SAT., OCT 7 thru MON., OCT 9, 2023
We traveled 150 miles south from Columbus, Ohio to Blue Heron Landing in Cottageville, WV. The following morning we woke up to 38 degree temps! This is a rural area of West Virginia. Quiet and pretty.
West Virginia marks the 45th state that we’ve visited in our tiny home! The only states remaining are Wisconsin, Delaware, Rhode Island, Alaska and Hawaii. Of those, Wisconsin is the sticker we still want to get! We’ve stayed in RI and Delaware previously just not with our tiny home. We’re ok with not including those stickers on our map. They’re so small you can’t see them anyway! lol. We won’t be crossing the Pacific Ocean with our tiny home so Hawaii won’t be happening, although it’s still on our bucket list to visit! And we’ve been fortunate to visit Alaska via a cruise and are planning on doing that again in a few years but, again, we won’t be driving to Alaska. That leaves Wisconsin which we’re hoping to visit in 2027!
Columbus OH to Cottageville WV
On Sunday, October 8, (2023), we headed into the small town of Ripley (population 3,064) located about 8 miles from the campground. First, we visited the Staats Mill Covered Bridge. It was built in 1887 and named for the Enoch Staats’ mill. Jackson County Court paid a local builder $904 to erect the “long” truss wooden superstructure. Then stone abutments and approaches were later added making the total cost of the original 97 ft. bridge $1,724. In 1983 it was moved to its current location in Ripley and restored. Cost? $104,000. The price you pay for saving history! There was also a beautiful old wooden house on the same property as the bridge called “Heritage House.” It’s here to “honor the early settlers who turned forests into grain fields, built comfortable homes, and established schools and churches.”
We visited a local artist’s gallery (with a bakery/cafe on the premises) and lastly visited the Jackson County Courthouse that was built in 1918. It was closed on a Sunday so no exploring on the inside. Ripley’s claim-to-fame that has an ick factor: They were the sight of the last public execution in West Virginia on 12/16/1897. So many spectators converged on Ripley creating a “carnival-like atmosphere” that a senator sponsored legislation that ended public executions. A better claim-to-fame for Ripley is that it hosts the Mountain State Art & Craft Fair every July 4th weekend since 1963. It’s considered one of the best small town craft fairs in the country!
Staats Mill Covered Bridge
On Monday, Columbus Day, we headed into Charleston, WV. First we visited the Craik-Patton House, which was owned by the grandfather of famed WWII General George Patton. The backstory is that it was built in 1834 in the “Greek Revival style” by James Craik, grandson of George Washington’s personal physician. It was sold to George Smith Patton, grandfather of famed WWII General George Patton, and retained by the family until the end of the Civil War. It’s been moved a few times and now calls Charleston home.
A few notables in the home:
- It has the largest collection of “Diamond Point” glass in the country at 274 pieces.
- It also has a Victorian Hair Wreath on display. I’d never seen one before. I did some investigating… They were a popular form of mourning and remembrance, typically made from the hair of deceased loved ones. They were often crafted into delicate designs, like flowers or floral sprigs, and woven around wire. The hair could be used to create various shapes and patterns incorporating beads, buttons, or seeds into the design.
- The tiniest sewing machine I ever saw was on display built between 1865-1878.
- Lastly there was a winter kitchen built outside the main structure of the home.
Also on the same property was the Rosedale Estate, built in 1796. It’s considered a log house rather than a log cabin. It was opened special for us to tour thanks to Joe’s persuasive ways! Because of some legalize, it’s not on the historic register so does not have certain funding available for restoration. The roof alone will cost $30,000 to fix! It’s in rough shape at the moment.
From there we moved on to see the State Capitol. It was empty on Columbus Day but nice that it was still open for us to wander through. One interesting tidbit… While Abraham Lincoln was indeed elected as our 16th President in 1860, he received fewer than 2,000 votes in Virginia, most of those came from present day West Virginia. He repaid those votes by playing the decisive role in the admission of West Virginia to the Union signing the statehood bill on December 31st, 1862 and six months later West Virginia became our 35th state.
We also got to visit the Governor’s mansion. The Georgian colonial-style mansion has been the official home of West Virginia’s State governor since 1926. It cost $203,000 and was built of “colonial Harvard brick.”
A fun few days exploring West Virginia but tomorrow we move on!
