Preservation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Local Programs Receive Federal Preservation Funds

The National Park Service (NPS) announced last week nearly $10 million in Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants to 13 programs in 12 states.

These grants mark the fifth year of funding for the program honoring the late Paul Bruhn, who served as executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont for nearly 40 years.

West Virginia was the only state to receive two grants totaling $1.5 million.

The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, Inc. will receive $750,000 for its Fund for Historic Schools, and the Wheeling National Heritage Corporation will receive $750,000 for its Wheeling Revitalization Subgrant Program.

The grants are intended to support economic development through the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country.

Grants awarded in this round will allow organizations to develop programs and select individual projects in their communities for preservation projects.

'You Can't Hurt Anything That Can't Be Repaired'- W.Va. Historian, Musician Jim Costa

Old time musician Jim Costa gave a performance at the West Virginia Humanities Council Wednesday night. It was part of the West Virginia Folklife Program.

Among his many achievements, Costa was in the film Matewan back in 1987. Over his lifetime he’s collected enough historic instruments, clocks, hatchets and other tools to fill a small museum.

Variations of apple butter churners from Jim’s Collection

26-year-old folklorist Zoe van Buren, from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, spent her summer last year documenting Costa’s legacy.

“And I think that actually, what he’s accomplished is more than what a single museum can do,” said van Buren, a native of New York City. She says she’s drawn to learning about the way people used to build buildings, cook food, and play music in years past.

“Tradition is always about the next generation, not just about the last one,” she said. “It doesn’t mean just that from the past, it’s the way that we interpret and use the past to guide us into the future.”

One of the things that impressed her the most about Jim Costa was his skill at fixing old things, like clocks and instruments.

“You can’t hurt anything that can’t be repaired,” Costa said during Wednesday night’s presentation.

Jeffersonian Springs Resort in W.Va. Sells for $560,000

$560,000 could have bought you the historic Sweet Springs Resort Thursday morning. The property, built in 1791, was auctioned off to a new owner, Ashby Berkley, along with equipment and facilities to bottle the famous Sweet Springs mineral water.

The purchase of Sweet Springs has a lot of meaning for people in Monroe County.

Pauline Baker was born in the community of Sweet Springs in 1910. She passed away just a few months after an interview when she recalled how guests from all over the world once came to visit the great Jeffersonian Hall. “I used to go up to the ballroom and watch them dance; it’s beautiful in there.”

The Sweet Springs resort Baker grew up next to closed in the 1930s and was sold to the state of West Virginia in 1941. The state renovated it as a home for the elderly in 1945. The facility closed in 1991, and the property has stood empty since. Some attempts to renovate the property have so far have failed or stalled.

Craig Mohler, editor of the Monroe Watchman, says about 200 people showed up to watch the auction on Thursday. There was a lot of excitement in the air as the historic hotel passed into new hands.

“There’s just a lot of sentiment about the place. People want to see something happen there. They don’t want to see it stand empty, and so there’s definitely a lot of community interest in it,” said Mohler.

And many people in Monroe County are hoping that the resort will re-open one day– in some form. Not only because it may bring more jobs, but also because it reminds them of their history, when visitors from all over the world used to come to southern West Virginia for their vacations.