Valley View (Romney, West Virginia)
Valley View | |
Location | Depot Valley Road Romney, West Virginia, United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°21′21″N 78°45′36″W / 39.35583°N 78.76000°W |
Area | 6.63 acres (2.68 ha) |
Built | 1855 |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 12001050[1] |
Designated | December 12, 2012 |
Valley View is a mid-19th-century Greek Revival residence and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River northwest of Romney, West Virginia. The house is atop a promontory where Depot Valley joins the South Branch Potomac River valley.
The Valley View property was part of the South Branch Survey of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a large tract that was inherited by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, in 1719. It was settled by John Collins and his family in 1749, and acquired by the Parsons family before 1772. The Valley View house was built by James Parsons Jr. in 1855. After the Civil War, Parsons' widow sold the farm to Charles Harmison. His wife, Elizabeth Harmison, inspired by her childhood Virginia home, Western View, and the scenic South Branch Potomac River views, named the farm Valley View. The most recent of a series of owners, the Mayhew family, bought the property in 1979. Valley View's current proprietors, Robert and Kim Mayhew, have restored the historic residence and grounds.
The house at Valley View is a two-story brick structure with a rectangular architectural plan. The front entrance is covered by a small portico, topped with a pediment supported by wooden Doric columns. The rear of the house, with a two-story wood porch stretching across it, faces the South Branch Potomac River valley and Mill Creek Mountain. Each of the original eight large rooms of the 1855 structure contains a fireplace framed by a wooden mantelpiece with classical elements. The original windows, wooden trim, and materials in the main section of the house are intact. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 as a locally significant example of Greek Revival architecture.
Geography and setting
The Valley View house is about 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of downtown
Depot Valley is named for Romney Depot, located at the end of a former spur of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) South Branch line near the intersection of present-day West Sioux Lane and Depot Valley Road.[2] The unincorporated area around the depot was once known as Valley.[3][4] A post office operated there from 1928 until 1937, when its mail was routed through Romney; it is assumed that Valley View farm used it, since it was 0.5 miles (0.8 km) south of the house.[4]
The Valley View farm property adjoins the Wappocomo farm on the northeast, the corporate limits of Romney on the east and south and the Yellow Banks on the west. As well as Valley View's 6.63-acre (2.68 ha) tract, the Mayhew family owns agricultural land rich in alluvial soils along the South Branch Potomac River west of the house. The South Branch Valley Railroad bisects this farmland, crossing the South Branch Potomac River via a wooden trestle.[2]
Valley View Island, an island in the South Branch Potomac River just north of the mouth of Sulphur Spring Run, is approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) southwest of the Valley View house.[2] Both the house and the island are owned by the Mayhew family.[5] The island is ringed by forests, with agricultural fields in its center.[2] When Lots Number 17 and 19 of the Northern Neck Proprietary South Branch Survey were surveyed in 1749 and resurveyed in 1788, the island belonged to Lot Number 19. At that time, the river flowed east of the island, along the base of the Yellow Banks; its course later changed to run around the west side of the island.[6]
History
Royal land grant and Collins family ownership
The land upon which Valley View is located was originally part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a land grant that the exiled
Following the deaths of Lord Colepeper, his wife Margaret, and his daughter Katherine, the Northern Neck Proprietary passed to Katherine's son Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in 1719,[10][17][18] who selected a portion of it for his manor. This tract, known as the South Branch Survey of the proprietary, extended from the north end of the Trough to the junction of the North and South Branches of the Potomac River.[15] In 1748, Fairfax commissioned James Genn to survey the South Branch Potomac River lowlands for sale and lease, with lots ranging in size from 300 to 400 acres (120 to 160 ha).[15]
In 1749, the tract on which Valley View stands was purchased from Lord Fairfax by John Collins.
