Downtown Charles Town Historic District: 200 Block West Congress Street
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
209 W Congress Street

Charles Town Schools Marker

206 W Congress Street

208 W Congress Street

214 W Congress Street

Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Contributing structures:
209 W Congress Street: “Colonial Revival, c. 1930s. Large school building. Significance as the Charles Town Academy.”
Currently Wright Denny Elementary. In the 1920s the graded and high schools operated together in a building on the next block, but expanding population created a need for a separate high school. This property was purchased by the school board in 1922; known as the Timberlake property, the high school originally operated in the Timberlake house until the student population outgrew the building. This building opened as the Charles Town High School in 1929. After a new high school building was constructed in 1959, this became the Charles Town Junior High School. In the 1970s, another switch of the school buildings occurred, and the Wright Denny Elementary relocated here after its previous structure was destroyed in a fire.
214 W Congress Street: “Commercial Vernacular, c. 1900. Two story, two bay gable fronted brick building with probable original commercial or small manufacturing function. Enclosed gabled front porch obscures original first story.”
208 W Congress Street: “Foursquare, c. 1915. Two bay wide façade. Original door with oval glass pane. Across the front porch. An important early 20th century residential type.”
206 W Congress Street: “Slight Colonial Revival influence, c. 1915. Two story, two bay stuccoed gable fronted house with a pent roof. Across the front porch. Representative of early 20th century dwellings in the downtown area.”
Cite This Entry
Thompson, Kathleen. "Downtown Charles Town Historic District: 200 Block West Congress Street." Clio: Your Guide to History. December 28, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/123670/tour/21/reverse
Sources
"Charles Town Schools." The Historical Marker Database. Accessed December 28, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=103644.
“National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Downtown Charles Town Historic District.” Accessed December 10, 2020. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/97000263.pdf.
Google Maps. Accessed December 28, 2020.
"Charles Town Schools." The Historical Marker Database. Accessed December 28, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=103644.
Google Maps. Accessed December 28, 2020.
Google Maps. Accessed December 28, 2020.
Google Maps. Accessed December 28, 2020.