Classroom

At 5:10 a.m. on March 19, 1909, disaster struck Parkersburg, WV as&nbsp;one of the city’s two reserve water&nbsp;tanks burst. The resulting gush of water then&nbsp;destroyed the&nbsp;supporting truss of the adjacent tower. With both tanks having&nbsp;released their contents,&nbsp;two million gallons of water to rushed down the hill into the neighborhood below.&nbsp;The water destroyed several houses along Avery Street. The first house met by the tidal wave of water was a small cottage in which lived the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Wigal. The wall of water likely caused the roof of the house to collapse on the couple as they slept. A search party found the Wigals later that morning and took them to a local morgue. The body of a&nbsp;third victim was recovered but their identity was either not&nbsp;identified or recorded in the local press.&nbsp;The water proceeded to the St. John’s Lutheran Church on Avery and 9 ½ Streets. The houses surrounding the church&nbsp;were completely demolished. Adjacent streets were filled with wrecked buildings and&nbsp;debris as the&nbsp;water carried down at least six blocks. The water reached the downtown area but only caused minor water damage. Residents recall that after the waters receded, there were at least two inches of&nbsp;mud on the floor of Blennerhassett Hotel.&nbsp;

The disaster united residents in the task of&nbsp;searching for survivors, cleaning the debris, and&nbsp;rebuilding homes. Some questioned whether foul play was involved as the tanks were only 26 years old and should not have failed. However, no evidence of foul play was ever discovered. The tragedy is remembered by a group of well-kept hedges that were planted to&nbsp;commemorate the couple that lost their life in the sudden flood.&nbsp;

Southward View of Quincy and Shattuck Avenue and the wreckage and remains of the tanks.

Corner of Tenth and Avery Street. View of the wreckage caused by tanks.

Modern view of Tenth and Avery from the top of Quincy Hill

Children playing on the remains of one of the tanks.

People searching for dead bodies in the wreckage on Tenth and Avery

Quincy Hill, once known as Prospect Hill, is a neighborhood located between Quincy Street and Shattuck Street in Parkersburg, WV. This neighborhood was the site of one of the worst disasters in the region. On March 19, 1909, two water towers on top of Quincy Hill burst and released two million gallons of water, causing a sudden flood that claimed the lives of three nearby residents. A city park is now located on the site of the water tanks.

Quincy Hill Water Tank Disaster, 1909

This short tour includes a dozen historic sites and museums. If you would like to drive instead of walk, you might be better off to walk the downtown sections and use your car to get up the hill.

