Elkins Historic Landmarks Commission

04/06/2026

Cheers to historic preservation! 🍻🏛️
Do you own a historic building in West Virginia? Whether you’re looking to restore a downtown storefront or renovate your historic home, there are significant tax credits available to help you save money while saving history.
Join us for a WV Historic Tax Credit Workshop where experts will break down how these credits work, who qualifies, and how to get your project started.
The Details:
📅 Date: Thursday, April 9th
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Big Timber Brewing, Elkins, WV

Come for the info, stay for a pint, and let’s keep Elkins’ history alive together!
Tag a friend who loves old buildings! 👇

02/10/2026

If you’ve ever walked past the corner of Davis Avenue and Fourth Street in Elkins, you’ve stood in the shadow of a true architectural heavyweight. The Old Elkins YMCA isn't just a building; it’s a monument to the era when Elkins was a booming hub of industry and ambition. 🏛️🚂

🏛️ The Architecture: A Mott Masterpiece
Completed in 1908, this landmark was designed by the prolific architect Charles A. Mott. If you think it looks exceptionally sturdy, you’re right—it was built to last centuries.

The "Mott" Style: Mott was known for his mastery of the Neo-Classical and Renaissance Revival styles. He utilized red brick with heavy stone lintels and sills, giving the building a sense of permanence and civic importance.

The Massive Portico: The most iconic feature is the grand entrance with its soaring columns. It was designed to look like a "Temple of Youth," welcoming the young men working on the railroads and in the timber mills.

A "City Within a City": For its time, the layout was revolutionary. It housed a gymnasium, a swimming pool (a luxury in 1908!), a bowling alley, a library, and dormitory rooms. It was a one-stop shop for "body, mind, and spirit."

📜 A Gift to the Community
The building was largely made possible by the generosity of Senator Stephen B. Elkins and Henry Gassaway Davis. They wanted to provide a wholesome environment for the influx of workers arriving in the "Land of the Tygart."

For decades, the YMCA was the social epicenter of Elkins. From basketball games that defined local rivalries to the quiet sanctuary of its reading rooms, it was the place where the community’s character was forged.

Where it stands today: While its hardly looks like the building it once was, the building remains a vital part of the Elkins historic district. Its preservation is a testament to the city’s respect for its roots and the timeless design of Charles Mott.

Next time you pass by, take a look at the intricate brickwork and those massive columns. They don’t build them like this anymore! 💙🏘️

09/30/2023

Attention, teachers: are you interested in an 8th grade West Virginia history-focused resource? West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's "Our Life In The Coal Camps Teaching Trunk" includes artifacts and lessons with a standards-aligned curriculum, and is just about ready to make its way into an 8th grade classroom!

Candace, a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member currently serving with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, is helping with this project. Thank you, Candace!

Contact [email protected] for more information on a Teaching Trunk.

Check out existing lesson plans for 4th, 8th, and 11th grade:
wvminewars.org/lesson-plans 📚

09/30/2023

We have been nominated for "Best Environmental Organization" in the 2023 Best of West Virginia Awards! You can vote once per day per category (find us under "Culture"). Vote at https://wvliving.com/best-of-west-virginia-2023
We are proud to conserve the landscapes, assets, and communities that reflect our Forest Heritage. Thanks for your support!

09/30/2023

09/30/2023

KUMP CORNER: Visit Kump House This October

Kump Education Center will be open from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. every Tuesday in October (except Halloween) and on Forest Festival Thursday, Oct. 5. This is a great opportunity to see the historic preservation work done at Kump House to bring the 98-year-old building back into service. The Kump House was busy when the Forest Festival began in the 1930s, and several family members were active volunteers on various committees.

Over the years Cyrus Kump and cousins, Henry Harness and Phil Harness, served as directors of the Forest Festival. Edna’s sister, Mildred Scott Smith, actively helped create and maintain the elegant dignity of the queen’s court. Suzie Kemp Kump continued those traditions that bring polite and gracious behavior into the 21st Century.

In the 1930s, the Kump property was an eleven-acre farm stretching from Seneca Road to the railroad track across the hill on the south side of Highway 33/48. The Kump family was active in 4-H, and the children helped to care for chickens, cows, and horses. There was a large garden big enough to produce food and help sustain the extended family. Also when necessary, the Kumps shared their home nephews and nieces who had lost a parent.

When the last of Governor Kump’s children died, she left the house to the City of Elkins. Now, the Kump house serves many educational purposes:
1. KEC offers Math Magic, SOLE Summer School, and Targeted Tutoring to help elementary students reduce their COVID-19 learning gap. Better school performance is a real attraction for young families moving to town.
2. KEC is home to the City Tree Nursery, Tree Walk, & Wetland Conservation Area. These assets are useful for Davis & Elkins College Sustainability Studies and local environmental education. These initiatives are excellent ways to support local efforts to plant trees, improve water quality, and combat Global Warming.
3. KEC developed a Wild, Wonderful Woods exhibit and lecture series, making local people more aware of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area [AFNHA]. This new national designation is something many local business leaders need to understand better because it offers great potential for business opportunities in Monongahela National Forest based in Elkins.
4. KEC focuses on projects to increase international understanding such as our Spanish Camp, Saudi Arabian Travel Log, and a Multicultural House Tour for YMCA Day Campers. We believe learning more about the world is the best way to increase the possibility of doing business with other countries.

We hope to promote community pride in Elkins by making our working wetland more attractive. We have planted many trees and hope to build boardwalks in the wetland. This fall we plan to have small-group volunteer days to remove invasive species: multiflora rose, honeysuckle, and teasel.

09/25/2023

Check out the upcoming programming at the Discovery Center during the Mountain State Forest Festival!
More information about each of these is available in our Events tab.

09/25/2023

Elkins downtown businesses are graciously sponsoring a FREE downtown Trick or Treat!! Can’t wait to see all the fun costumes!! See you there!!
Saturday, October 28th - NOON-2pm

09/25/2023

Kump Wetland Restoration Committee

The first meeting of the Kump Wetland Restoration Committee was held September 14 in the Optimum Learning Lab. This group will help plan to improve the wetland that fills the south half of the Kump Education Center City property where horses once stood in the old pasture at the corner of Randolph Avenue and Highway 33 across from Kroger.

Older citizens recall the rural past when healthy horses grazed peacefully in the pasture surrounded by white crisscross fences. In the first half of the 20th century, hens laid eggs in the chicken house and cows were milked in the barn, but times have changed. The old Kump farm is near one of the busiest intersections in the WV highlands.

Thousands of gallons of rainwater run off the surface of blacktopped parking lots at Valley Health and other businesses including where Hiawatha’s statue watches some 37,000 vehicles go by daily. Pipes carry all that water under the road to fill the old Kump pasture. The muddy pasture or the urban wetland is no longer a healthy place for horses.

The Kump Wetland Restoration Committee is considering various goals and objectives. First we need to create a plan to protect the Kump House and Barn from wetland flooding and erosion. The most important part of that plan needs to be finding ways to ensure that water does not back up on the east side of highways 219/250 and flood the pasture. That happened in the summer of 2011 when a fallen tree clogged the drainage area near the Kroger gas station and a rapid downpour of rain filled the pasture to the fences.

Next, the committee needs to understand and teach the public about the importance of an effective urban wetland for the protection of both air and water quality. By supporting our urban wetland we foster native plants that serve as “the liver for the river.” These plants naturally purify the water as it passes through the wetland.

Within this process, the water helps capture carbon in the air to reduce global warming. We were made aware of the importance of this process when we attended the last training Elizabeth Byers did with state employee who need to monitor wetlands. We could see that the soil deep in the wetland was black, and we realized that such decayed material is like peat that people have dried and used to build fires for centuries in the British Isles.

We hope to promote community pride in Elkins by making our working wetland more attractive. We can offer educational opportunities for beekeeping, plant identification, and water testing, and we will encourage Eagle Scout projects to build possible boardwalks, bridges, and fences. This fall we are planning small-group outings to remove invasive species like multiflora rose, honeysuckle, and teasel.

09/23/2023

Did you or your friends miss coming to see the Kump House this summer? Don't be sad! Come this fall and take time to walk around the grounds on the Tree Walk and explore the newly opened upper floors.