In 1817, Thomas Collins sold Lot Number 20 to James Gregg Parsons. It is unknown whether the Collinses moved from the tract or continued living on it after the sale. Thomas Collins died in 1822, and Elizabeth Collins in 1823.[19]
Parsons family
The Parsons family members were among the first English settlers in the Thirteen Colonies in 1635; around 1740, they settled in Hampshire County.[19] By 1778, Isaac Parsons (1752–1796), a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, owned 161 acres (65 ha) of Lot Number 16 and all of Lot Number 17 in the Proprietary.[6] James Gregg Parsons, his eldest son,[22] was born in Hampshire County in 1773. In 1795, he married Mary Catherine Casey (1773–1846), whose family owned the adjoining Lot Number 21.[19] After their marriage, they lived in the main house at Wappocomo, which had been built by Mary Catherine's father Nicholas Casey. The couple inherited the house after Nicholas Casey's death in 1833.[19]
James Gregg Parsons died on January 25, 1847, leaving most of his land to his three sons: James (Big Jim) Parsons Jr. (1798–1858), David C. Parsons (1803–1860), and
James Parsons Jr. was a farmer and cattleman who was born in Hampshire County.[19][20][26] Parsons family genealogist Virginia Parsons MacCabe wrote the following description of James Parsons Jr. in her book Parsons' Family History and Record (1913): "He was square and honorable in business, and had a large circle of friends; he had the urbanity and the gentility of manner which characterizes the true gentleman".[26] Parsons married Elizabeth Miller on January 8, 1829.[20][26] The couple had eleven children, several of whom attended college.[19][20]
In 1855, Parsons began building the present-day Valley View house on the Collins Tract.[20] Although he wrote many letters to his sister Mary Gregg Parsons Stump about farming, cattle, family, health and community events, no letters are known to remain from the time of the house's construction.[19] The Parsons family owned several slaves who are thought to have assisted with construction.[19]
After living in his new house for three years, Big Jim died of tuberculosis on October 14, 1858.[19][26][27] His widow, Elizabeth, lived in the house until after the Civil War.[19][28] In 1867 or 1869,[b] she sold the house, the Collins Tract and the remainder of Lot Number 20 to Charles Harmison (1823–1896) for $8,500, moving with her remaining children to Missouri (where she died in 1883).[19][26][28] The cost of building the house financially strained the Parsons family;[19][27] historian Catherine Snider Long suggests that Elizabeth Miller Parsons sold the house as a result of further, war-related, financial stress from which the family could not recover.[28]
Harmison family
Charles Harmison was born in
Harmison prospered in Hampshire County, acquiring adjacent properties and enlarging his Valley View estate.[28][31] He later gave his acquired lands to his children to establish their own homes when they married.[28] His farm was further changed in 1884, when the B&O Railroad completed its South Branch line between the main B&O line at Green Spring and Romney Depot.[32] The South Branch line bisected the small valley to the immediate east of the house, which became known as Depot Valley.[32]
Charles Harmison died on October 31, 1896, after being thrown from a
In June 1909, construction commenced on the Hampshire Southern Railroad between its northern terminus on the B&O Railroad's Romney Depot spur and the South Branch Potomac River within the bottomlands of George Harmison's farm.[36] In October 1909, the first train on the Hampshire Southern line passed over Harmison's bottomlands and crossed the river on an unfinished trestle across the South Branch Potomac River.[37][38] By 1910, the 18-mile (29 km) line from the Romney spur terminus at Valley View to McNeill was in operation.[32] Later that year, freight and passenger service between Romney and Moorefield began, providing a direct rail link between Moorefield and the B&O Railroad main line at Green Spring.[32][39] The Hampshire Southern Railroad Company operated this line until 1911, when it was purchased by the Moorefield and Virginia Railroad Company.[32][39] Moorefield and Virginia transferred the rail line to the B&O Railroad Company in 1913, when it became part of the B&O's South Branch line.[39]