Enslaved persons who traveled north in search of freedom via Parkersburg on the Underground Railroad most likely traveled to the area from points east via two primary routes. The first, the Little Kanawha River, feeds into the Ohio River over a meandering 169-mile course from Upshur County and thus served as an ideal byway for those seeking freedom in the antebellum period. The other, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, extended nearly 300 miles across the western half of the state of Virginia and was one of the most accessible means of traveling to Ohio in the region. Once they had reached either route, refugees from slavery could either hope to rely on the assistance of a number of Underground Railroad agents and conductors or seek to follow the path themselves. Despite the popular conception that the counties that became West Virginia were heavily anti-slavery, neither option was necessarily a safe one. Many areas of what was then western Virginia relied on the institution of slavery in one capacity or another. Many river towns like Parkersburg, for example, depended on their participation in the slave trade for their prosperity, selling slaves from Virginia to points southward along the Mississippi River. Larger plantations were also not unknown. In what became Parkersburg, for example, one of the earliest families to arrive were the Neals, who established a bustling plantation along the Little Kanawha and Ohio that relied on the labor of a large number of enslaved persons. On the Neal Plantation was also located a small cabin that housed the individual responsible for warning riverboat captains to avoid the dangerous shoals off The Point, a spit of land on the north side of the confluence of the Little Kanawha and Ohio. That individual would, on foggy nights, blow a horn at regular intervals to prevent boats on the river from running aground. In the 1840s, that individual was Edna Sutton. After the Civil War Edna went on to live in Little Hocking, Ohio, where she disguised herself as “Ed” Sutton to work railroad construction in the town. When the construction moved out of the town, she revealed her true identity and worked as a domestic servant in the employ of one Horace Curtis. As she got older, she worked a variety of odd jobs to survive and was eventually buried after her death around 1878 in Newberry Cemetery. Before the Civil War, however, Edna Sutton used her role as “horn blower” at The Point to participate heavily in the Underground Railroad. In addition to blowing her horn when heavy fog might threaten the safety of river travel, Sutton blew her horn to notify Colonel John Stone, an abolitionist across the Ohio River in Belpre, Ohio, of the presence of runaway slaves hiding in her cabin on Neal Plantation. Stone would then arrange to ferry the refugees across the river to freedom in Belpre and points further west and north. Sutton, nicknamed “Aunt Jenny” for the purposes of her covert activities, also used the relative freedom of her position as horn blower to move among her white neighbors to gather intelligence. When she learned of the movements and plans of slave-catching posses that might threaten the freedom of runaway slaves in residence across the river in Ohio, she passed that knowledge on to Colonel Stone. Colonel Stone then in turn did his best to aid the slaves’ removal from the area before the posses’ arrival. One such group that the abolitionists of Belpre were unable to remove from the area in time included six refugees formerly enslaved by George Harwood in Washington Bottom, Wood County: Daniel Partridge, Frederic and Hannah Gay, and the Gays’ three children Burnet, Harriet, and Mary. After being transported across the Ohio with the assistance of Edna Sutton, the former slaves were recaptured (with the exception of Partridge) along with three white Underground Railroad agents (Daniel – or Peter – Garner, Creighton Loraine, and Mordecai Thomas). This group was then forced into Virginia and held in Parkersburg for trial, precipitating a political crisis between Ohio and Virginia. The governor of Ohio, Mordecai Bartley, began plans for 100 Ohio militiamen to storm the jail in Parkersburg in order to free the prisoners but was eventually persuaded to demand the extradition of those Virginians who had participated in the Ohioans’ kidnapping. The governor of Virginia, James McDowell, refused the Bartley’s demand and later exonerated the Virginians in question. The three Underground Railroad agents, meanwhile, each paid $100 in bail and returned to Ohio. They never attended their trial. The role of Edna Sutton in this controversy highlights not only the role of free Black women in the Underground Railroad, but also the role of the Railroad in interstate politics in the antebellum period.

The state historical marker at this site commemorates the involvement of a woman nicknamed “Aunt Jenny” for her efforts to support freedom for enslaved persons escaping the South via the Underground Railroad between what is now Parkersburg, West Virginia and Belpre, Ohio. Active in the area during the 1840s, Aunt Jenny aided runaway slaves traveling through the area by notifying Underground Railroad agents across the Ohio River of their presence and gathering information on the activities of slave catchers. Historians believe that Aunt Jenny was in actuality Edna Sutton, who after her time in Parkersburg went on to settle in Little Hocking, Ohio. The assistance Sutton provided to refugees from slavery highlights the prominent role played by free Black men and women in the activities of the Underground Railroad and the potential influence those activities could have on period politics. In 1845, Sutton’s aid to a group of slaves who were later captured and returned to Virginia from Ohio precipitated a near armed conflict between the two states. This memorial is located in Point Park and is one of only a handful of state historical markers that commemorate the experiences of women and people of color in West Virginia . 

