Stump Hotel

Stump Hotel. . , . In 1883, A. H. "Dick" Stump (who would later become Grantsville's first Mayor) and his wife, Druscilla Ball Stump, built a house, a block from the Courthouse, on Main Street. , . The Stumps tuned their home into a hotel by 1885, and in 1897, constructed a two-story, 10-12 room addition on the back, giving the hotel an "L" shaped look. , . This expansion was necessitated by an increase in population and economic activity in Grantsville, including timbering, oil and gas exploration, the Cabot Carbon Black Factory (largest in the world at the time), and a booming gas boat building industry. Grantsville was a commercial hub in the Little Kanawha Valley. , . Following the deaths of Dick and Druscilla, Miss Nettie Stump, their daughter, operated the hotel until 1919. Nettie decided to "take down her sign" and the hotel reverted to a private residence. , . In the 1930's, the addition was detached, moved to the back of the lot, and turned to face Mill Street where it began a new life as a boarding house. This structure was dismantled in the late 1950's. , . In the years following World War II, the Stump home itself was remodeled into offices on both floors and an apartment. The exterior was changed with the addition of shingles, brick porch posts, and an outside stairway. , . Eventually the building fell into disuse. , . In 1999, through the efforts of Congressman Alan Mollohan and the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, the hotel, the adjacent Quality Shop, and the back of those two properties to Mill Street, were acquired by the Calhoun County Historical Society from Dr. Charles Albert Stump, great-grandson of Dick and Druscilla, to provide the county with a museum. , . The first phase was to stabilize and preserve the hotel exterior, including: removing the post-World War II remodeling, putting on a new roof, porch, and siding, and doing foundation work. , . In 2015, the Society began the process of restoring the hotel interior, beginning with the kitchen, dining room, and lobby. Society members discovered layers of original wallpaper, 1890's newspapers, muslin wall covering, "smudging" of the downstairs ceilings, and wall boards as wide as 15 inches.