Republicans across West Virginia and the United States had been steadily losing ground to Democratic candidates since the Compromise of 1877 resulted in Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ascending to the presidency. In exchange, Hayes agreed to remove the last federal troops from the southern states under Reconstruction, a deal that alienated many Republicans and allowed Democrats to gradually regain control of national politics by the 1890s. West Virginia took a slightly different path. The Democratic party that came to power at the expense of candidates like Brown dominated state politics until the election of 1896, when its voters rejected the Populist leanings of William Jennings Bryan. Instead they chose&nbsp;William McKinley, who promised to bring business back to the country during an economic downturn and campaigned extensively in the Mountain State.&nbsp;The Brown house's transformation into an inn coincided with the next shift in state and national politics. The first iteration of the inn opened its door&nbsp;in 1932, just a few short years after the Great Depression drove voters in both West Virginia and the country to reject pro-business Republican candidates in favor of Franklin Roosevelt's Democrats. The economic downturn hit Preston County particularly hard but the inn remained open, changing hands by continuing as an inn from then to the present. Its current owners, the Guillot family, operate a restaurant serving lunch and dinner there and offer accommodations in the guest rooms on the second floor. They have also pieced together a detailed history of the building and James Brown, which is available on their website.

Constructed by local attorney James A. Brown in 1859 for his wife Isabel, the Preston County Inn has served as such for the past seventy-seven years. Unfortunately, Isabel died of smallpox within the first year of the couple's residence in their new home. The two-story brick Federal-style structure remained James' home, during which time he played a prominent role in local politics. In 1861 the residents of Preston County elected him to serve as its prosecuting attorney, in which capacity he helped to maintain law and order during the area's secession from the Confederate state of Virginia. He served in that position for two years, and went on after the Civil War to run (unsuccessfully) for judge of the Third Circuit Court in 1880. Brown's house passed through a number of hands after his death before becoming an inn in 1932. Since then, the inn has seen ten different owners. It currently houses a restaurant and guest rooms operated by Jean and Deb Guillot, who visited the area in the early 2000s and purchased the inn shortly thereafter. The Guillots have pieced together an extensive history of the building and James A. Brown himself, which is available on their website. Guests can book rooms at the inn throughout the year and visit the restaurant for lunch Monday to Saturday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.

The Preston County Inn

The hospital's doctor was Emory Strickler. Strickler Drugstore was
once located nearby at the corner of Court and Price Streets. The doctor's office was on
the second floor of this building, and he had an overhead walkway from his
office to the hospital behind.

The Old Hospital Building located at 103 West Court Street was built in 1905. This building, which is in use today as law offices, was the first hospital in Kingwood.

Old Hospital Building

What is presumed to be the additions are the front two story portico and
one story porch. The porch has rounded turrets at each end. The east one is
open, while the west one is an enclosed room. On October 5, 1899, a hot water
heating system was installed. On November 7 of the same year, Mr. Bishop
married Fanny Emma Brown. She insisted her home be called Mortimer Hall, as Mr.
Bishop's middle name was Mortimer.

The C. M. Bishop Residence was built in 1872. The current configuration appears to indicate that there was a major addition at some time since the original construction.

C.M. Bishop Residence

Inside the church, the four centered arched ceiling above is
of chestnut, highly varnished and showing the wood grain. The great girders
which drop below, or out from the ceiling, give a look of great strength to the
building. Standing in the middle aisle, it is 26 feet from the floor to where
these girders join, while the corbels on which they rest at the side are only
eight feet from the floor.

The First Presbyterian Church was built in 1878. It was made of local brick and the cost of the building and furnishings was approximately $6,000.00.