Women of Courage Historical Marker (Aunt Jenny and the Underground Railroad)

In the mid-eighteenth century, surveyors determined western Virginia was rich in oil and natural gas. Native Americans already utilized oil seeping from the ground for a variety of purposes, but it was not a major source of fuel until it was drilled in large quantities. In 1842, oil was accidentally discovered in Wirt County, WV. While drilling for salt on their property, the Rathbone family found that oil was getting in the way. One year after Edwin Drake successfully established the nation's first oil well in Pennsylvania, the Rathbones drilled West Virginia's first oil well in Burning Springs, Wirt County, in July 1860. Johnson Newlon Camden, later a state senator, established an oil refinery in Parkersburg where much of this oil was prepared for use. The oil rush quickly expanded throughout Wirt, Wood, and Ritchie County. With huge quantities of oil being produced, money was quickly coming to this area, which was a huge influence in the Civil War and was one of the reasons West Virginia became a state. With all this money, the owners did not want it to go to the Confederates. Oil was selling for about $30 a barrel, and with oil only a hundred feet under the ground, it created quick millionaires. Some of Parkersburg's mansions are the result of oil fortunes.Natural gas, a byproduct of the creation of petroleum in the earth, also had use in nineteenth century western Virginia. As early as 1831, the Kanawha salt manufacturers were producing heat by using wooden pipes to move natural gas from wells. As oil production declined in the twentieth century, natural gas gained popularity as a more efficient and cost-effective option. The Parkersburg Oil and Gas Museum explores the history and technologies of these fossil fuels in West Virginia, along with some history of the Civil War in this area. The Museum is located in the historic W.H. Smith Hardware Company building, completed around 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It retains unique, original features such as a historic Romanesque facade with the hand-painted sign, hardwood floors, light fixtures, hardware store shelving, and heating units. The Hardware Company was established in 1874 on this site and produced items for agriculture and industry; home items ranging from doors to stoves to roofing; and tools for Blacksmiths, wagonmakers, and saddlers. The original building burned in August 1899 and the current structure built on the former's original foundations. The Hardware Company kept shop at this site until the 1980s when they moved out of downtown; they remain in business today.

This museum in downtown Parkersburg offers a collection of artifacts, exhibits, and documents related to the history of the oil and gas industry in the region and beyond. The museum also includes a replica of an old oilfield office. It is a blast from the past when walking inside this old building, which dates back to 1900 after the original building was destroyed by fire. The grounds of the museum include a collection of different engines and machinery dating back to West Virginia's first oil boom.

Parkersburg Oil and Gas Museum

Since its establishment as a county in 1789, Wood County, WV has had no less than five courthouses. The first building to act as a courthouse was the log cabin home of County Justice Hugh Phelps. In 1800, the second and first official county courthouse was constructed of walnut logs and situated near the mouth of the Little Kanawha River. This building functioned as a courthouse until 1817 when Wood County erected its third courthouse in Parkersburg. The architectural style of this courthouse was more indicative of its government purpose compared to a log structure, though no image of it exists. The site of the third and all future courthouses has ever since been known as Courthouse Hill. Constructed in a Greek Revival architectural style and completed in 1860, the county’s fourth courthouse cost $25,000 to build. During the Civil War, Federal troops used this building as a headquarters and a hospital. In 1899 construction of the fifth and current Wood County Courthouse began. Local contractors Caldwell &amp; Drake oversaw the construction of the courthouse according to the plans of architect L. W. Thomas of Canton, Ohio. The five-story courthouse took two years complete at the cost of $100,00, and is considered to be a perfect example of the Romanesque Revival architectural style. Due to the large amounts of iron, steel, and native sandstone used in the construction of the building, local lore says that the courthouse is fireproof.During the mid-twentieth-century, the Wood County Courthouse fell into disrepair and faced the threat of demolition in the early-1980s. An organization of concerned residents saved the courthouse from the wrecking ball; and between 1983-1984, the courthouse underwent a major renovation at the cost of $1.5 million. The Wood County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its architectural significance.

The Wood County Courthouse in Parkersburg, WV was constructed in 1899 by local contractors Caldwell & Drake, according to the plans of architect L. W. Thomas of Canton, Ohio. The five-story building cost $100,000 to construct and took two years to complete. The courthouse is considered to be a perfect example of the Romanesque Revival architectural style. The 1899 courthouse is Wood County’s fifth courthouse and the third to be placed on Courthouse Hill.

