The Shadow
WESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Preservationists are fighting to save the historic home of the man who helped create the state of West Virginia when it seceded from Virginia.
The Lewis County Commission is considering demolishing George Jackson Arnold’s home in Weston to build a courthouse annex to house magistrate’s court, the health department and other offices.
Resident Brenda Reed says that would be “most disastrous.” In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, Reed calls the home next door to the courthouse “a living link to a unique event in American history.”
The West Virginia University Extension Service has offices inside the home, but part of the porch is closed because it’s unsafe.
Even if remodeled, county officials say the home would not provide suitable office space.
