Rogers House

About this property

Rogers House is a historic home located at Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia. It was originally built about 1857 and is one of the last remaining residences from this time period in downtown Morgantown. The building is a two-story, five bay brick and wood frame dwelling in the Classical Revival style. The original section of the house is in brick, whereas the addition, designed by noted Morgantown architect Elmer F. Jacobs and built in 1905-1906 is wood frame. Jacobs is also responsible for the interior design. It sits on a rough-faced coursed ashlar stone foundation. It features a front porch with four sets of triple wooden, Tuscan order columns. It was the home of the Rogers family, pioneer settlers of Morgantown. It has been the home of West Virginia University's Campus Ministry Center since 1984. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is located in the Downtown Morgantown Historic District, listed in 1996. The property on which the Rogers House is located passed through multiple owners before the building was constructed. The house was built sometime between 1855, when Alpheus Wells purchased the property from William E. Staggers, and 1868, when Alpheus sold the property to Thomas Rogers. The National Register nomination form dates the building to circa 1857. In the 1850s, the area around the property was undeveloped. The Rogers House was one of the first large residences built at the outer edge of Morgantown's contemporary city limits. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Morgantown witnessed an intense period of industrialization and demographic growth that engulfed the Rogers House. It currently sits between downtown Morgantown and West Virginia University's downtown campus. The Rogers family were pioneer settlers of Morgantown. John Rogers was a prominent local businessman who owned a large amount of property as well as saw, grist, and paper mills. John Rogers’ son, Thomas Rogers, inherited his property. Thomas Rogers was active in the local Escopalian. According to Earl Core's The Monongalia Story, the Trinity Episcopal Parish was organized at Thomas Roger's house in 1876. Thomas Rogers’ son, George Rogers, inherited the property when Thomas Rogers died in 1894. George Rogers was also active in the Episcopal Church and a businessman. He is known for developing the Woodburn and East Morgantown neighborhoods. George Rogers, his wife Louise Clemson Brown, and their daughters, Mary Washington and Louise Clemson, moved into the Rogers House in the late 1890s. The Rogers family rented rooms to students, which was a common practice at the time because there were no university dormitories.

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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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