Wood County Courthouse

Money from the oil and natural gas industry led to an economic boom in Parkersburg and surrounding areas in the late 1800s. Responding to the demand for a luxury hotel, the Blennerhassett Hotel was designed and built by a local businessman named William Chancellor. It took six years to construct, and it was originally leased to George Campbell and opened on May 6th, 1889. The hotel was quickly became a local landmark. It had about 50 guest rooms stationed around a central staircase. There were restrooms on each of the four guest floors and the kitchen was located on the fifth floor. It had two parlors and a restaurant which could seat up to 80 guests at a time. Plumbing, gas, electric, windows, and even furniture were locally sourced. The hotel's current game room once housed the First National Bank of Parkersburg, one of the first businesses in the area equipped with electricity. The hotel was built to captivate the gaslight era. The builders brought together different architectural styles by combining Victorian, Queen Anne and some Romanesque Revival design elements. A Parkersburg businessman named Johan Kaltenecker, built the Kaltenecker building next door. The outside of the building was designed to match the hotel. In 1985-1986, a renovation brought both buildings together, and the Kaltenecker building is now the hotel dining area.  While the hotel was originally going to be called "The Argyle," the hotel ended up being named after Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett. In 1789, this couple settled on an island in the Ohio River and constructed a mansion. The island, now called Blennerhassett Island, became well known because of Mr. Blennerhassett's association with Vice President Aaron Burr. Because of their involvement with Burr's attempt to gain control of the region Southwest of the area, the Blennerhassett’s fled the island and traveled down the Ohio River to escape possible conspiracy charges.  The hotel has been updated at various points throughout the 20th century and remains a popular place for accommodating guests to the area. From 1944 to 1945, William Chancellor's grandson, Nelson C. Burwell, operated the hotel. Three major renovations happened during the his time. In 1979, there were around 30 elderly residents living at the hotel. On May 9th, 1979, their was a fire that badly damaged the building. It was extinguished right before it hit the 5th floor. In the 1980s, a group of Pennsylvania-based investors decided to pay for renovations to the building. The hotel underwent a complete restoration in 1986. In November of 2002 the hotel underwent another renovation costing over 10 million dollars. The hotel now has 89 guest rooms and a patio outside. The building is currently listed on the National register of Historic Places and is still operating as a hotel.

Opening in 1889 during the "Gaslight Era," this hotel became the center of Parkersburg society during and after the region's oil and gas boom. The hotel, nearby island, and several other places in the city were named in honor of the famous Blennerhassett family. The family were local power brokers who captured the nation's attention after their association with then Vice President Aaron Burr and his attempt to capture the American West. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and a full restoration took place in 1986.

The Blennerhassett Hotel

During the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Parkersburg, WV experienced an economic boom as a result of the regional oil, coal, timber, and railroad industries within the Ohio River Valley. The financial success of the area allowed for the growth of the city’s film and entertainment industry. In 1926, the Smoot Amusement Company erected the Smoot Theatre in downtown Parkersburg. This brick and terra cotta building, boasting a simple Classical façade of four fluted Ionic columns indicative of the “movie palace” phase in American theater architecture, served as a Vaudeville venue. However, the Smoot Theatre came into existence during the decline of Vaudeville; and by 1930, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. purchased the theater and converted it into a movie theater. For the next 56 years, the Smoot became Parkersburg’s primary theater.By the early 1980s, the older single-screen movie theaters began declining due in part to the competition from larger multiplex venues, television, and video entertainment. In 1986, the Smoot Theatre closed because of this decline. The building was set to be demolished in the spring of 1989, because the condition of the theater had declined rapidly. A volunteer group of concerned citizens understood the historic value of the theater and raised enough funds to purchase the building with the intent to restore and reopen. The volunteers were able to preserve and restore many of the theater's original Art Deco features, such as the burgundy and cream-colored décor, gilt moldings, and trap doors on the stage floor.Today, the Smoot Theatre is a venue for a variety of theatrical performances in Parkersburg and continues to be an entertainment hub in the city.