First Presbyterian Church

Education and the passion behind it's importance&nbsp;is at the core of West Virginian pride. In the 1800s, Preston County saw an influx of schools being established to accommodate for the sharp increase in demand for educational institutions. In Kingwood, West Virginia, part of Preston County, one of these schools was established and named "Kingwood Academy," respectively after the name of the town in which it was located. Not only was this institution historically significant for being an older school building, but also due to the significant figures who saw their careers and legacies begin here. Institutions such as these should be credited and praised for their role in the broader history of West Virginia and its people.&nbsp; Forming from the larger Monongalia County in April of 1818, Preston County was home to places such as the historical town of Kingwood. The county's name hails from the governor of Virginia's name at the time, James Patton Preston, who was in office from 1816-1819. During the 1800s, West Virginian communities such as Kingwood saw many educational institutions being established, many of which were one-room school houses which focused on both primary and secondary education. The Kingwood Academy itself was built as a result of this boom which was happening at the time, and saw it's official date of establishment on January 2, 1841.&nbsp; During the 1840s, Preston County was in the midst of agricultural and economic prosperity, leading to an increase in population and demand for educational facilities such as Kingwood Academy, and it met the public's need for such a request. It was built to educate students on primary and advanced subject matter. It was utilized for a time as the county's circuit court when in 1869 the Court House was burnt down, as ordered by governor William E. Stevenson,&nbsp;being both used as a building to hold hearings as well as for students to go about their learning. Not only was the institution utilized in such a manner as this, but it also helped build up individuals who had a larger impact on the history of West Virginia.&nbsp; Many prominent individuals got their start as either teachers or personnel at the Kingwood Academy. One of these men was Reverend Alexander Martin, who later went on to become the first president of the newly established West Virginia University, after being a teacher and a principal of Kingwood Academy. Alexander Martin established himself as a advocate for furthering the education of West Virginians, and this idea started as a result of working at this institution. Other important individuals have come out of Kingwood Academy as teachers and principals. In Grafton, West Virginia on May 12, 1890, C.C. Showalter was elected superintendent of a new West Virginia Reform School at the age of 28. Showalter was the principal of Kingwood Academy at the time and was elected based on merit and was highly acclaimed as a teacher of superior ability mixed with executive expertise. Another man, Major William Conley, was taught at this school, whose son became governor of the state from 1928-1932, being the first state-born governor in West Virginia.&nbsp; In retrospect, Kingwood Academy, although being a small building with little use in the modern age, has had a profound impact on quite a few individuals who became an important part of the state's history. It was built during a time of an economic boom in Preston County and remained an important part of Kingwood during the time of it's running. The school closed in 1875 but was bought again by the Board of Education in 1959 to hold some classes there, so it saw its' heyday through a relatively short period, yet it brought out so many important individuals into West Virginian society.&nbsp;The importance of education remains at the highest significance in the state, and through this shows that it has always been at the heart of West Virginia.&nbsp;

Incorporated on January 2, 1841, the Kingwood Academy was one of the earliest schools built in Preston County, West Virginia. Established due to increasing population and a boom in the economy of the county, this building was an integral part of Kingwood, West Virginia and its community. Prominent West Virginians, including first president of West Virginia University, Rev. Alexander Martin, got their start teaching at the Academy. 

Kingwood Academy

A prominent feature is the matched pair of Fry 117 visible
gasoline pumps. These pumps were nicknamed "Mae West" because of
their curvaceous nature. The station houses a museum of highway nostalgia.

The Old Gas Station located on the southwest corner of Price and High Street was built in 1927. This station, with its red tile roof, is reminiscent of the first service stations in this century, and was a package design produced by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.

Old Gas Station

The stone used was from the quarry at Zeverly
(Pleasantdale). The cost was $9,571.67. This structure is a good example of the
Victorian Gothic style. The Methodist parsonage sits just west of the church and
was built in 1906 at a cost of $6,002.00, including landscaping and fence.

This church was built in 1879 with local brick from a brickyard which was located on the north side of Main Street, in the dip just below the post office.

Wesley United Methodist Church

This building was recently slated to be demolished to make
space available for church parking. After much discussion, the Administrative
Board voted to authorize a committee of church members to bring the building
into condition for future use by the church and community. An additional
committee has been exploring possible uses for the site, which will benefit
both the church and community as a whole. Fund raising events and work on the
building are in the early stages.

The Bonafield House of Wesley United Methodist Church is believed to have been built in the early 1850s.

Downtown Kingwood Historic District Walking Tour

Preston County Courthouse Complex

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources