Claymont Court
National Register of Historic Places

Claymont Court

Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia
Listed
July 24, 1973
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
73001908

About this property

Claymont Court, or simply Claymont, is a Georgian-style brick mansion, the grandest of several built near Charles Town, West Virginia for members of the Washington family. The current "Big House" was built in 1840 for Bushrod Corbin Washington, nephew of Supreme Court justice Bushrod Washington and grand-nephew of George Washington, to replace the 1820 main house on his plantation that burned in 1838. In 1899 author Frank Stockton purchased the house and lived there until he died in 1902. In 1943, Claymont was bought by West Virginia industrialist Robert Joseph Funkhouser, who at the same time bought the adjacent Blakeley and Cedar Lawn, other Washington descendant houses and large properties. He combined the properties into a 7,000-acre (28 km2) estate. In 1974 John G. Bennett purchased Claymont to create an intentional community. It is currently used as a retreat center by the Claymont Society for Continuous Education.

Location

Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia
39.26717, -77.90398

Categories

LITERATUREARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
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Geology
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LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
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Rivers & Rail
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Notable People
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Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Nearby Historic Sites

Blakeley
Early Republic
0.5 mi
Beverley
Colonial
1.3 mi
Beverley Boundary Increase
Listed
1.3 mi
Cedar Lawn
Early Republic
1.6 mi
Grubb, William, Farm
Listed
1.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Claymont Court listed on the National Register?

Claymont Court was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1973.

What type of historic resource is Claymont Court?

Claymont Court is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Claymont Court?

The period of significance for Claymont Court is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1820.

Can I research the history near Claymont Court?

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