You are here

Community House (Wilson Warehouse)

-A A +A
Wilson Warehouse
1839; 1936 remodeled, Stanhope S. Johnson. 421 Lowe St.
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • (HABS; Photograph by Tim Buchman)
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • Smokehouse (Photograph by Mark Mones)
  • Smokehouse (Photograph by Mark Mones)

This once-busy street contains the town's most important building of the canal era. The imposing six-bay, two-and-a-half-story brick store and warehouse also served as the residence of John S. Wilson. As a center of trade for southwestern Virginia in the mid-nineteenth century, cargo from boats and wagons was stored here for transport on the James River and Kanawha Canal that reached Buchanan in 1851. The building has a tall wooden entablature, stepped parapets on the side elevations, and two transomed front entrances, one that was used for business and the other for the residence. The interior retains the original woodwork, mantels, and cargo elevator. The building is now used for meetings and community events. On the south, a brick garden wall attaches the house to a smokehouse with ventilation openings set in a diamond pattern.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Anne Carter Lee
×

Data

What's Nearby

Citation

Anne Carter Lee, "Community House (Wilson Warehouse)", [Buchanan, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-02-BO15.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,