John Fox Jr. House, also known as the John Fox Jr. Museum, is a historic home located at

Big Stone Gap Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census. History The community was formerly kno ...

Wise County, Virginia Wise County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county was formed in 1856 from Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties and named for Henry A. Wise, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time. History The Cherokee conquered the ...

. It is named for the American author

John Fox Jr. John Fox Jr. (December 16, 1862 – July 8, 1919) was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer. Biography Born in Stony Point, Kentucky, to John William Fox Sr. and Minerva Worth Carr, Fox studied English at Harvard University ...

, who lived there from 1890 until 1919.

History

first visited the Cumberland Gap area while a student at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. His two older brothers, James and Horace, owned coal mines in Jellico, Tennessee, and the three came to the area as speculators and mineral developers in 1888. While exploring the area for business, John Fox became more and more fascinated with the region and its people, eventually abandoning his real estate interests for his writing. Works like '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' and '' The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' reflected both his interest as well as a general interest among American readers for the Appalachian people. Despite his frequent travels, Fox had his productive writing period in the home on Shawnee Avenue and it is here that he wrote his most famous works. The original section of the Fox home was built in 1890, as a four-room cottage. The house was subsequently expanded to a two-story, 20 room dwelling. The frame dwelling sits on a stone foundation. Fritzi Scheff, a singer with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, was fascinated by the region through reading Fox's stories. After divorcing her husband, she married Fox and came to live in the home with him; the two became local celebrities. However, she was disappointed to find Appalachian life less exciting than she anticipated and the two divorced in 1913.

House today

The house was opened as a museum in 1970 and is today operated by the Lonesome Pine Arts and Crafts Association. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. The property remains furnished the way it was during the time of the Fox family's residence there.Stapen, Candyce H. ''Fun with the Family, Virginia''. Globe Pequot, 2006: 206

References

External links

John Fox Jr. House Museum
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, John Jr., House Historic house museums in Virginia Museums in Wise County, Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1890 Houses in Wise County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Wise County, Virginia Literary museums in the United States Biographical museums in Virginia