Unitad States Department of the Interior - National Park Service - -

ational Register of Historic Places - -

inventory-Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries-complete applicable sections

historic Cooper, Henry, House

and/or common The Ddughtcrs o f American Pioneers Museum; Cooper Cabin . Location

street & number Park Avenue - Parkersburg City Park - not for publication

Parkersburg city, town - vicinity of -

state West Vi rgi ni a code 5 4 countv Wood code 107

Category Ownership - district - public -- building(=) -8- private

t -L structure - both

Status Present Use occupied - agriculture A!- museum

- unoccupied - commercial - park - work in progress - educational - private residence

-- site Public Acquisition Accessible - entertainment - religious -- object N / A in process y e s : restricted - government - scientific

__ being considered -8.- yes: unrestricted - industrial - transportation - no - military - other:

name -- - Daughers of Arneri can Pioneers

s ? m t % number Park Avenue - - -

r i~,, !own Parkersburg - vicinity of state West V i rgi ni a .a.

cuwr;house, regis:ry of deeds, etc. Wood County Courthouse

r:rs :t & number #2 Government Square

city, town Parkersburg ,tate blest Virginia

City Park Reconnaissance Survey . ij -- has this property been determined eligible? -- yes 2 no -

- !{inter 1384 - federal -K state - county -- local -- -

.,itor\/ for survey records His tor i c Preservation Uni t , The Cul tural Center

*,! Charles ton - state Wes t V i rgi n i a - --

7. Description

Condition Check one Check one - excellent - deteriorated - unaltered - original site - good - ruins -x- altered moved date 91 0 -L, fair - unexposed

Dsscribm the present and original (if known) physical appearance

The Henry Cooper Log House, or the Daughters of American Pioneers Museum, i s located a t the center of Parkersburg's City Park. Originally, the cabin was located in Slate Dis t r ic t , Wood County on Elizabeth Pike about nine miles from Parkersburg. Henry Cooper, the man who bu i l t the cabin, came from eastern Virginia in 1800. He took out a government loan of several hundred acres of ground and in 1804 erected the log cabin. This s t ructure i s be1 ieved to be the f i r s t two-story log cabin in Wood County. In A u g u s t 1910, the City of Parkersburg purchased the structure from a Cooper decendent named F.L. Barnett a n d his brother-in-law M . L . Lemasters fo r $400, and sought to preserve i t as a f ine example of the early architecture of the f i r s t white s e t t l e r s i n the Parkersburg area. After being dismantled, the house was rebui l t i n the Park in September, 1910 and in 1911 was granted by the City Council to the Centennial Chapter - Daughters of American Pioneers. This chapter i s now operating the cabin as a museum.

The original cabin consisted of a large l iving room o n the f i r s t f loor , a large bedroom on the second floor and an a t t i c . In addition, there were two porches and a kitchen which was bui l t on the outside of the front porch. Central t o the house was an immense fireplace with a chimney which was made u p of stone and was bu i l t from the inside. A s ta i rcase a t the r ight side of the fireplace served as an access t o the second f loor . For vent i la t ion, the log cabin was equipped with eight windows: four on the f i r s t f loor and four on the second f loor . Two short doors served as entrances to the lower f loor .

Structural ly , the Cooper log cabin was a conventional rectangular structure measuring 20 fee t in width, 24 fee t in length and approximately 20 fee t high. Another typical character is ti^ was i t s gable-type roof which was con- prised of wood shingles. The logs tha t were used were hewed and tapered a t the end. These hewed logs were pegged or secured with dowels a t the tapered end for firmer and more s table matching. The spaces l e f t in between logs w r e packed with clay and chopped straw. With regard t o the type of wood i t s e l f , Henry Cooper used oak.

As i t stands today, the Cooper house retains i t s original appearance, except for the two porches; every part o f the house has been preserved. I t s t i l l has a large lower room, a pantry for the kitchen, one large room o n the second f loor and an L-shaped stairway. A large L-shape covered porch has been added t o replace the old porch. The chimney i s now placed on the outside instead of the inside. However, the mantle-piece and the open fireplace are s t i l l in the i r original location.

Several structural changes have been made such as the ins ta l la t ion o f steel I-beams t o provide more support t o the building. Also the spaces in between the logs are now patched with concrete instead of the traditional clay and straw material. Instead of wood shingles, the roof i s now made o f asphalt shingles. Gas pipes have a1 so been added for additional heat and plumbing for running water. The oak wood now appears darker due t o a regular creasote treatment.

OM6 No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84

United States Department of the interior National Park Sewice

National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form

Cooper Cabin, Wood County, West Virginia Cont~nuat~on sheet item number 7 Page 2

The Cooper log dwelling stands in the Parkersburg City Park o n a 55- acre t r a c t bounded by Park Avenue on the west, 23rd Street on the north, Ray Street on the eas t , and 1 7 t h Street on the south. Because of changes to the Park's landscaping and additions, over the years, of buildings and other f a c i l i t i e s to ,the Park's plan, the Cooper log dwelling does n o t stand within a potential his tor ic d i s t r i c t . As the building has achieved recognition on i t s present s i t e since 1910, i t i s impcrtant to note tha t boundary l ines ref lect ing the building's immediate environment have been described in the verbal boundary description.

