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The West Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate, during this week’s special session of the Legislature, passed House Bill 203 to increase the State Historic Tax Credit from 10 percent to 25 percent.
Gov. Jim Justice placed the bill on the Special Session agenda after consultation with legislative leadership and interested parties. The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, Abandoned Properties Coalition, US Green Building Council, W.Va. Chapter, W.Va. Community Development Hub, Wheeling Heritage, private developers, citizens, and municipalities joined together to create the Revitalize West Virginia Downtown Coalition. That coalition developed a plan to increase the state historic tax credit to aid in economic development of the state and educate legislators on the importance of the historic rehabilitation tax credit. Danielle LaPresta, executive director of the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, said, “I am pleased that the Governor and legislature saw the potential of the historic tax credit to serve as a catalyst to revitalize West Virginia. This program will spark economic development throughout the state regardless of the size of the community.” The governor is a strong ally of historic preservation in West Virginia, LaPresta said. The 25 percent credit brings West Virginia to parity with neighboring states. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia have a 25 percent state historic tax credit; Maryland and Kentucky have a 20 percent tax credit. This increase will encourage the rehabilitation of historic buildings and spur private investment, create jobs, and help rid the state of vacant and underutilized buildings. Studies have shown that the estimated return on the state’s investment is approximately 2:1. This means for every dollar of tax credit provided by the state, two dollars of additional state taxes and revenue will be created through investments. Renee Kuhlman, director of Policy Outreach, Government Relations and Policy from the National Trust for Historic Preservation said, “With these improvements, state legislators are putting West Virginia’s heritage to work and encouraging investors to bring their dollars to the Mountaineer State. States that have improved their historic tax credits have doubled the use of the federal historic tax credit and have seen construction jobs increase because renovation is labor intensive.” The Legislature passed the legislation with overwhelming support in both houses. Mike Gioulis, PAWV Advocacy chairperson, speaking for the coalition, said: “The coalition would like to thank all of the legislators that voted in favor of the bill, including the sponsors, Speaker Tim Armstead, R, Kanawha, and Tim Miley, D, Harrison. We appreciate that Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R, Ohio, and Senator Glenn Jeffries, D, Putnam, spoke in favor of the bill. We also would like to thank Chairman Eric Nelson, Jr., R, Kanawha, for his leadership on this issue.” The group also values the support and leadership of Justice as well as his staff. The West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office is developing standards and procedures to educate and promote the program to the public. For more information relating to the historic tax credit program, contact Jennifer Brennan, State Historic Tax Credit Coordinator at 304-558-0240. For additional information regarding this effort, contact the Preservation Alliance of WV Advocacy Chairman Mike Gioulis at 304-545-4881, or visit www.pawv.org and www.revitalizewvdowntowns.com. Fifteen homes in North Wheeling will be open for tours on Sunday afternoon, October 15, from 1 to 5 pm. A pre-tour Patron Party will be held the evening before. These events are part of a fund-raising effort to help save two antebellum homes on North Main Street.
Houses on tour are in the 600 to 900 blocks of Main Street, along with one house on Market Street. Histories of the homes and their early residents will be shared. The Oglebay Park trolley will provide transportation the day of the tour from the surface lot on the west side of the 10th Street garage to the middle section of the tour – 727 Main Street. The pre-tour Patron Party will be held from 6:00 to 9:00 the evening before the tour at the Robert W. Hazlett/Friends of Wheeling House, 921 Main Street. All revenue from both events will go directly toward saving the two buildings.
