Arthurdale Inn

The inn, on a handsomely elevated site overlooking the Town Center, took the place of the Arthur mansion, which was demolished in 1936. Of stone construction, with wood-sided gable ends and dormers, the rambling, horizontally oriented building appears much like a large suburban or country house of its era. Furnishings were made by the Mountaineer Craftsmen's Cooperative Association, and a print of George Washington, signed by Franklin Roosevelt, hung above the fireplace in the lounge.

Blair Bolles, writing in American Mercury, roundly castigated the inn even before it was begun. After Arthurdale's 165 houses were completed, he announced, “the men will turn to constructing a twenty-room inn in a community [where] even the Resettlement manager questions the number of visitors who might seek lodging.” Unfortunately, he was right. The inn, which cost $220,000 and contained a restaurant and tearoom, never showed a profit. In December 1945, an area coal company leased it for $100 a month to serve as employee housing. The next year, it and Arthurdale's three factory buildings were sold for $105,000. Later converted into a residence, the former inn is now privately owned.