Wildwood, also known as the General Alfred Beckley Home, is a historic home located at Beckley,

Raleigh County, West Virginia Raleigh County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,591. Its county seat is Beckley. The county was founded in 1850 and is named for Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh County is included in the ...

. The house is open as the Wildwood House Museum and 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 1970.

History

General Alfred Beckley (1802–88) wanted his home to be the center of what he envisioned for

Beckley, West Virginia Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on April 4, 1838. This city is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology or West Virginia University, Beckley Campus. ...

which he founded in 1838. Although his town was a piece of paper in 1838, it would later become the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

, which was also founded by Beckley in 1850. His house was built in 1835–36, initially as an unpretentious double log cabin. "I took possession of a double log cabin built for me in the fall of 1835 by Mr. John Lilly Sr. of Bluestone.." Originally, the residence was named Park Place. According to Alfred Beckley, "I changed the name of my residence from 'Park Place', a name given it by my kinsman, Clarkson Prince to that of 'Wildwood'".

Description

The current appearance of Wildwood began in 1874 with remodeling by Alfred Beckley. This included the addition of a kitchen and dining room to the back of the house. The log cabins exterior was also covered in white clapboard. This was replaced in the 1970s with aluminum siding. Most of the original pine floor exists, and wood beams have been exposed within parts of the house to demonstrate its log cabin origins. There have been plans to restore the structure to its original 1874 appearance.

References

External links

Wildwood House Museum
- City of Beckley Historic house museums in West Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Houses completed in 1836 Houses in Raleigh County, West Virginia Museums in Raleigh County, West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Raleigh County, West Virginia {{WestVirginia-museum-stub