Mary Conrad Cabin

Mary Conrad Cabin. . , In 1845, William Rohrbough built the front half of what is now known as the Mary Conrad Cabin on a tract of land in southern Lewis County. The land had originally been patented by George Jackson, brother to Colonel Edward Jackson of Jackson's Mill. In 1855 George Conrad purchased the cabin and added the back half., The cabin was strategically located along the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike at Bushes Mill (now Roanoke) and was used as a courier stop by both sides during the Civil War. Legend claims that soldiers William McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes, future presidents of the United States, drank from the sweep-well then located in the cabin dooryard. The future presidents were then serving in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Among others who are said to have stopped there are Union General J.A.J. Lightburn; future ambassador to England, Whitelaw Reid; and Confederate General John D. Imboden., In 1961 George Conrad's granddaughter, Mary Conrad, deeded the cabin to the state of West Virginia for use as a roadside park. In 1988 the cabin was moved to a new roadside park to make way for the Stonewall Jackson Lake. However, after the closure of the roadside parks system in West Virginia, the Mary Conrad Cabin was again looking for a new home. Through the efforts of many people, a new home was found in the Jackson's Mill Historic Area in the summer of 1994.