The two buildings in need of repair, along with the adjacent row house at 720 Main Street, have long and interesting histories. They were built around 1850 and were owned in their early years by the Hughes family. Brothers Thomas Hughes (a tailor) and Alfred Hughes (a physician) signed the Ordinance of Secession at the beginning of the Civil War, urging Virginia to leave the Union, and were labeled “traitors.” Later, Alfred refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the Union and was imprisoned for a time in Camp Chase, Columbus. Their sister, Eliza Clark Hughes, was a homeopathic physician like her brother and is believed to have been the first female doctor in Wheeling. She supported the South but eventually signed the oath of allegiance. Their brother John served for 17 years as a member of City Council, until his death from typhoid in 1870. His widow, nee Eliza Sterritt McLane, remained living in 724 Main after his death. Charles H. Berry married Lida Hughes, the daughter of John and Eliza S. Hughes. The newlyweds moved into 724 Main with Lida’s widowed mother after their 1884 marriage and lived there until 1919, when they moved to the Woodsdale neighborhood of Wheeling. Berry was the son and namesake of Charles H. Berry Supply Company, a business that manufactured rope and twine for the riverboat industry and dealt in “pitch, rosin, oakum and leather belting, firebrick, fishing tackle, etc.” Berry Supply still exists and is thought to be Wheeling’s oldest surviving business. Reduced price tour tickets can be purchased in advance from Wheeling Heritage (3rdfloor of the Wheeling Artisan Center, Monday through Friday), Eckhart House (810 Main – Saturdays from 10 to 5), or the UPS Store on Washington Avenue (regular business hours). Full price tickets can be purchased the day of the event at the Friends of Wheeling House (921 Main Street), the Irwin-Mathison House (727 Main Street), or the Edward Kramer House (624 Main Street). Partners in the effort to save these remarkable buildings are the City of Wheeling, Wheeling Heritage, Victorian Old Town Association, Wheeling Young Preservationists, and Friends of Wheeling. Tour houses are the Robert W. Hazlett/Friends of Wheeling House (921 Main), John K. List House (821 Main), Robert Gibson House (817 Main), Seybold Apartments (814 Main), George W. Eckhart House (810 Main), Reiss-Beltz House (805 Market), Scroggins House (737 Market), George Boyd House (741 Main), Joseph Hedges House (734 Main), Irwin-Mathison House (727 Main), Alfred Marks House (725 Main), William Goering House (701 Main), Phillips-Moser House (655 Main), Arthur M. Phillips House (653 Main), and Edward Kramer House (624 Main). More details on the houses are below 921 Main Street, Robert W. Hazlett House This high-style, Second Empire home was built in 1887 by retired Wheeling physician Robert W. Hazlett. Designed by architect Edgar W. Wells, the three-story home displays fine workmanship in both the interior and exterior. Queen Anne details are found in the interior woodwork, featuring bands of suns and sunflowers. Lincrusta wainscoting lines the walls of the hall and stairway. Exterior features of note are the foundation walls of sandstone, molded brick walls, incised sandstone door and window lintels, elaborate cornice decoration, projecting bay supported by egg-and-dart brick corbelling, and mansard roof. The exterior front doors have been recently renovated. The building is presently used as headquarters for Friends of Wheeling and rental units. 821 Main Street, John K. List House The John K. List house was built by prosperous banker Henry K. List for his son around 1893. It is primarily of the Queen Anne style, with steep roof, rounded front, entrance portico, terra cotta trim, pediment above the rounded front with a Palladian window and gable dormer with pediment. The well-traveled John List was a banker, like his father. After numerous subsequent owners and years of standing empty, the house is once again a family home. 817 Main Street, Robert Gibson House This two-story Greek Revival house was probably built in the late 1850s by Irish immigrant Robert Gibson, a ‘tobacconist.’ Directory listings were found for Robert Gibson, as far back as 1864, living at 271 Main at that time (before North Wheeling street numbers were changed). By the time of the 1870 census, his household included his wife Amanda, sons Robert (age 15, railroad clerk) and Robert (age 12, in school), daughter Virginia (age 4), and one domestic servant. 810 Main, George W. Eckhart House Built in 1892 by wealthy banker George W. Eckhart Jr., the Eckhart House was considered by the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer of October 29, 1892 to be one of the residential building achievements of the year. With most of its original architectural features well preserved, it is truly deserving of the title of Victorian Wheeling’s ‘Crown Jewel.’ The three-story, red brick townhouse is a fine example of a Queen Anne building, the dominant style of domestic building in the late-nineteenth century. It has a Romanesque, arched brick porch that was an early twentieth century addition to the original design. The facade features a distinctive oriel window with a painted, pressed metal pendant at the bottom. The elaborate interior detailing includes numerous decorative mantles with glazed tile surrounds and hearths, ornamental fretwork and spindlework, and lincrusta wainscoting. 814 Main Street, Seybold Apartments Steamboat engineer John J. Seybold was the original owner of this three-story apartment building. The first city directory showing residents in it is dated 1911-1912. At that time, the first-floor apartment was occupied by Elizabeth Seybold, widow of John’s brother and fellow steamboat engineer, Peter Seybold, with other tenants on the second and third floors. As the only white façade in North Wheeling, the building stands out from its hue as well as for its classical design. Built in the classical revival style, the large Corinthian pilasters with ornate capitals support a massive cornice with egg and dart trim. A brick parapet sits atop a projecting cornice. 805 Market Street, Reiss-Beltz House German immigrant and carpenter Mathew Reiss built this house around 1874 when the adjacent 8th Street was named Adams Street. It is probable that the building was the location of a professional office or small business, with living quarters above. The building design is vernacular with a mix of architectural trim details. The second owner was August Beltz, who worked as a blacksmith and wagon maker. His business letterhead stated that he was a “manufacturer of Carriages, Buggies, Spring Wagons, Etc., Repairing Neatly and Promptly Done.” Joseph F. Reass, son of the original owner (despite the difference in the spelling of the name), and his son, Joseph H. Reass were subsequent owners. The property stayed in the Reass family until 1993. 737 Market Street, Frank Scroggins House Frank Scroggins, owner of White Swan Laundry, purchased this property in 1904 and probably built the house shortly after that. The American Legion Home Corporation bought the property from Scroggins in 1937, and the building was used to house American Legion Post # 1 until around 1948-49. It next housed the Community Foundation for the Blind from 1949 until 1997. During that period, it was the site of classes in such skills as caning and rug weaving for visually impaired people, along with a gift shop of the finished wares. It later was used as a bed-and-breakfast and is now once again a single-family home. 741 Main Street, George E. Boyd House This Italianate style house was built in the 1860s. Several wonderful features include a stained glass window from Sacred Heart Church, the kitchen/great room with tin ceiling and old brick fireplace, and spectacular views of the Ohio River. George E. Boyd, Sr., a lawyer and Circuit Court judge, was married to Annie Caldwell, daughter of neighbor Alfred Caldwell. Their son, George E. Boyd, Jr., was also a lawyer and served as a U.S. Commissioner. The third -generation Boyd, Beulah Boyd, was a long-time history teacher at Wheeling High School. 734 Main Street, Joseph Hedges House This half of a twin townhouse was built circa 1894 for Joseph Hedges. It stands on the former site of the Fourth Presbyterian Church. Spectacular stained-glass windows highlight the lower level. Other architectural features include sandstone arches, corbeled brick, and classic triangular pediments over extended oriel windows. Metal finials and a parapet are highlights of the roofline. Hedges was a traveling clothing salesman who worked for 38 years for M. Gutman & Company. 727 Main Street, Samuel Irwin, George Mathison House, 1850s Deed records refer to this property as “homestead of Samuel Irwin,” and census records indicate that Irwin and his family lived in Wheeling from at least 1850. The first City Directory that was found with this actual street address was in 1865. The simple, little-decorated façade was typical of the pre-Victorian taste. Irwin was a Sheriff of Ohio County, and his son William H. Irwin, the next owner of the property, was a Deputy Sheriff. Subsequent owner, Scottish immigrant George Mathison, was a prominent businessman and insurance agent. His son, John J. Mathison, served as Wheeling’s mayor from 1938 to 1943. 725 Main Street, Alfred Marks House The National Register Nomination for the district states, “circa 1850s – Alfred Marks, a river boat engineer, was probably the first resident of this house.” He was fixing some machinery on the steamer Ben Hur when he dropped dead of a stroke at age 55. Later, the house was owned by Seaton Alexander who, with his partner George S. Mathison, operated the largest retail shoe store in Wheeling. The house is a vernacular brick two-story structure with stone lintels and sill, and a metal cornice, with modillions, that extends across 727 Main Street. 701 Main Street, William Goering House The builder of this fine house was W.G.E Goering who, like many mid-to-late 19th century arrivals to Wheeling, was born in Germany. He was a bookkeeper and treasurer of Central Glass Company in Wheeling, beginning in 1871. He tragically died after being struck by a train. The house is the only true Second Empire structure, and one of the few freestanding homes, in the North Wheeling Historic District comprised mainly of Italianate row houses. Inside, much of the historic fabric remains. An open staircase leads to the second and third floors, and lincrusta accents the wall of the main floor stair. Virtually every room includes a tiled fireplace with a carved wood mantel. Oak floors are found throughout the house, and door trim and crown molding have been left intact. Heavy panel doors on the first floor have their original faux finishes of burled wood grain. The small front court is enclosed within one of the few remaining iron fences in North Wheeling. 655 Main Street, Phillips-Moser House This Federal-style house was probably built in 1843 by the Arthur Phillips family. The façade is quite old, with corbeled brick cornice, segmented arch dormers, and simple stone lintels and sills. The interior of the home still has much of its original woodwork. Patriarch of the family, Arthur M. Phillips, was a major manufacturer of steamboat boilers. His large family resided in several homes in North Wheeling, while their business operations took place behind the homes, along the river. Phillips’ granddaughter, Nell, married pharmacist Albert Moser, and they made their home here. 653 Main Street, Arthur M. Phillips House The carved lintel above a second-floor window dates this house to 1831, making it one of the oldest houses in Wheeling. Or, at least the façade is that old. The house suffered a disastrous fire in 1996 and stood as a burned-out shell for nearly eight years before being returned to life as a single-family home. The original owner, Arthur M. Phillips, was a pioneer builder of steam engines for Wheeling’s thriving riverboat industry. He lost his position as Inspector of Boilers and Hulls after he was considered a traitor for signing the