United States Department of 1% Interior National Park Senrice '\

y i c PIaces National Register o inventory-Nomination F m

\ See instructions in How to Complete National Register f i r m s Type all entries-compiete applkable sections

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1. Name hlstoric k k of Glen Jean I

and/or common

2. Location street & number m. Street

. . not for publication

city, town Glen Jean N,& vicinity of w ' " - ' L 4

state West V i r g i n i 2 code 54 county ~ a ~ e t t e code 014

3, Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use d i s t r i c t . - public -X- occupied - agriculture - museum

building(s) -x- private - unoccupied 2 L commercial - park - structure - both - work in progress - educational - - private residence - site Pubtic Acquisition Accessible - entertainment - religious - object - in process 2 yes: restricted - government - scientific

_X being considered - yes: unrestricted - industrial - transportatbn - no - military - other:

4. Owner of Property --

name Jaes C. Blankenship, I=, W i l l i a n R. Simns, Randall L. Ballard

street & number P.0. I ) r a ~ e r 243

city, town Glen Jean N* vicinity of state &st Vkg-

5. Location of Legal Descri~tion

courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Fayette County Courthouse . .

street & number Cburt Street

FaysttevilLe city, town state vest V i ~ g b k ~

6. Representation in Existing Surveys title N/A, has this property been determined eligible? - yes - x no .

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date -\

\, -_ federal - state c o u n t y - local

depository for survey records

city, town state

f-5 - I 7. Description

Condition Check one Check one - excellent - deteriorated - unaltered _X_ original site - good - ruins -~r altered m o v e d date -3=- fair - unexposed

Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Historical photographs of the Bank of Glen Jean from the beb* of the 2Ot1 century indicates that the original building appearance h a s ' d v e d since it tom constructed in 1909. 'The inscription of i ts construction date-ap- pears over the =in entrance to the bank. An addition was built on to the' original s-ture by G J i l l i a m FWdl in 1917 on the rear portion of the bank fronting the main s t reet of Glen Jean.

The 1909 bank, and its 1917 additim, were constructed of stone in the style or pattern of random broken ashlar with raised b&&d joints. %'stone is of lower ,qandot sandstone quarried in the inmediate G l e n Jean area. The guyandot sandstone is the strata of rock exposed above the Sewell seam of &; which was the richest seam in Fayette County and areas sutmmding Glen Jw. The foundation stone IW hand cut'and also quarried locally. The large hand kil stone that constitutes the plinth o r water a l e , average four feet in la@-i and were apparently quarried and cut on the site. ' . -

The exterior walls of the bank are uniformly 28 inches thick. The thirteen windows on the front of the original bank building and the ones in the 1917 addition are double hung and are two lights Fjith a transom ov% each. Stone lintels constitute the inside facings of a l l windows.

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The front of the building was cut on 45 degree corners with the w u a l angle of the front archway main &or behg also in 45 degree angles facing nain s e e e t . Cheek walls surround the archway entrance. A keystone srgports the main door -ardway and the handcut marker-stone that bears the s-le description of the structure, '%mk 1909". - The intrados in the arch are regular, the m a d o s ' b a irregula;-- and being tied to the random ashlar p a t t h . Ihe roof can be. characterized as a top over roof. The ovahang is galvanized iron wlth string course cornice.

The interior floors of the bank are ceramic msaic t i l e , l'! t rhned kcagon shaped along the outside edges in the lobby and front office. y' black . . and sJnite ceramic msaic t i l e w i t h a-10" marble base accompanies the W e in the sm area. The 12 f m t ceilings are p b t e r .on masonry w i t h 42" oak wains- coat- bordering the walls in the lobby.

The vaults in the bank are largely intact. Access to five vaults is gained through an ornate double door opening on a F&. ,+ugh vault.