The Smoot Theatre in downtown Parkersburg is an entertainment landmark and serves as a reminder of the city’s prosperous past. Originally constructed by the Smoot Amusement Company in 1926, the theatre first functioned as a Vaudeville house until the Warner Brother Company purchased the building in 1930 and converted it into a movie theatre. The Smoot closed its doors in 1986. In 1989, a volunteer group purchased the Smooth Theater to prevent it from being demolished and renovated the building. The Smoot now offers a variety of theatrical performances to Parkersburg and continues to be an entertainment hub of the city.

Smoot Theater

Immediately after the end of the Civil War in 1866, Reverends D. Bowser and Charles O. Fisher organized the Methodist Episcopal Church for the newly-emancipated African Americans in Parkersburg. The burgeoning congregation held its first service in the basement of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. Without a permanent home, the congregation shifted from the First M.E. Church in the mornings and afternoons to a local school house in the evenings. To address the congregation’s need of its own space, congregant Phelan Julius erected a building for worship on 5th Street near the Ohio River.&nbsp;A few years later, the M.E. Church purchased a lot on 6th Street and erected another house of worship. Henry Logan, a local wealthy white businessman, and his wife Lavinia contributed a significant amount of money to the construction of the second church. Logan found fault with the location on 6th&nbsp;Street and helped the congregation purchase from a Baptist church a lot on the corner of 6th and Ann Street on December 20, 1871. The M.E. Church erected another wooden frame building on the lot and worshipped there for the next nineteen years.In 1890, the M.E. Church congregation moved the wood frame building to the back of the lot and began construction on the current brick church. Constructed in a vernacular Romanesque architectural style, the new building took over one year to complete with financial assistance from Lavinia Logan. On February 14, 1892, the Methodist Episcopal Church dedicated their new house of worship to the Logans by renaming it the Henry Logan Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church. A pipe organ was installed in the church in 1900 and sometime afterwards the basement was finished and converted into school rooms and a kitchen.The Henry Logan Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.&nbsp;

The Henry Logan Memorial African Methodist Church is one three historic African American churches in Parkersburg, WV. Known for its Vernacular Romanesque style of architecture, and square pyramidal corner tower, it is a cornerstone of Parkersburg’s African American community. The church was constructed in 1891 and named after Henry Logan, a wealthy white businessman who, along with his wife Lavinia, supported and fostered the African American community in Parkersburg. The church is still used by the Henry Logan AME congregation and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Henry Logan Memorial AME Church

Several families from the Mount Zion Church in Mineral Wells organized the First Baptist Church in 1817. Following several years of meeting in one another’s homes, the first permanent building was built by the congregation. At 6th and Anne Streets the congregation constructed a wood frame building.The property where the current building sits, on Ninth and Market Streets, was bought by the congregation following the Civil War. Deacon Lysander Dudley was appointed to oversee the building of the church along a similar plan of one he had designed in his hometown of Wallingford, CT. The congregation met for the first time in the new building in 1872 (in the basement) and thebuilding was completed in 1878. The educational building was added in 1959.A sign on the front of the building indicates that it was here the West Virginia Baptist Convention was formed.In 1982 the First Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historical Places. Architecturally it displays many characteristics of the Italianate style.

First Baptist Church was organized in 1817 by members of the Mount Zion Church in neighboring Mineral Wells. The congregation built its first permanent building--a wood frame building--at 6th and Ann Street. The current building was completed in 1878. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

First Baptist Church (Parkersburg, West Virginia)

This wide, red brick building was designed by architect Frank L. Packard of Columbus, Ohio, who also went on to design a home for President Warren G. Harding in Marion, Ohio, a group of buildings at the Ohio State University campus, Parkersburg High School, and the original West Virginia State Capitol Annex,&nbsp;among others. Less well known today, Frank Packard's death in 1923 was front page news for both major Columbus newspapers.The structure's first story, built of limestone ashlar (very finely cut, precisely fitted stone with minimal joints between), forming a strong visual contrast that has made the Temple an iconic Parkersburg landmark from the beginning, as evidenced by countless postcards throughout the century.Surrounding the lodge within the Avery Street Historic District are at least twelve different architectural styles, primarily residential, reflecting the economic, social, and architectural trends of the 1900s and 1910s. The lodge was a centerpiece for the burgeoning suburb, which contained a large number of middle-class families that helped propel Parkersburg's growth in the early part of the century. The Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and joined by the entry of the entire historic district in 1986.