Ordinance of Secession, urging Virginia to secede from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War. 624 Main Street, Edward Kramer House The first resident of this house was probably Edward Kramer in 1901. The two-and-one-half story, two bay, four-square residence has a brick façade, a slate roof, and a stucco-covered foundation. The first story has a modified Palladian window with a rounded arch transept. Edward Kramer was a cigar-maker and the nephew of Theodore Roller, the bugler for Carlin’s Battery, the Union artillery unit that was formed in Wheeling during the Civil War. During at least part of his career Kramer worked for well-known cigar manufacturer Augustus Pollack. This is not a drill! Last week the Republican Congressional leadership and the Administration released the Tax Reform Framework, which did NOT include the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit. The tax reform outline does, however, explicitly preserve business credits in two areas where leaders believe tax incentives have proven effective: research and development (R&D) and low-income housing. This suggests there is an opportunity for action. It’s remarkable how the historic tax credit has positively impacted community economies across West Virginia. Between 2002 and 2016 the historic rehabilitation tax credit has leveraged nearly $175 million in development, created over 3,500 jobs and brought in over $35 million in local, state and federal taxes. While the tax framework envisions repeal of all other business credits, including the historic rehabilitation tax credit, the outline gives discretion to the tax writing committees to decide to retain additional business credits to the extent budget limitations allow. Support for the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit is already gaining momentum in the House thanks to Rep. David McKinley (R - WV, 1). Rep. McKinley is circulating a Dear Colleague letter encouraging other Representatives to support the preservation of the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit. Now is the time to thank Rep. McKinley and ask Representatives Mooney and Jenkins to sign on with their West Virginia Colleague. Learn how below... THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!The House Ways & Means Committee plans to produce a tax reform bill by the end of October and in the next three weeks it is imperative that you make your VOICE heard NOW! ACTION STEPS: CALL, WRITE, REPEATWrite an Email: The easiest way is to write your Congressman and Senator by sending them a message through their websites. You can use this form letter and cut and paste it into the message system on your Congressman's website (you may have to enter your zip code to authenticate that you are a constituent.) You can find each Representative and Senator's website and other contact information at the link below (for Representative McKinley - tell him thank you for his leadership in preserving the federal historic tax credit).
In your message, tell them the historic tax credit is important to your community and our state. If you have witnessed a preservation project in your community, tell them about it. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has good studies and statistics you can look at as well, but an example you know about is most powerful. Acknowledge that the need for tax reform is clear, but it must not come at the expense of this important economic redevelopment incentive, that more than pays for itself, and has a proven track record of creating jobs, revitalizing neighborhoods and saving historic buildings. To see your Representative and Senator's contact information click here. Call: Use your voice! Pick up the phone and call your congressman’s office and tell them why you support the historic tax credit. Tell them to remember you and your communities when they consider any tax reform. As a constituent your voice is important to your representative! Repeat: Have you emailed and called? Do it again. If you haven’t heard back from your congressman’s office within a few days, call and email again. Encourage your colleagues and fellow community members to do the same; write, call, repeat. The more voices we have telling congress just how impactful the historic tax credit is the better chance we have of getting included in tax reform. Please share your efforts with us and know that we are truly thankful for your efforts on behalf of the historic tax credit. If you have any questions or concerns please contact our office. Thank you! Preservation Alliance of West Virginia The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia honored historic preservation award recipients on Saturday, September 30th, during its 9th annual awards banquet. The event was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston and featured keynote speaker, Patrick Seymour, of the Theatre Historical Society of America. Delegate Larry Rowe was the Master of Ceremonies, and Mr. Brooks McCabe was a special guest speaker discussing the importance of advocating for the state and federal historic tax credits. It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by all. For those unable to attend, we have put together a series of videos recognizing each of the award recipients. Scroll down to view the videos. Thank you to the award recipients for their tireless efforts in preserving our Mountain State's heritage! Keep up the great work! Mt. Wood Cemetery - 2017 Stewardship Award
Staats Building - 2017 Preservation Persistence Award
Friends of Old Stone Cemetery - 2017 Preservation Persistence Award
Create Buckhannon - 2017 Community Preservation Award Recipient
Rick Steelhammer - 2017 West Virginia Media Award
John Henry Historical Park - 2017 Heritage Tourism Award
The Woda Group - 2017 Best Use of Historic Tax Credits Award
Crawford Holdings, Inc. - 2017 Downtown Preservation Award
Paul Marshall - 2017 Rodney Collins Preservation Achievement Award
Dr. Ronald Ripley - 2017 Dr. Emory Kemp Lifetime Achievement Award
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