The structural system i n the 1909 section is of steel; . . in the 1917 sec- tion, mod. -

The canstruction of the bank and its addition is an example of the type of construction popula a t the turn of the century w i t h Italian'stone masons rjno were originslly lured td Fayette Colinty for railmad aria" the re+ dhb walls necessitated by' the steep slopes of the

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united States Department of the Interior National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places - ----- Inventory-Nomination Form Bank of Glen Jean, Fayette County, West Virginia

Continuation sheet Item number 7 Page 2

The interior of the building deteriorated greatly from the bank's closing in the 1930's unt i l acquired by the present owners. Renodeling in the upstairs of the bank for offices has not harmed the integrity or appearance of the building. The structure is sand, there being no evidence of settling or or st ruc tura l deterioration. Sited on approximately one-half acre i tself and surrounded by six acres the present owners have acquired, the Bank of Glen Jean is an architectural reminder of the "glory days" of Glen Jean.

. . # 1 a - ,: . . '8. 0'~ignif icance

Period Areas of Siqnificanc-Check and justify below - prehistoric - archeology-prehistoric c o m m u n i t y planning - landscape a r c h i t e c t u r e religion - 1400-1499 - archeology-historic - conservation - law - science - 1500-1599 - agriculture - economics - literature ' - sculpture - 1600-1693 X architecture - education - military - social1 - 1 700-1 799 - art - engineering - music humanitarian - 1 800-1 899 X commerce - explorationlsettlement - phitosophy - theater

1900- - communications - industry - politicslgovernment - transportation - invention

Specific dates 1909 ; 1917 BuilderlArchitect N13tKrlD.m f

Statement of Significance fin one paragraph) . .

The Bank of Glen Jow, at Glen Jew, Fayette h m q , West Vixgf"i" is significant as the mst prcminent wrk 'of &chiteemre in its cbrmMlity and fo r its association w i t h Wflliam kKeI.1, one of the n ~ s t 0119- of that group of now legeridary a m , the West V i r g i n i a "coal barons".

5 .

Eqlanatory Ibtes -. - - - .

1. The small cummity of Glesl Jean, nestled in the rugged Inills of the southern W e s t V' * . . coal fields, 'was founded in the early 1870's. Beginning in the l a t e l 8 8 z d mntiraring until the advent of the Great Depression, Glen Jean prospered as a ''boom 'town", being the k t and center of the PidKell coal "enpire". Constructed during the midst of this the Bank of Glen Jan became the sml of Glen Jean's prosperity and, w i t h its massive stone facade; was easily the mst architecturally inposing building in t5e town. Bs

. the ' b a n 1 ' years faded and Glen Jean settled back into a rather sleepy village ilTl.. the muntain country of Fayette. County, the imposing structure of the aank of Glen Jean has taken on even greater significance as the one r . . symbol of a past. era of prosperity and as the forenost architectural l m m f the -ty. . . .

, 2. The Bank of Glen Jean was constructed in 1909 to serve as the center of the financial enpire of William Mell, opening its doors on'-t U ; 1909. As that -ire grew, so did the bank; a large'addidon, architecturally caqat ible w i t h the~main 1909 i m i t , was erected in 1917 and bears the name 'IWl" in a lintel: over the door. . . .

A t the tiTlE of his construction of the Bank of Qen Jean in 1909, tJilliarn McKell (1871-1939) was one of W e s t Virginia' s most prospernus coal mgzates. In addition to owning the entirety of Glen Jean, HCKdl owned vast anaunts of land, coal propsrties, md railroads. - . .

Glen Jean had become the center of the great P k W . 1 finzncial empire in the late 1880's with the arrival of Tfiomas I.G Pr'rCell, w b had aquired.a 12,000-acre e z c t in 1873 at what was then i h i t e Oaks, Fayette Cotmty . The

. el6er E I c ; W l continued to acquire lands and a a l mines for'- a decade before f M l y nZmhg to Fayette County. He chmged the na& of the ' little village tc, Glen' Jean (in honor of his wife) and-quickly proceeded to build a sizable town .that heludc7d an o F a house, - hotels, and deparment s-res and played _a -mjor-mle i - ~

, the deTielopnrent of the-nearby tam of anwPtld as d. His d y son I J i l l i a m .took

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United States Department of the Interior EX? National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form

Bnak of Glen Jean, Fayette County, West Virginia Continuation sheet - ttern number Page 2

up residence at Glen J e w in 1893 and upon W McKell's death in 1%4 be- the owner of the vast McKell enterprizes, including the newly formed (1900) 1.lCKell Coal and Coke Company.

