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Tour offers look at historic district

PARKERSBURG — The Julia-Ann Square Historic District will holds its annual Victorian Spring Home and Garden Tour and Tea on the first weekend of June.

During the event, visitors can take self-guided tours of the historic district in downtown Parkersburg from 1-5 p.m. June 3 and 4.

Tickets are $15 for adults with children 10 and under admitted free with an adult. For ticket information, call event organizer Judith Smith at 304-422-9861. Tickets will also be sold at each of the featured stops on the days of the tour.

Several gardens will be open during the two days of tours, with some of the locations also offering a chance to tour the historic homes, Smith said.

Additional activities will also be taking place at other sites in the district on both days. One of those will be a Dessert Tea at First Baptist Church at Ninth and Market streets, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary. The Ki No Kase Bonsai Club will have a bonsai display at 1024 Juliana St.

The locations on this year’s tour include: Van Winkle-Zelnar House, 1209 Ann St.; Leach-Nicholson House, 1214 Ann St.; Boreman-Florence House, 1109 Ann St.; Deklavon Waterman House, 1203 Ann St.; and Caswell-Smith House, 1024 Juliana St.

Among the homes and gardens on the tour will be:

∫ At 1109 Ann St., the Boreman-Florence House will offer a decor sale in addition to tours of the garden and historic home.

∫ At 1209 Ann St., also known as The Castle and the Van Winkle-Zelnar House, the tour will include the house and grounds.

The house is currently owned by Rick and Linda Zelnar, who have been in the process of restoring the home over the past few years.

A small part of the house may have been constructed in the 1830s by prominent Parkersburg resident Peter Goodwin Van Winkle and enlarged in the 1850s in the Italianate style. It may have originally faced Murdoch Avenue.

∫ At 1214 Ann St., the Leach-Nicholson Home will allow visitors to tour the home and the garden

∫ At 1203 Ann St., the Deklavon Waterman House will feature both the home and garden during the tour. The home is also known for its first resident, Bishop George Peterkin, the first Episcopal Bishop of West Virginia, from 1878 until his death in 1917. In the late 1950s, its owners converted the home into five apartments and the DeKlavons have restored it to a single-family dwelling.

∫ At 1024 Juliana St, the Caswell-Smith home was built in 1885 and includes a restored carriage house with antique automobiles on display.

The home and garden are both part of the tour, as is the carriage house.

All proceeds will benefit the Julia-Ann Square Historic District improvement projects, which have included lightposts, arches, benches and sidewalk improvements over the years.

Julia-Ann Square is a community of approximately 125 homes, primarily built mid-1800s through 1900-1915. The entire district has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. It features various architecture styles, including late Victorian, Colonial Revival and many examples of Queen Anne architecture.

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