Alderson House Hotel, Alderson, W. Va.
- Identifier:
- 004736
- Title:
- Alderson House Hotel, Alderson, W. Va.
- Date:
- ca. 1888
- Description:
- 'The Alderson House Hotel was built at Alderson, West Virginia (Monroe County) in 1882 by Messrs. David J. Cogbill and John W. Alderson. It was located in close proximity to the main line iron of the Chesapeake [and] Ohio Railway. It was the most modern hotel in the state of West Virginia on the C [and] O line when it was built, having 26 rooms and two annexes, adding about 15 rooms. It was the first building in Alderson to have running water in every room, it being supplied from a 7,000 gallon tank located just above the third story of the hotel. It recieved much praise from Virginia Newspapers in the '80's who always referred to it as the best and most famous house on the C [and] O in West Virginia except for the White Sulphur Hotel. In addition to the regular guests and boarders, two C [and] O passenger trains each day stopped for meals in the hotel's dinning room. One express passenger train stopped for breakfast and one for supper, there being about 200 people from the steamcars taking meals in the fine dinning room. The Alderson House took over the passenger business which had from 1872 to 1882, been handled by the Monroe House Hotel, which was located across the street on the other side of the rails. The Alderson House continued as a eating stop on the C [and] O until the middle 1890's and after that became principally a summer resort. By 1896 the town of Alderson had huge swarms of people coming in from the Virginia and Ohio cities to spend the summer in the cool, pleasant mountains. This traffic reached a height about 1900. By 1912 there were few summer boarders. During this period the Alderson House got more than its share of the trade. It continued as a popular stop until the 1930's when rail travel slowed down considerably. The hotel operated under many different managers after Mr. J.W. Alderson gave up the management in 1905 and did not close down until 1961.'
- Acquisition Source:
- Dixon, Thomas W.
- Acquisition Method:
- Gift
- Medium:
- print
- Projects:
- West Virginia History OnView