In 1911, George Harmison subdivided the Valley View fields on the Yellow Banks overlooking the South Branch Potomac River. The new development, known as the Valley View Addition to Romney, was south of the Valley View house and west of Romney Depot. Twenty-one lots were sold at public auction on September 27, 1911, and several more were sold privately.[40]
Harmison died in 1916, and Carrie continued to live at Valley View until her death on February 8, 1953.[28][41][42] Harmison's nephew, Paul Cresap Harmison (1893–1972, a grandson of Charles Harmison's brother Jonathan Harmison), and his wife Nancy Parker Harmison (1896–1981) had moved to Valley View to live with her. After Carrie's death, Paul and Nancy Parker Harmison inherited the house and farm.[31] Paul and Nancy's daughter Virginia Helen Harmison was married to Robert Esler in front of the fireplace in the home's living room on May 5, 1957.[43] Valley View remained in the Harmison family until 1963, when it was sold to Philip Newell and his wife Martha.[19][31]
Mayhew family
During its changes in ownership, the original Lot Number 20 of the South Branch Survey was repeatedly partitioned and sold. By 1976, the original property was divided into five farms and other parcels, including the Valley View Addition.[20] The Valley View residence lies on a 6.63-acre (2.68 ha) tract.[19]
Valley View was purchased by Robert Mayhew's father and a business associate in 1979.[19] Mayhew later bought the house from his father, and he and his wife Kim restored the residence and its grounds.[5] In 1991, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad began operating on the old B&O South Branch line, which bisects the bottomlands below Valley View.[39][5]
After surveys of historic properties in the county, in 2008 the Hampshire County Historic Landmarks Commission and the Hampshire County Commission began an initiative to place structures and districts on the
Architecture
The house at Valley View is significant for its Greek Revival architectural elements.[45] According to architectural historian Courtney Fint Zimmerman, "Valley View is a characteristic example of the Greek Revival style for more practical residential applications in outlying areas".[19] The Valley View house has several Greek Revival design characteristics, including a symmetrical architectural plan and elevations and "substantial, formal" mass.[45] Zimmerman (who prepared Valley View's registration form for the NRHP) said, "Valley View's applied details in the Greek Revival style, including the front entrance entablature and portico, are more limited, yet the variations that can be seen on Valley View and other estates in the South Branch Valley illustrate the flexibility inherent in the style".[45] According to Zimmerman, large houses like Valley View served as the "centers" of the plantations that formed the "basis of the local economy and social life" in Hampshire County.[46] Valley View was added to the NRHP as a locally significant example of Greek Revival architecture.[47]
Valley View's house consists of the original 1855 brick section and a board-and-batten 1961–1962 kitchen addition.[30] The grounds contain a smokehouse, a water well, the foundations of an ice house, and a summer kitchen.[48]
The bricks from which the house was built were fired in the immediate vicinity (along the banks of the South Branch Potomac River), and the brick walls were reinforced with hand-wrought structural iron angles.[19][49] The nails used in its construction were fabricated by a local blacksmith, and the wooden sills and joists were sawn by hand.[19][50]
Exterior
Valley View's house is a two-story brick structure with a rectangular architectural plan and exterior dimensions measuring about 49 by 32 feet (14.9 by 9.8 m).
The front
The front entrance is covered by a small Greek Revival portico measuring about 12 by 12 feet (3.7 by 3.7 m), topped with a
The rear façade of the house faces northeast, across the South Branch Potomac River valley toward Mill Creek Mountain.