8. Significance

Period - prehistoric - 1400-1 499 - 1500-1 599 - 1600-1699 - 170+1799 & 1800-1899 - 1900-

Areas of S ign i f i canceCheck and justify below - archeology-prehistoric - community planning . landscape a r c h i t e c t u r e religion - archeology-historic - conservation -- law -- science - agriculture - economics - literature - sculpture 1 architecture - education - military - social1 - art engineering - music humanitarian - commerce 7(- explorationlsettlement - philosophy - theater - communications - industry - politicslgovernment - transportation

- invention - other (specify)

Specific dates 1804 ; 1910 BuilderiArchitect Henry Cooper - or i gi nal owner

Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)

The Cooper Cabin i s a c lassic American logwork which combines hand hewing with chinking between log courses. I t s rectangular shape and gabled roof typi f ies the basic American loghouse design. The significance of hewn log construction coupled with the vis ible chinking i n between logs i s in the fac t tha t t h i s technique i s i l l u s t r a t i v e of American f ront ie r archi tecture, and an especially notable example of th i s primitive architectural idiam in West Virginia's Ohio Valley.

The Cooper log house was designed and bui l t as a two-story s t ructure. This mil t i p l e f loor design combined economy i n the use of logs and ground area, efficiency i n heating and better l ight ing. The Cooper log cabin i s the f i r s t two-story log cabin i n the Wood County area and one of the more ef f ic ien t ly designed houses.

The t ransfer and subsequent re-construction of the Cooper Log House from i t s original location t o the City Park i s one of the f i r s t conscious effor ts by the Parkersburg City Council and the Centennial Chapter of the Daughters of Pioneers a t preserving the American heritage occuring much before preservation became a national movement. The Cooper house serves a dual function as a specimen of American Architecture and a Museum for a vast collection o f re1 ics and materials from America's ear ly days. The building i s recogni zed throughout the Parkersburg area as one of the most vis ible and impressive rerimtits of the community's settlement period.

L i t t l e i s known of Henry Cooper, b u t i t i s written that he se t t led in the Slate Distr ic t of Wood County in 1800 on land with extensive stands of white and black oak, poplar, walnut, pine and gum t r ees .

Blizzard, Willcam; "Parkersburg's Pioneer Cabin", Charleston 'Gazette - Mail , June 14, 1970; pp, 4m - 5m.

(see continuation- sheet - #9, p . 2)

Acreage of nominated property acre Quadrangle name P a r k e r s b u r ~ W V LMT References

Quadrangle scale 1 : 34 - 000

Zone Easting Northing

Verbail twnmdw deac+ipti.on a d justification

Beginning a t the southeastern corner o f Park Avenue and Washington Avenue ( a t the entrance to City Park and i t s intersection with Washington Avenue) the boundary runs

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries

state pj/A -

code county code

sbte code county code

name/title --- Nimfa H . Sinpson, Senior Planner

srsanfmation -7-

PI anni ng D i v i sion/Development Dept . date January 13, 1984

street 8 nurnber One Government Square -- telephone 304/424-8558

cily ~r tow3 Parkersburg state West Virginia 26101

gate Historic Preservation Officer Certification -- The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:

- national - state A- local

As tkt? desiqnated State Historic Przservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Pubiic Law 89- SJ34 ! hereby rrominate this property for inclusion in the Natiqnal Register and certify that it has been nvaluated accofdlng to the criteria and procedures set forth by the

7 7 -

Ps-:ii Wi5tork Preservation Officer signature - --- / / /

- I , S t a t e Historic Preservation o f f i d /

NPS Form 10.900-a 0.82)

OMB Exp. 10-31-64 NO. 1M4-0018

United States Department of the interior National Park Service

ational Register of istorig: Places Inventory-Nomination Form

Cooper Cabin, Wood County, West V i r g i n i a Continuat~on sheet Item number 9 Page 2

Major B i bl i o g r a p h i c a l Refe rences

Longsner, Dew; A Log B u i l d e r s Handbook, Pennsylvania : Rodal e P r e s s , Emmaus, 1982.

Tavener , E l i z a b e t h (Mrs. Ray Tevener ) , "The Log Cabin i n t h e C i t y Park" , West V i r g i n i a Review, June 1912, pp. 144-145.

Tiano, Toni; H i s t o r y o f C i t y Park, (Unpublished R e p o r t ) , May 1980, DD. 5-6 .

West V i r g i n i a H e r i t a g e Encyclopedia , v o l . 8, Richwood, West V i r g i n i a , 1974, p. 65.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Ilnventory-Nomination Form Cooper Cabin, Wood County, West V i r g i n i a - -

Continuation sheet Item number 10 Page 2

250 f e e t along the south edge of the park d r i v e and thence 275 f e e t due south i n a s t r a i g h t l i n e t o a p o i n t i n t e r s e c t i n g w i t h the 640' contour l i n e ; thence a long the contour l i n e westward t o i t s i n t e r s e c t i o n w i t h Park Avenue, thence nor thward a long the eastern edge o f Park Avenue 350 f e e t t o the p o i n t o f o r i g i n a t Washington Avenue and the Park entrance (see sketch map).

MIGERAL WELLS 5 MI . 4 ROAD CLASSIFICATION F % v

Pr icary hjgS,vay, a!l weather, Light-duty road, all weathar, %2- --& hard S L ~ ~ Z , : C improved surface .; 3 I, '2 - S e m - d a ~ j highway, all weather. Unimproved road, fair o r ' d y

PARKERSBURG, W. VA.-OHIO S E / r ? 4 ? K E 9 S 3 U i ' G I S ' ULIAIJDANCLE

N3315-W8130/7.5

1969

A M S 4662 I SE-SERIES V852