Preston County Day Trip Driving Tour

1. The Preston County Inn

Constructed by local attorney James A. Brown in 1859 for his wife Isabel, the Preston County Inn has served as such for the past seventy-seven years. Unfortunately, Isabel died of smallpox within the first year of the couple's residence in their new home. The two-story brick Federal-style structure remained James' home, during which time he played a prominent role in local politics. In 1861 the residents of Preston County elected him to serve as its prosecuting attorney, in which capacity he helped to maintain law and order during the area's secession from the Confederate state of Virginia. He served in that position for two years, and went on after the Civil War to run (unsuccessfully) for judge of the Third Circuit Court in 1880. Brown's house passed through a number of hands after his death before becoming an inn in 1932. Since then, the inn has seen ten different owners. It currently houses a restaurant and guest rooms operated by Jean and Deb Guillot, who visited the area in the early 2000s and purchased the inn shortly thereafter. The Guillots have pieced together an extensive history of the building and James A. Brown himself, which is available on their website. Guests can book rooms at the inn throughout the year and visit the restaurant for lunch Monday to Saturday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.

2. Cannon Hill Park

Situated outside a bend in the Cheat River near the town of Rowlesburg, Cannon Hill is the site of the largest engagement between Union and Confederate forces in north central West Virginia during the American Civil War. Fought for control of two strategic railroad bridges over the river that enabled troops and vital supplies to travel between U.S. forces in the eastern and western theaters of the war, the Battle of Rowlesburg was the only clear victory Unionist forces achieved during the Jones-Imboden Campaign of 1863. The battle took place on the afternoon of April 26th, after Confederate raiders under General William E. Jones attacked a combined force of Union soldiers and townspeople commanded by Major John Showalter that were lying in wait for them on both sides of the river. After several hours of intense fighting Jones withdrew his men, leaving the vital link between east and west open and operational. The small cannon that gave Cannon Hill its name (which the town’s residents had positioned there at the outset of the war in 1861) was particularly effective against Jones and his troops. The hill itself is now a public park and is freely accessible throughout the year, but guided tours of the site are also available from May to October by contacting members of the Rowlesburg Area Historical Society and a reenactment of the battle takes place every year.

3. The Szilagyi Center for Visual and Performing Arts

Headquartered in the former Rowlesburg High School building constructed in 1910, the Szilagyi Center for Visual and Performing Arts on Buffalo Street in Rowlesburg, West Virginia currently houses a research library, four museums, a railroad exhibit, quilting room, café, and auditorium and hosts several prominent events related to the town’s history and culture throughout the year. After the Cheat River flooded the town and the building in 1985, the town moved its high school to a new location, local entrepreneurs Imre and Janet Szilagyi purchased the original structure to serve as the home of their whitewater raftering business. The Szilagyis donated the building back to the town in 2008, which thereafter reopened it as the Janet and Imre Szilagyi Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The Szilagyi Center is not only notable as one of the primary sites for historical interpretation in the area, but as a reflection of its community’s history over the course of the twentieth century as well (both as an educational institution and victim of the 1985 floods that devastated much of West Virginia. Known variously as the “Election Day Flood” or “Killer Flood,” the Cheat River flooding was part of a much larger flooding event that engulfed the mid-Atlantic states in the aftermath of Hurricane Juan and represents one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the region. The building operates under the guidance of the Rowlesburg Revitalization Committee and is open during special events, throughout the summer months on Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM and Sundays from noon to 4 PM, and by appointment off-season.

4. McGrew House

This home was constructed for James and Persis McGrew in the early 1840s. The McGrews raised each of their three children here and expanded the home after the Civil War. McGrew, an influential representative that supported the Union during the Virginia Secession Convention, used his influence along with others to garner support for secession from Virginia and the creation of the pro-Union state of West Virginia. His home also served as the childhood home of William C. McGrew, a state delegate and mayor of Morgantown. After James McGrew's death in 1910, the home passed through a variety of hands before the town scheduled it for demolition. The local tourism bureau and a group of volunteers saved the house, however, with a successful nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The Society for the Preservation of the McGrew House now operates as a museum and educational center devoted to the study of James McGrew and local history. While the house is open every third Sunday on summer months, during special events, and upon advanced request, the society's gift shop is open from May to October on Friday afternoon and evening and on Saturday mornings.

5. Community Center

Welcome to the first New Deal planned community of Arthurdale, West Virginia! Started in 1933 under the direct personal guidance of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Arthurdale was the first of 99 such towns that the federal government constructed throughout the Great Depression for economically distressed areas nationwide. Arthurdale was constructed specifically to provide economic relief to destitute coal miners and their families from Scotts Run, WV, a place that became the poster-child of poverty in the Great Depression due to its prominence in the national press. In total, 165 families were situated in houses in Arthurdale with 2-5 acres of farmland each, barns, tools, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities for all. This was a massive and expensive project, but ultimately left these families with more resources and opportunities than they had before. Arthurdale Heritage currently operates a five-building museum on the site. Come step back in time and get a sense of the New Deal, the Great Depression, subsistence farming, and family life in 1930s rural West Virginia.Please note that many places included on this tour are private residences. We ask that visitors be respectful of the homes as you drive by them.

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Preston County Day Trip Driving Tour

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