A structure which counted 171 birthdays, withstood some of the ravages of the Civil War, provided a home for a coal baron and was built as a tavern for weary travelers in 1824 was gutted by fire on New Year's Day.
Historically referred to as the Old Stone House, the structure was located on Old Stone House Road at Ravenseye, near Clifftop in Fayette County.
Even before the old structure was built in 1824, history was made on its path. In 1774, General Andrew Lewis led his men to Point Pleasant along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike and he passed through here on his westward march.
The Old Tyree Cemetery is perched on a hillside overlooking the Old Stone House. Tombstone etchings verify the historical aspects of the area and its inhabitants.
Some historical descriptions written of the Old Stone House noted that native stone was used throughout the two-story building and attic structure, and it contained 13 rooms. On the front stood a 45-foot-long wooden porch which extended the entire length of the house.
It was noted that all of the lumber used in the house was whipsawed and hand-dressed. In some places wooden pins served in place of metal nails, and all of the nails used were made by hand, one at a time, in the local blacksmith shop, it has been told by history.
In its early days, stage coaches traveling the James River and Kanawha Turnpike stopped at the Old Stone House with many noted passengers, among them Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and Matthew Fontaine Maury. History also tells us that on one occasion when Maury was a passenger on the stage, it was overturned near the house and he broke his collar bone. While recuperating, Maury wrote the greater part of his book, "Physical Geography of the Sea," which dealt with sea winds and currents. This book was said to have been written in 1855.
Some other history facts about the old house included the fact that during the Civil War some of the rooms on the first floor were used as an operating room. Notable persons of the Civil War era who supposedly slept in the Old Stone House included General Robert E. Lee, Governor John Floyd of Virginia, Union General William Rosecrans and two other Civil War officers who become presidents of the United States, William McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes.
After the Civil War and a prospecting adventure began for coal which eventually led to opening of the mines, it was said that Joseph Beury lived in the house for some time. He came to the area from Pennsylvania and opened the first coal mine on New River, the old Quinnimont mine. He later built his own mansion at Beaury, the coal town named in his honor.
During the 1960s, the Old Stone House contained a museum with Russell Lego as the curator. Some of the artifacts included the first typewriter in Fayette County, Indian arrow heads, guns, fossils, bottles, documents and lumber script. That was the time when the Rev. Shirley Donnelly owned the house and used it strictly as a historic landmark.
It was open to visitors and a historical marker at the junction of U. S. Route 60 and W. Va. Route 10 directed visitors to it.
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