Blennerhassett Hotel
Front of the hotel
Blennerhassett Hotel is located in West Virginia
Blennerhassett Hotel
Blennerhassett Hotel is located in the United States
Blennerhassett Hotel
Location320 Market St., Parkersburg, West Virginia
Coordinates39°15′53″N 81°33′41″W / 39.26472°N 81.56139°W / 39.26472; -81.56139
Arealess than one acre
Architectural styleQueen Anne
MPSDowntown Parkersburg MRA
NRHP reference No.82001768 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 10, 1982

Blennerhassett Hotel is a historic hotel located at Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. It opened in 1889 and is in the Queen Anne style.[2] The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1] A full restoration took place in 1986.[3] (The hotel website states that the property is "registered as a national historic landmark". This is undoubtedly a mistake for it being placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Only about three percent of Register listings are NHLs.)

In the late 1800s, money from the oil and natural gas industries flooded into Parkersburg, West Virginia, and the town quickly became a vivacious city that welcomed businessmen and visitors from all over the country. Designed and built by William Chancellor, a prominent Parkersburg businessman, Blennerhassett opened in 1889 and quickly became a grand showplace for what would later be known as the Gaslight Era. The original hotel had approximately 50 guest rooms around a central staircase. Restrooms were common places on each of the four guest floors and the kitchen was located on the fifth floor. What is now the hotel's game room originally housed the First National Bank of Parkersburg and had the luxury of electricity.

The property was named after Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett, who settled on an island in the Ohio River in 1798 and built a Palladian mansion on their European-style estate (the island now called Blennerhassett Island). Their property was the envy of all locals, but they didn't rise to national fame until they allowed former Vice President Aaron Burr to use the island as the base of operations for his controversial military exhibition. Labeled as a conspiracy by some, the Blennerhassetts fled down the Ohio River to escape when militia invaded the island.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ↑ Patrick Andrus (October 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Blennerhassett Hotel" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  3. ↑ Stanley Turkel: Built to Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels East of the Mississippi, Authorhouse, 2013, p. 274

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