W i l l i a m &Kell was an indiddual about w k m , c b t o his u n u s d , or eccentric, behavior, many stories abound. Controlling mch of Fayette County polit ical l i f e , he was s t r ic t ly paternalistic toward his wrkers. Eemn the f i r s t successful legal sui t wer brought against the United Mine Mrkers Union for damages due to a s e i k e . He personally organized sporting events amng his workers and even invented a new variation of baseball, called "letemhitit',', that becam wide-spread in the southem coal fields. Upon his death in 1939, -11 l e f t a for tme of 13 million dollars. It muld have been mre except tha t h e n the Bank of Glen Jean closed on January 10, 1939, PMell paid al l the depositors Eom his aun assets. A t the time the bank closed Hell, near death, was still the bank president. C.P. Calloway was vice president and Charles Wilburn served as the las t castiier . A bachelor, McKell t-s financial concerns were scattered at his death, much of the Glen Jean propeag passing to the New River Coqany.

The I3an.k of Glen Jean is the single remaining structure that is repre- sentative of a once flourishing West Virginia financial Win, and tbis Fayette County c o m n m i ~ ' s m s t outstanding architectural landmark.

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'9. - %Iajor Bibiiographical References bnnelly, C. Shirley, in Fayette bunty, West Virginia", West .Virginia

History Quartyly. Vol. XV, No. 4; July, 1954. - - Fayette Journal, The Taun of Glen Jean", Vol, 35, Fb. 30, Oak Hill, W e s t Virginia,

911. Novarber 2 , 1 --

10. Geographical Data - - - - - --

Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name Oak West V e w Quadrangle scale 1:2.4.M)O

1

UMT References

7 1418161315 101 14B (9 5 ( 6 1 6 1 0 ] t

Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing

Verbal boundary description and justification -The Bank of Glen Jean sits on one rectangular town lot, measuring 190 f ee t by 85 feet , consisting of 0.20 of an acre, on the north- west corner of the intersection of Main Street and Beury Mountain Road in the vi l lage of GI& Jean, Fayette County, West Virginia. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries

state ffh code county code

state code county code

9 11. Form Prepared By

u s C . Bl- hi^ 111 and Michael .J . Padey , Historian Historic Preservation W t

organization - Dept. of Culture and History - -

date Decder 15, 1982 cultural center'

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street & number C a p i t o l Complex telephone 3m/ 348-0240 - -

city or town Charleston state West Virginia

d 2. -State Historic Preservation Officer certification - - -- - - -- - -- - - --

The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: . .

- national 2.- state - local

As the deslgnated State Historic Preservation Officer ationai Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89- 665), 1 hereby nominate this property for incl according to the criteria and procedures set

State Historic Preservation Officer signature

4 ' title Mss ione r . W.Va. Dept. of Cul and His OW / d.1; December 21. 1982

United States Department of the Interior National Park Setvice

National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form . Bank of Glen Jean, Fayette b m t y , West Virginia

Continuation sheet Item number 9 page 2

Pkj or Bibliographical References

&brshall, Paul D. , ed. , The New River National River, A ,Cultural Research ~roj ect, V O ~ . 11, ~ a d T E s T T & ~ssociat-c. , Charleston, W .Va. , bee, ber, 1981.

Massey, Tim R., "Leternhitit! ,- Former Athletes Recall Forgotten Sport" and "Remmbering Bill Mell", Goldenseal, Vol. 8, No. 3, Fall, 1982, W.Va. Dept. of Culture and History, Charleston, W.Va.

brris , Robert, 'Town Fading h r y to Sod"' Chsrles ton Gazette, Charleston, W.Va., July 5, 1978.

Peters, J.T. and H.B. Carden, History of Fa ette County, West VLrgFnia, Charleston, W.Va., Jarrett Printing =.* -

Sullivan, Charles Kermeth, "Coal Men and Coal T o m i Development of the Snsokeles s Coal Fields of Southern West Virginia, 1873-1923' I, mphlished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1979.

Tam, W. P. , Jr . , The Smkeless Coal Fields of West Virginia, . West Virginia - - -- University Library, lbrgantwn, W.Va., 1963.