Probably the best example of Queen Anne in Big Stone Gap is this hipped-roof frame house built for John K. Taggard, superintendent of the Virginia Coal and Iron Company from 1890 to 1896. The house is notable for its patterned wooden shingles, wraparound porch with spindle frieze and Eastlake balustrade, and an octagonal corner tower. Taggard occupied the house for four years before he was accidentally killed while overseeing the construction of coke ovens. In 1905 the house was purchased by E. J. Prescott, president of the Stonega Coke and Coal Company, who lived in the house for forty years.
The William H. and Elizabeth Nickels House (c. 1891; 118 W. 2nd) was probably built the year two adjacent lots were purchased by the Nickels from the Big Stone Gap Improvement Company. The two-and-a-half-story, gable-roofed, brick structure also has a corner tower, here topped by a bellcast roof. The wraparound porch conflicts with the house's overall verticality.