Our house was built in what was then Virginia in 1857 by James A. Brown, a lawyer, as a wedding gift for his wife Isabel, a young woman from Baltimore. The brick house is built in the Federal style, but the wrap-around front porch adds an informal farmhouse appearance. From the front porch the Browns and their friends and family had an excellent view of the main road through Kingwood and of the courthouse across the street (where it still is today on the comer of Main and Price Streets.)

We like to imagine that the Browns enjoyed sitting on the front porch in the cool fresh air just as we do today. We can only imagine their conversations. We know Kingwood had many prominent families who were politically active and outspoken and very influential in the troubled times just before the Civil War. When Virginia voted to secede from the Union, the James C. McGrew and William G. Brown families helped shape the new state of West Virginia from meetings here in Kingwood. Whether the James Browns were Union sympathizers or Confederates, they were sitting at the edge of history here in this house as they watched the crowd gathering at the courthouse to vote on the formation of the new state of West Virginia. In 1863 they watched part of the Confederate Army march through town in front of this house, up Jackson Street, to Morgantown.

Since then generations of Kingwood families have watched history march past the Inn in countless parades from the Civil War through World War I, World War II and over sixty years of Buckwheat Festivals.

The house was a private residence for the first seventy-five years. It wasn't until 1932 when J.D. "Happy" Everly and his mother began to offer food and lodging to the public. In 1948, the Silbaugh's built the addition to the Inn at the back of the house that provides the main dining rooms, the commercial kitchen, and the eight guest rooms on the second floor. For the past almost seventy years the inn has offered fine dining and comfortable lodging to several generations of Kingwood families and their guests. The Inn enjoys a state-wide reputation for gracious hospitality. There have been a number of hosts in the Inn's history: the Everlys; Silbaughs; Hartleys; McKays; Moores; and Joe and Rosemary Bernatowicz.

This ante-bellum house is as familiar and dear as a beloved family relative to countless local families and their guests. Since June 1999, we have been happy to be part of the continuing history of the Inn knowing that our house will continue to witness Kingwood's Main Street activities just as it did in the 1850s. We hope to continue the tradition of warm hospitality.

Bill and Judith Menihan

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Preston County Inn
Innkeepers: Bill and Judith Menihan

112 West Main Street
Kingwood, West Virginia 26537
Telephone: 304-329-2220
1-800 252-3271
Fax: 304-329-4631
Email: info@prestoncountyinn.com
Website: www.prestoncountyinn.com

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