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West Virginia » Northern West Virginia » Preston County » Kingwood » James McGrew House

James McGrew House

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1841, c. 1871. 1990s, Paul D. Marshall and Associates. 109 E. Main St. (north side of Main St. between Price and Morgan sts.)
  • (West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

This large house near the center of town typifies the comfortable lifestyle that leading nineteenth-century citizens enjoyed in courthouse towns across the state. The two-story brick house is set well back from the street. It was begun in 1841, and a c. 1871 addition more than doubled its size. Vaguely Italianate but basically vernacular, the house has several intersecting gables, expansive porches, and a breezeway that connects to a board-and-batten service structure. James McGrew (1813–1910), a leader in the movement against Virginia's secession, was instrumental in forming the new state of West Virginia. He served in the first state legislature and later became a U.S. congressman. The Society for Preservation of McGrew House now owns the house and is restoring it.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.

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