Historic Romney WV
Description
A walking tour of historic buildings and sites
Taggart Hall is known by the name of
The Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House, or simply the Mytinger House, was built in the latter half of the 18th century, though the oldest building on the property has been dated to the 1750s. The first documented owner was Colonel George Wilson, who received the land as part of a grant from Lord Thomas Fairfax. The house was inherited by his daughter, Mary Ann, and son-in-law, Andrew Wodrow. For the next 170 years, it passed several hands until it was purchased by the Mytinger family, who would hold on to it for nearly 100 year. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The Davis House in Romney is one of the last examples of life on the edge of the frontier at the during and at the end of the French and Indian Wars. If houses could speak, it would tell of veterans returning from the War of 1812, the growth of the frontier town into one of wealth and prosperity. It could gossip about the various businesses that came and went on Main Street, sorrow over the devastation of the Civil War and share its amazement as horse-drawn buggies and wagons gave way to automobiles and the Opera House began showing silent films and then "talkies." The house watched parades and celebrations of ordinary life as well as the departures and sometimes returns of young men marching off yet again to war; some to places they never imagined that they would see. The artifacts inside bear witness to these changes and share with us visions of a life none of us can remember.
This building has had many incarnations - Romney Mercantile, Green Palm Restaurant,
Built in 1869, Literary Hall was home to the Romney Literary Society, which founded in 1818. The organization used the building to store their collection of books, numbering nearly 400 after the Civil War. Between 1886 and 1973, the building was also used as a meeting place for the local lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and Order of the Eastern Star. Following 1973, it was purchased and restored by Ralph Haines, a local lawyer, and turned into a law office and museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
This is the 2nd Courthouse Building on this site.
The building at 41 East Main Street is known locally as The Rexall Building due to memories of Ira Ralph "Bud" Nealis and his years of managing the business. Particularly well-remembered are the milk shakes that he gave to high school athletes, having been a Pioneer football star before his graduation from Romney High School in 1937. He then went on to serve in World War 2. Returning to Romney, he worked at the Rexall Drug Store. He died in 1984. The building had been a pharmacy since at least 1899. Sometime in the 1980s, it became a restaurant with a succession of business owners, one of the best remembered perhaps being Patty Perry and her Brickwood Hearth. The Romney Backpack Program currently uses this building.
originally built in
Demolished in , Brady's Corner was the home of
The Gilkesons' built this in 1875 and it was the site of many popular business, most famous in recent memory was that of J. Brady Thompson
The Kerns House was mostly likely built in the late 1700s by Perez Drew