First built in 1903 as part of Parkersburg's first "suburb," the Masonic Temple remains in active use today and is an important architectural element of the Avery Street Historic District. The Temple is listed in the National Register of Historic Places both individually and as part of the District.

Masonic Temple (Parkersburg, West Virginia)

Built in 1887, this two-story, stucco, Gothic Revival style building served the local African-American Methodist community.One of three Black churches in Parkersburg and the oldest in central West Virginia, this building served the congregation for a number of decades. So far it is unknown when it was abandoned and the reason for abandonment. The Bethel AME congregation now meets at a newer building on Laird Ave. The original church building was added to the NRHP in 1982 and demolished a number of years afterwards.***Very little is preserved about the church and more information is sorely needed. Along with information, any photos of the church are needed as well.

Bethel AME was one of three Black churches built in Parkersburg and was the oldest Black church building in central WV. The church was demolished over a decade ago when the congregation moved into new building with same name on Laird Ave. 


Bethel AME Church, Parkersburg (1887-2005)

Between 1886 and 1919, over $41 million was provided by
Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation to construct public and academic
libraries throughout the United States. West Virginia communities were approved
for eight Carnegie grants totaling $241,500. Wheeling, Huntington, Parkersburg,
Bethany College, Hinton, Bluefield, Williamson, and Charleston were all
approved. Unfortunately, only four of the grants, totaling $101,500 were accepted.


An academic library was built at Bethany College. Hinton, Huntington
and Parkersburg accepted the grant and public libraries were constructed. The
sites who rejected the grants typically did so due to lack of land available to
build the library or because they could not afford an annual maintenance fee of
10% that was required by Carnegie. 

The two-story building utilizes the&nbsp;Classical Revival style or architecture, with a brick&nbsp;facade featuring Doric columns. 

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was home to Trans-Allegheny Books,&nbsp;which was the largest used book store in West Virginia prior to its closure in 2010.

In 1905, Parkersburg received a $34,000 grant for its very own Carnegie Library. Between 1886 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie donated over $40 million for the creation of 1,679 libraries across the country. For the next 70 years, Parkersburg’s Carnegie library served as an educational resource and community center for the city. After 1975, the building ceased functioning as a library. Trans Allegheny Books, West Virginia’s largest used bookstore, moved into the building and operated between 1985 and 2010. The Parkersburg Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Carnegie Library, Parkersburg WV

Supposedly, a barber, Robert F. Simmons traveled to the nation's capitol, and petitioned President Lincoln for his support of the school. The Sumner School Board, members: SImmons, Charles Hicks, William Sergeant, William Smith, Matthew Thomas, Robert Thomas, and Lafayette Wilson, established a dollar a month tuition fee for those who could afford it. In 1866, under the control of newly founded West Virginia, the school officially became a part of the segregated school system. The first principal of the school was a white minister hailing from New York, S.E. Colburn. It catered to African American children in grades 1-12 during the post-Civil Era until Brown vs. Board of Education outlawed segregation in schools in 1954. It catered to high school students after proper adjustments had been made, before that Sumner School only taught children in grades 1-8. Sumner School was the first Black high school in West Virginia, and in 1887, graduated a senior class of four students. Principal J. Rupert Jefferson led the school for over forty years in the 20th century. The school closed in 1955, but was later reopened as a school for students with special needs, known as the Sunshine School. The school had sports teams, a library, and Spanish classes in addition to the general curriculum. Several years later, the school was demolished except for the gymnasium, which was built in 1926. It now operates as the Sumnerites Museum and Community Center, which was created by Rae Brown as well as many others, in effort to explore Parkersburg's African American history through exhibits that showcase artifacts and photographs. The first floor has photographs and the main exhibits, with the second floor being occupied by a conference room. The museum aims to educate the citizens of Parkersburg of the struggles and triumphs of African Americans. The Sumner School Football team won the State Championships in 1917, which was significant because it was the only African American School. Sumner School was named after Charles B. Sumner, the abolitionist and senator from Massachusetts. Tours can be arranged upon request.

