The Glen Ferris Inn

This past week Judy and I were in Kanawha, Fayette, and Greenbrier Counties where I did science in-service sessions for the chemistry and middle school science teachers. After we finished on Wednesday in the Kanawha Valley, we headed to Fayette County. We stayed Wednesday evening in a really neat place in Glen Ferris. The Glen Ferris Inn has served guests since 1839 under the previous names of Stockton's Tavern, Stockton’s Inn, and Hawkins Hotel. It may have been built as early as 1815-as there is a 1815 newspaper article that states this-but it clearly has been serving customers since 1839 when Aaron Stockton applied for a license to operate an "ordinary" to accommodate travelers on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike as they passed through the area.

The guests who have come to the Inn have included many of the leading personalities of the young country, and include John Tyler, George Rodgers Clark, Henry Clay, John James Audubon, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Hart Benton, John Criffenden, John Breckinridge, Henry Wise, John Floyd, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley-just to name a few. Henry Clay was such a frequent visitor that the room in which he usually stayed was called the "Clay Room" by the staff and today has been remodeled into the Inn's Conference Room. The wall around the property is very interesting. It was constructed in 1910 when Mr. Bonaventura Boisa was hired to do remodeling which also included the addition of the classical columns and porches. The wall is made of local quartzite and large pieces of slag, a waste product from the nearby ferroalloy plant.

The rooms are furnished in period pieces and the food is outstanding. When you visit, you have to order their homemade rum raisin ice cream!

The Inn is located a few yards upstream from the Kanawha Falls. This scenic area has a small park just below the Kanawha Falls. The park is owned by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources and is a public fishing area. You can see the old hydroelectric power generator in the photo below with the porches of the Glen Ferris Inn to the right. The hydroelectric generator is still in use today.