Sunrise
National Register of Historic Places

Sunrise

Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia
Listed
July 23, 1974
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
74002008

About this property

Sunrise, also known as MacCorkle Mansion, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built in 1905 by West Virginia's ninth governor, William A. MacCorkle (1857-1930). It is a long, three-story stone mansion. Its gabled roof is dotted with dormers and chimneys and surmounts an intricate, but wide, cornice which gives the illusion that the house is smaller than it actually is. The Georgian structure rests on a bluff overlooking the Kanawha River, and from the northern portico one can see nearly the entire city of Charleston. The north side features four magnificent Doric, or neo-classic, columns which support the cornice and ashlar-finished pediment. In 1961 Sunrise Foundation, Inc., was formed for the purpose of purchasing the mansion and grounds. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The mansion was the former home of the Sunrise Museum, a science and art museum that became the Avampato Discovery Museum when it moved into the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences - West Virginia when it opened in 2003. Currently the house is privately owned and is not open to the public.

Location

746 Myrtle Rd.
Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia
38.34570, -81.64114

Categories

POLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
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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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
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
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

Crawford-Gardner House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Chesapeake and Ohio Depot
Industrial
0.2 mi
Cox-Parks House
Civil War
0.2 mi
Grosscup Road Historic District
Listed
0.2 mi
Cox-Morton House
Industrial
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Confederate Raid through Kanawha Valley (November 1864)
1864Civil War
0.3 mi
First Capture of Charleston
1861Civil War
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Sunrise listed on the National Register?

Sunrise was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 23, 1974.

What type of historic resource is Sunrise?

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

What is the period of significance for Sunrise?

The period of significance for Sunrise is recorded as the early_republic era.

Can I research the history near Sunrise?

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