Established during the Civil War and located in Parkersburg, WV, Sumner School was the first free Black school in the nation below the Mason Dixon Line. A group of African Americans wanted a way to educate the Black students in the Parkersburg area, and wanted to form the school. 

Sumner School (Avery Street Historical District)

The City of Parkersburg was charted in 1860 and named after Revolutionary War soldier Alexander Parker, who had been granted the land originally. Parkersburg was the site of one of the nation’s first oil wells, Burning Springs Oil Field, which began production in 1860. An oil boom following the Civil War brought great economic prosperity to the area. By the 1880s the petroleum industry had made Parkersburg the second biggest city in West Virginia, attracting scores of businessmen. The city’s growing population caused many wealthy residents to move north to a lightly populated area along Julia and Ann Streets. This massive concentration of money quickly transformed the area into one of the most elegant neighborhoods in West Virginia.Julia-Ann Square Historic District is comprised of 126 homes in a five-block section. Many different period architectural styles are represented, including Victorian gothic, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Shingle. At its zenith Julia-Ann Square was home to businessmen, bankers, politicians, religious and educational leaders from West Virginia and the surrounding area. Some of its most prominent residents included Joseph H. Diss Debar, the designer of the state seal; William B. Caswell, one of the founders of the Republican Party in West Virginia; William Nelson Chancellor, builder of the Blennerhassett Hotel; U.S. Senator Peter G. Van Winkle; and the family of Arthur I. Boreman, first governor of West Virginia. John F. Kennedy also visited the area during his presidential campaign and was said to have been impressed by it.Parkersburg’s oil boom tapered off by 1915 and with it ended the construction of new grand houses in Julia-Ann Square. Many of the homes were in states of disrepair by the time the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, with instances of porches collapsing and chimneys crumbling. Following the NRHP designation some local residents and homeowners began working to restore the district and its homes, later forming the Julia-Ann Square Historic Community Association Inc. The Association has undertaken several projects to revitalize the district. So far the Association has installed period lighting, benches, banners, gateway arches, and replaced the old sidewalks. The houses in Julia-Ann Square are privately owned and not open for viewing; however the Association organizes seasonal group tours of some of the homes.

Julia-Ann Square Historic district is a residential neighborhood in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Comprising five blocks between Julia and Ann Streets, the area contains over one hundred historic homes. Many of the city and state’s elites lived here, constructing elaborate houses dating from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. It is the largest and oldest historic district in West Virginia, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Today efforts to preserve and maintain the district are managed by the Julia-Ann Square Historical Community Association Inc. 

Julia-Ann Square Historic District

A politician and attorney, Peter Godwin Van Winkle was well-known throughout the Parkersburg community. So when he decided to have a home built here, it was one that had to be spectacular, so he had a Gothic-type red brick structure built. When the original home was constructed around 1833, Ann Street, the current street that the home faces, was not there. So the home simple faced the Ohio River and Murdock Avenue. Because of this, the street address that the house currently holds, 1209 was not used. Since its original build, the house has not only seen some major renovations, but a variety of activities have been at the house, as well as uses for the house. From being a family home, to an all girl's school, to an apartment complex, this house has been home to many people over the years.With all of the renovations in the house, sometimes being completely gutted out and remodeled, there are stories of paranormal activities that have been witnessed throughout the house. Several stories have been reported of sighting such as seeing an appearance of a man, roaming around the house, in 1990. There has been several other paranormal activity reports such as doorknobs turning, cold spots in some rooms and even objects that seem to move throughout the house. And the more often the renovations occurred, the more stories of paranormal activities began to appear.In 2013, the house was sold to Standard Oil Company, at the cost of $300,000. The gas and oil company planned on renovating the property, and making $150,000 in updates to the house. Originally, the house was going to be updated for use of company shareholders and investors to stay in during their stays to the Parkersburg Area. The company looked at the house as on investment to not only the oil and gas industry, but on the Parkersburg and Mid Ohio Valley region as well. Several renovations were made to the first two floors of the house, with materials already bought to make the necessary repairs on the third floor and attic. However, after a few years of making these renovations, and with the decrease in the oil/gas business, the company decided that they only wanted to focus on oil, and therefore, the house is still uncomplete on renovations. In 2019, the company posted the house for sale. As of early 2020, a sale is pending on the house, but no new owner has been named.