Interior
The interior of the Valley View house has a two-room-deep, central-hallway floor plan.[48][50] Its wide central hallway contains a staircase from the first floor to the attic, with a wooden handrail supported with square balusters and a modest wooden turned newel post.[48] The ceilings are 10 feet (3.0 m) high.[48][50] Although the house's foundation is low, the height of the interior walls and the full-sized attic make the house appear tall from the outside.[50]
The original house has eight large rooms, each with a fireplace framed by a wooden geometric trabeated mantelpiece with classical elements.[48][50][55] The four large rooms on the first floor open from either side of the center hallway. They contain simple wide wood trim, including skirting boards and door frame moldings with "subtly demarcated corners".[48][50] The house's living and dining rooms have wide, wooden dado rails.[48] Most of the wooden decorative trim is painted white, and the walls are plaster.[48] The lone exception is the room serving as an office and den, which has dark stained wooden trim and interior brick structural walls (exposed by the removal of its plaster during the 1960s).[48] All rooms have the original wide plank wooden floors.[48] The second floor has four bedrooms, with closets on either side of a fireplace and simple wood skirting boards and door frames.[48] Parsons family members painted signatures and graffiti in the attic around 1856, which remain visible on the stairwell wall.[19]
Kitchen addition
A one-story kitchen addition, built in 1961–1962 and measuring about 21 by 14 feet (6.4 by 4.3 m), extends from the northwest side of the original 1855 house. The addition has a gabled standing seam metal roof, and its exterior is covered in white-painted board-and-batten siding. It has a vinyl bay window on the southwest side, a one-over-one double-hung vinyl window on the northeast side and a door (adjoining the wall of the 1855 house) on the southeast side. An enclosed board-and-batten porch, measuring about 14 by 10 feet (4.3 by 3.0 m), and a shed roof extend from the front (southwest) of the kitchen addition. The original basement under the 1855 house is accessible through this porch extension. A ghost building outline on the northwest side of the 1855 house indicates an earlier structure where the present kitchen addition stands.[30]
Ancillary structures
There are several ancillary structures near the house at Valley View, including a smokehouse and a water well, and the foundations of an ice house and a summer kitchen.[48] Although the smokehouse, the summer kitchen and the ice house are believed to have been built by the Collinses before Big Jim Parsons built Valley View, the dates of construction are uncertain.[19]
The smokehouse, measuring about 15 by 20 feet (4.6 by 6.1 m), is adjacent to the kitchen addition. It is set into a hillside, allowing at-grade entry to its two levels. Built of square-cut logs with white
South of the smokehouse is the brick foundation of an ice house measuring about 15 by 20 feet (4.6 by 6.1 m) and topped by modern wooden pergola and patio structures. The 15-by-20-foot (4.6 by 6.1 m) brick foundation of Valley View's summer kitchen is north of the smokehouse and topped by a contemporary wooden pavilion with a gabled roof.[48]
In the rear yard of the house is a water well, enclosed by a brick building about 7 by 7 feet (2.1 by 2.1 m) in area and 3.5 feet (1.1 m) in height. In the center of the well cap is a metal hand pump. Although the well cap's bricks are similar to those used in the construction of the main house, the well may date from an earlier residence on the site.[48]
See also
- List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia
- List of plantations in West Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampshire County, West Virginia
References
Explanatory notes
- ^ Selden Brannon cites the suggestion of historian Catherine Snider Long that this is confirmed in the deed of Lot Number 20, which states that the tract was deeded to John Collins on August 8, 1749, and was subsequently deeded to James Gregg Parsons by Thomas Collins.[20]
- ^ While Brannon states 1867 as the year when Elizabeth Miller Parsons sold the farm to Charles Harmison, Courtney Fint Zimmerman cites Catherine Snider Long's date of sale in 1869.[19][28]
- ^ A sash is a frame consisting of panes of glass. "Nine-over-six" describes a window with two sashes; the top sash contains nine glass panes, and the bottom sash contains six glass panes.[51][52][53]
Citations
- ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/10/12 through 12/14/12. National Park Service. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ OCLC 36344599.
- ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for Valley Post Office (historical) (Feature ID: 1718729)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ a b McMaster 2010, p. 47
- ^ NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ a b Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 144
- ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for Mill Creek Mountain (Feature ID: 1543330)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for South Branch Mountain (Feature ID: 1552967)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "District 2 Wildlife Management Areas". West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 9
- ^ Coleman 1951, p. 246
- ^ Rose 1976, p. 25
- ^ William and Mary Quarterly 1898, p. 222
- ^ William and Mary Quarterly 1898, pp. 222–23
- ^ a b c Brannon 1976, p. 286
- ^ William and Mary Quarterly 1898, p. 224
- ^ William and Mary Quarterly 1898, pp. 224–26
- ^ Rice 2015, p. 23
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Zimmerman 2012, p. 9 of the PDF file
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brannon 1976, p. 309
- ^ a b c Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 79
- ^ MacCabe 1913, p. 254
- ^ a b c MacCabe 1913, p. 255
- ^ Baker & Riebe 2010, p. 7 of the PDF file
- ^ Brannon 1976, p. 298
- ^ a b c d e MacCabe 1913, p. 260
- ^ a b Brannon 1976, pp. 310–11
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Brannon 1976, p. 311
- ^ a b "Marriage Record Detail: Charles Harmison". West Virginia Vital Research Records. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Zimmerman 2012, p. 5 of the PDF file
- ^ a b c Brannon 1976, p. 312
- ^ a b c d e Brannon 1976, p. 19
- ^ "Death Record Detail: Charles Harmison, Sr". West Virginia Vital Research Records. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- The Clarksburg Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018 – via Chronicling America.
- ^ "Marriage Record Detail: George Edward Harmison". West Virginia Vital Research Records. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Money Raised for Forty Mile Line". Highland Recorder. Vol. 31, no. 22. Monterey, Virginia. June 4, 1909. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018 – via Library of Virginia.
- NewspaperArchive.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "History of the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad". Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad. February 28, 2016. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Back in Time: 100 Years Ago". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. September 28, 2011.
- ^ "Death Record Detail: Carrie B. Harmison (1)". West Virginia Vital Research Records. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Death Record Detail: Carrie B. Harmison (2)". West Virginia Vital Research Records. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ a b c d Pisciotta, Marla (May 11, 2011). "Preserving Our History". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. p. 1B.
- ^ a b c d Zimmerman 2012, p. 8 of the PDF file
- ^ Zimmerman 2012, p. 11 of the PDF file
- ^ Zimmerman 2012, p. 3 of the PDF file
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Zimmerman 2012, p. 6 of the PDF file
- ^ a b Brannon 1976, pp. 309–10
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Brannon 1976, p. 310
- ^ Ching 2012, pp. 289–90
- ^ Historic England 2017, pp. 14–15
- ^ "The Window Glossary". Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) website. Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA). Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^ Zimmerman 2012, pp. 9–10 of the PDF file
- ^ a b Zimmerman 2012, p. 10 of the PDF file
Bibliography
- Baker, Charles; Riebe, Erin; Hampshire County Landmarks Commission, West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office (May 2010). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hickory Grove (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- Brannon, Selden W., ed. (1976). Historic Hampshire: A Symposium of Hampshire County and Its People, Past and Present. OCLC 3121468.
- OCLC 780495852 – via Google Books.
- Coleman, Roy V. (1951). Liberty and Property. New York City: OCLC 1020487 – via Internet Archive.
- OCLC 1014451933. Archived from the originalon December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- MacCabe, Virginia Parsons (1913). Parsons' Family History and Record. .
- McMaster, Len (2010). "Hampshire County West Virginia Post Offices, Part 2" (PDF). LaPosta: A Journal of American Postal History. 41: 38–48. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- Munske, Roberta R.; Kerns, Wilmer L., eds. (2004). Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1754–2004. OCLC 55983178.
- .
- Rose, Cornelia Bruère (1976). Arlington County, Virginia: A History. .
- OCLC 1607858.
- Zimmerman, Courtney Fint (August 24, 2012). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Valley View (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
External links
- Media related to Valley View (Romney, West Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons