PARKERSBURG - Exterior work on Henderson Hall Plantation is expected to continue this spring, and West Virginia University is aiding the hall's advisory board with a long-range strategic plan for the historic property.
One of the few surviving intact historic homes in the U.S., Henderson Hall contains artifacts and historical treasures preserved through more than 200 years of the family that rubbed elbows with George Washington, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
From the Scottish family's arrival in the valley from Virginia to its part in the West Virginia statehood movement, ties with pioneers and patriots to being a key witness in the Burr-Blennerhassett treason turmoil, the Henderson family played key roles in many of the historic events that shaped the Mid-Ohio Valley. A Victorian-era Italianate mansion, the hall contains treasures of a family line that was well-educated, trained in the arts and among the movers and shakers of their time.
"We have documentation of everything going back to the 1700s, 15-20 file cabinets full of papers, and I find new things everyday," Dave McKain said, noting he recently came across a 1795 U.S./World atlas in pristine condition.
McKain showed the commissioners a copy of a deposition sent to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison when the Hendersons blew the whistle on Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett and their involvement in the conspiracy.
"Blennerhassett had tried to get the Hendersons involved. I don't think he understand at the time that the Hendersons were actually friends with Madison, who was then secretary of state and Jefferson, who was president," McKain said.
"I also have an original letter from the the agent Jefferson sent down here to stop this conspiracy, thanking the Hendersons for their efforts. The original deposition was sent along to Washington, D.C. These are very important documents in relation to local and U.S. history," McKain said. "These are the kinds of documents we have. We have all the documentation of Henderson's time in Wheeling when the state was being organized. We are now card indexing all the books, there are about 500."
McKain's lifelong friend Michael Rolston, the last of the Henderson family to live in the home, bequeathed the hall to the museum hoping to assure its preservation.
McKain said plans for the plantation include development of an on-site museum, research and conservation center and continuing documentation of the hall through books and videos.
An advisory board was formed to develop a strategic plan for the hall.
"West Virginia University will take the plan the board has come up with and do projections and analysis and provide advice to us," McKain said. WVU started the grounds survey, photographs, and flown over the hall and grounds. They will come back to work with us on developing this plan," McKain said.
"We are going to fix the soffits on the building as soon as the weather allows. We already have a McDonough Foundation grant to get started. The shutters are being done right now, then the windows will be done then the painting and soffits," McKain said. "Michael had the roof done, but the painting wasn't done. By the end of spring almost all the outside of the mansion will be done."
"WVU expects to be completed in June on the plan, then the advisory committee will review it and then it would go to the Oil and Gas board for approval," McKain said.
"We will continue to support you, we are currently involved with trying to sponsor a grant for you," commission President Blair Couch said. "The hall not only attracts tourism, but it also generates pride in our history and heritage."
McKain said the inside of the house has been redone. We have about 30 volunteers to show the hall, we have a mortgage, security, and utilities to pay every month. We've increased admission receipts from almost nothing to $14,000 last year, this past Christmas we raised $4,000 from the holiday tours. We just have a lot more to do," McKain said.
The 21-room brick River Road mansion, completed in 1859 by George Washington Henderson and known today as Henderson Hall Plantation is located off West Virginia 14 just south of Williamstown and once included about 2,000 acres that extended into Williamstown. The house was constructed of brick fired on the estate. In 1957, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated 65 acres, including the family cemetery, as Henderson Hall Historic District, and the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Henderson Hall Plantation is about seven miles north of Parkersburg, two miles south of Marietta, Ohio. For more information, call 304-375-2129 or 304-485-5446. Public tours are available from noon to 5 p.m. daily; private and group tours can be scheduled by calling ahead.