Built by Peter Godwin Van Winkle, around 1933-1836, this house has been a long standing part of history in the Parkersburg, WV area.  The house is now a part of the Julia-Ann Square Historic District, which is a community of roughly 126 homes.  Within these homes is a cluster of historic houses and monuments, including the Van Winkle home.  Parkersburg natives often refer to the home as "The Castle" and although the inside of the home has seen many renovations, the structure still stands as it did when Mr. Van Winkle called the place home.

The Van Winkle-Standard Oil House (The Castle)

DeSales Heights Academy was founded by a group of eight
Catholic nuns from Washington, D.C., and Frederick, Maryland. They set out for
Parkersburg on July 25, 1864, but did not reach their destination until August
6th after being delayed by the turbulent Civil War. Led by Mother
Superior Mary Appolonia Diggs, the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary
established a school for the poor children of Parkersburg in 1867. This school
was first called the Catholic Academy and was originally located on the corner
of Fifth and Avery Street. In 1900 the school moved to a larger building and
was renamed DeSales Heights in honor of Saint Francis DeSales. Saint Francis
DeSales founded the order of the Sisters of Visitation in France in 1610. The
Sisters established their first Catholic school in the United States in 1816. 

&nbsp;The new monastery and
school on Murdoch Avenue was much larger and included interior gardens and a
chapel. DeSales Heights offered young women a basic core curriculum while also
teaching the girls skills that would aid them in finding employment after
graduation. &nbsp;The sisters ran the boarding
school for young women at DeSales Heights until 1977. They then opened the
state’s first Montessori school, an educational style based off of Italian physician
and educator Maria Montessori. 

The Sisters of Visitation were semi-cloistered nuns in that
they worked in the secular world during the day through teaching, but lived in
cloistered quarters as per Catholic tradition. Talk of the school’s closure began
in the early 1990s as the enrollment rate dropped and the Academy became too
large and expensive for the elderly nuns to maintain. In 1992, the remaining sisters
voted to close the monastery and school. The sisters then dispersed to other monasteries
in the United States and Europe. When the building closed the coffins of 19
nuns were moved from the chapel crypt to a nearby Catholic cemetery. The furnishings
of DeSales Heights were sold at auction and the current St. Joseph’s Hospital
of Parkersburg bought the building in 1997. 

In its final years standing as an empty monastery, DeSales Heights
was rumored to be haunted and would draw in many trespassers looking for supernatural
experiences. After many years of vandalism and a fire that ruined part of the
building, DeSales Heights Academy was torn down in 2002. The DeSales Heights
Academy Alumnae Association puts on an annual banquet each year for graduates and
their families to remember the school and to honor the nuns who ran it.&nbsp;

DeSales Heights Academy opened in 1867 and was one of the first schools in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The school closed in 1992, but was able to survive for almost 130 years thanks to the strong Roman Catholic population that existed in Parkersburg from its early years. DeSales Heights Academy boarded and educated many young women throughout West Virginia and the United States, and accepted international students as well. DeSales Heights is an important academy in the history of Catholic education in West Virginia. 

Downtown Parkersburg Walking Tour

Quincy Hill Water Tank Disaster, 1909

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources