News
Historic House In West Virginia Destroyed By Fire
By: Associated Press
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A fire has destroyed a 182-year-old house in Wood County, West Virginia that once sheltered Confederate soldiers.
The house in Belleville was declared a total loss following Tuesday night's fire.
Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Stewart told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel that an inspection showed the house couldn't be reconstructed. The owner decided to have the house demolished with a controlled burn to prevent it from being a danger.
The cause of the fire couldn't be determined.
Local author and Civil War historian Brian Kesterson said the house was built by the Wells family in 1832. The current owners, the Graham family, are descendants of the Wells family.
Kesterson says the Wells family hid Confederate soldiers on the property following the June 1863 Battle of Buffington Island in Meigs County, Ohio.