Contributing structures:

116 N Charles Street: “Italianate, c. 1900. An excellent, and largely intact Italianate commercial building from the turn of the century period. Two three bay central entrance storefronts separated by an entrance to the upper portion of the building. Pressed metal façade. Transom and sidelights. Cast iron cornice. North storefront is original.”

122 N Charles Street: “Commercial, Vernacular, c. 1890. Gable fronted, brick, turn-of-the-century period.”

205 W Liberty Street: “Commercial Vernacular, c. 1920. Gable fronted rusticated block commercial building.”

219 W Liberty Street (Sheetz Florist): “Georgian influenced, c. 1797? This is among the oldest standing buildings in Charles Town.”

The Sheetz Florist complex take up this entire corner. 119 North Lawrence (the Griggs House) is the contributing structure to the Historic District and many of the other buildings on the property are not contributing. The plot was owned by Charles Washington and purchased by Thomas Griggs, Sr. in 1788. The oldest part of the home, made of log and brick, was constructed in 1971. The H. Vernon Sheetz family greenhouse operated here for almost a century.

202 N Charles Street: “Italianate influence, c. 1860s. Two story, three bay frame Italianate-influenced building.”

210 W Liberty Street. Edward Tiffin House: “Vernacular, Federal influence, c. 1830s-40s. Two story, three bay brick dwelling with a Flemish bond façade and six over six windows within a narrow frame.”

Dr. Edward Tiffin was born in England in 1766, apprenticed with a physician in Great Britain 1778-1783, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1783. He came to Charles Town in 1784, attended the University of Pennsylvania, and returned to Charles Town to practice medicine. Tiffin purchased this lot from Charles Washington on June 22, 1788.

In 1798 Tiffin and his brother-in-law, Thomas Worthington, left for Ohio with a letter of introduction from George Washington that Tiffin used to meet with the territorial governor, Arthur St. Clair. St. Clair appointed Tiffin as chief clerk of the Northwest Territory’s Court of Common Pleas and in 1799 he joined the territorial legislature and was elected its first Speaker of the House. In 1802 Tiffin was the president of the Ohio Constitutional Convention which drafted the constitution to admit Ohio as a state. Once Ohio was granted statehood in 1803, Tiffin was elected the state’s first governor and Thomas Worthington served as Ohio’s first Senator. After two terms as governor, Tiffin was selected by the state legislature in 1807 to fill a seat in the U.S. Senate. In 1809 he stepped down from that seat, was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, and was chosen as Speaker of the House. He returned to Washington, D.C. in 1812 when President James Madison made him the chief commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office and then went back to Ohio in 1814 as Surveyor General of the Northwest. Tiffin served in that position until his death in 1829.

214 W Liberty Street: “Foursquare with Queen Anne influence, c. 1915. This residential building is a brick Foursquare with Queen Anne influence in its semi-hexagonal projecting bay.”

201 N Lawrence Street: “Gothic Revival, c. 1833-1839. Gable fronted, three bay stone lecture room for the Episcopal Church.”

“Edward Tiffin.” Ohio History Central. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Edward_Tiffin. 

“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.

“Walking Tour of Charles Washington’s Town: Walk in the Footsteps of History.” City of Charles Town and Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Accessed January 4, 2021. https://s3.amazonaws.com/discoveritallwv.com/JCHS_CTTourBrochure.pdf.