Page-Vawter House

Page-Vawter House in the town of Ansted in Fayette County, West Virginia was built in 1889-90 by company carpenters of the Gauley Mountain Coal Company for the family of William Nelson Page, who was company president. The palatial Victorian mansion is located on a knoll in the middle of town. William and Emma (née Gilham) Page raised their four children there, attended by a staff of 8 servants.

Page-Vawter House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Page-Vawter House from the Midland Trail
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Location	Rt. Box 20, Ansted, West Virginia
Coordinates	38°8′13″N 81°6′6″W
Area	2.3 acres (0.93 ha)
Built	1890
Architect	Minter, William
Architectural style	Gothic
NRHP reference No.	85001813[1]
Added to NRHP	August 21, 1985

Architect William Minter designed the house in a Gothic style. It has 15 regular rooms, plus a butler's pantry and a dressing room. There are 11 fireplaces with hand-carved wooden mantels; most are in different styles. Even the doors have ornately decorated hinges.^[2] The exterior features 52 8-foot-tall windows^[3]

According to author and railroad historian H. Reid in his book The Virginian Railway (Kalmbach, 1961), it was in this mansion that Page developed the plans for the coal-hauling Virginian Railway, which was financed by industrialist Henry Huddleston Rogers and became the "Richest Little Railroad in the World" after its completion in 1909. The nearby railroad town of Page was named for him.

The mansion was later occupied by several generations of the Vawter family. In the 21st century, it still stands as evidence of the once-thriving coal business. It underwent a ground up restoration in 2007 by Jim and Debbie Campbell who are the current owners.

The Page-Vawter House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.^[1]

See also

• Hawk's Nest
• Midland Trail

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "View - redOrbit". www.redorbit.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22.
3. "Historic Home Renovations Lead to Additional Development - State Journal - STATEJOURNAL.com". Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2008-10-11.

External links

Media related to Page-Vawter House at Wikimedia Commons

• Special Collection William Nelson Page Papers, Duke University NOTE: this Gift of Mary Josephine Page in 1952 may have been moved to UNC-Chapel Hill
• Special Collection William Nelson Page Papers, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• US Dept. of the Navy, Naval Historical Center
• New River CVB Guide to Ansted, WV
• Hawk's Nest State Park
• Biographical item on William Jordan, an African-American photographer that includes the Gauley Mountain Coal Company startup time frame and information on Ansted WV circa 1889-1909
• Article published May 12, 2008 in the State-Journal about the new owners