Library into a bed and breakfast and community event center while restoring the style of the 1800s.
Pictured are, from left, Dayne Davis from the Seneca Rocks Regional Development Authority, Jared
and Katie VanMeter, and Elizabeth Scott from the Pendleton County Chamber of Commerce.
By Stephen Smoot
Landmarks serve many purposes. They are usually a prominent point in an area’s geography, easily identified by sight, used to give directions to other places nearby.
But landmarks can also have a temporal role as well. They store memories of the community associated with it, or with the people who were identified with it.
The William McCoy House has watched history pass since before the Civil War from its position on the little knoll across from the courthouse. It carries with it through its historical journey memories of the McCoy family and all the good they brought to Franklin and Pendleton County. It also served as the home of institutions such as the county library and town office.
And in recent years, Jared and Katie VanMeter have lovingly worked to not only restore its aesthetic grandeur, but also its role as a center of town and county life.
As the family has worked to painstakingly bring back the look and feel of the past in the house, it has gradually opened it up to more events, in many cases adding its own particular contributions to established local fairs and festivals.
On May 4, the VanMeters welcomed family, friends, and supporters to the Historic William McCoy House for a grand opening. The slicing of the ribbon means that the VanMeters are ready to start pursuing their plans and dreams for the house fulfilling its potential as a community center and also as a business.
“Our goal,” said Katie VanMeter, “is to create a living history” that “teaches people, but entertains at the same time.”
So far, that has meant inviting the community to old fashioned holiday celebrations for the entire family, such as during Halloween and Christmas.
Also, for the first time, they will soon start their bed and breakfast operation there.
This, however, does not mean that they are done with restoration work. “Now that we’ve finished the first phase,” VanMeter explained, “I’m thinking about the outside more. We want it to be more historically based.”
Changes could include removing a small hill installed by the town at one point and adding a gazebo for outdoor festivities. The VanMeters are researching what gardens and yards looked like in the area in the mid to late 1800s to give the exterior as authentic an historical feel as the inside.
Additionally, they have plans to introduce themed tea parties, one example being an event based on the popular “Bridgertons” program on Netflix. They also want to put on dinner club type events as well as hosting guest speakers to talk about the history, culture, and natural wonders of the area.
Many events also take place during the seasonal family oriented festivals that take place in Franklin. The VanMeters, who are also active with the convention and visitors bureau as well as the Warner Theater, say they are always open to creative ways to employ the house to support these efforts.
She also shared a vision of inviting both Confederate and Union Civil War reenactors to have an encampment at the house and even possibly perform some type of small reenactment.
VanMeter shared her delight in her and her husband making these events as authentic as possible, which includes “dressing up in period clothes, promenade, playing croquet, having the experience.”
She expressed gratitude for the help of the Pendleton County Historical Society, including Richard Ruddle, Dwayne Borror, and Paula Mitchell, for helping the family learn the big picture and finer points of how to portray Pendleton County life from a century and a half ago.
VanMeter shared that those who have come to events often ask, “Is this place haunted?” She explained that her answer is always “I’ve never felt so welcome in a place in my life. That house wants people to be here. I’m happy to do what this house wants.”
Of course the VanMeters, a family name that hearkens back to the earliest settlements in the South Branch valleys, have goals for the house that align with the family for whom it is named.
Dyer Anderson and Eric Hedrick’s work on individuals and families prominent in Pendleton County history includes a section on William McCoy Sr. It describes his brilliant career of public service as a county prosecutor and as a seven-term member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
McCoy was also the founder of the Pendleton Times newspaper that his family so carefully and thoughtfully crafted and published for decades.
Since McCoy was a man dedicated to serving the community in as many effective ways as possible, it is only right that the VanMeters have followed his example in their own way, using the McCoy House to uplift, educate, and entertain Pendleton County and those who visit.
