Downtown Charles Town Historic District: 100 Block East Congress Street

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Historic District contributing structures: 202 S. Samuel Street, 109 E. Congress Street, 105 E. Congress Street, and 203 S. George Street.

Images

202 S Samuel Street

Window, Plant, Residential area, Property

109 E Congress Street

105 E Congress Street

Window, Property, House, Automotive exterior

203 S George Street

Marker at the Thomas Green House

Commemorative plaque, Groundcover, Memorial

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Contributing Structures:

202 S. Samuel Street: “Queen Anne influence, c. 1890s. Altered frame house. Three bay, central entrance façade. Doubled second story windows with peaked architraves. Central pediments on porch.”

109 E. Congress Street: “Italianate, c. 1880s-90s. Three story, three bay brick commercial type building. Front demarcated with brick corbeled pilasters, frieze and horizontal dentils between stories. An excellent and intact example of its type.”

105 E. Congress Street: “Vernacular, c. 1810-1820. Two story, three bay vinyl sided log house with exterior stone chimney. Central entrance. Standing seam roof. L-extension to the rear. Possible one of Charles Town’s first period houses.”

201 (203?) S. George Street: “Greek Revival, c. 1860. Excellent example of a Greek Revival residence. Six over six windows, widely spaced. Central entrance. Entrance porch supported by four Doric columns.”

203 S. George Street is the Thomas Green House. Green practiced law in Charles Town starting in 1843 and became a judge and Mayor of the town. He served as interim legal counsel to John Brown, alongside colleague Lawrence Botts, during the 1859 treason trial before Brown's chosen counsel arrived. Green and his family lived in the home until 1889. The house is currently owned by the American Public University System (APUS) as part of its Charles Town campus. APUS purchased and restored the Thomas Green House in 2009 and in 2012 APUS won the Community Preservation Award from the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia for their restoration work in Charles Town.

Sources

"2012 Historic Preservation Awards." Preservation Alliance of West Virginia." Accessed December 28, 2020. https://www.pawv.org/news/2012awards.

“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.

"Thomas Green House." The Historical Marker Database. Accessed December 28, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=132447.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Google Maps. Accessed December 28, 2020.