West Virginia Explorer
The large veranda along the front of the tavern is among the architectural highlights noted in the landmark's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1800, historic New River Gorge landmark for sale

Lodging and Real Estate

May 11, 2020

Clyde Craig

A national historic landmark built in 1800 near the northern end of the New River Gorge in West Virginia is for sale. (View the sales listing for the historic Tyree Tavern.)

The Tyree Tavern, as it has long been known, has welcomed visitors as influential as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster over the last 220 years, and it served during the Civil War as a command for Union and Confederate generals, according to historian David Sibray, the agent for the sale.

A possible sword mark scars a mantlepiece, likely carved during the tavern's occupation during the Civil War, according to earlier historians.

A sword mark scars a mantlepiece.

Sibray, who is listing the property for $200,000, says the two-story structure of hewn timber wrapped in clapboard, also known as the Halfway House, was built along the James River & Kanawha Turnpike halfway between Lewisburg and Charleston.

The tavern, which might best be described as a stagecoach inn, boasts a trove of period artifacts, including sword marks, folk art inscribed in the carpentry, and a sentinel sycamore tree believed to be more than than 200 years old itself.

Just off the Midland Trail National Scenic Highway (U.S. 60), the tavern is an ideal residential property but is also zoned for commercial development, which is notable given the proposed development of the New River Gorge National Park, Sibray says.

The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is less than two miles from here, as is Hawks Nest State Park, and I think that will factor in the property’s future, residentially or commercially, ” he said.

“Given plans for the new national park, there’s good reason to consider the property in light of tourism investment, though it’s also in a fine residential neighborhood.”

Folk art from the Civil War period recalls the tavern's use as a headquarters for the Chicago Grey Dragoons.

Folk art from the Civil War period recalls the tavern’s use as a headquarters for the Chicago Grey Dragoons.

The Ansted area is part of one of the most popular destinations for rock climbing and whitewater rafting in the eastern U.S., and, in 2015, USA Today named the nearby Endless Wall Trail the No. 1 national park trail in the nation.

The property is also fewer than five miles from the New River Gorge Bridge and seven or fewer from historic Fayetteville and some of the region’s outdoor adventure resorts.

Because it is listed on the National Register, special funding is also available to owners to restore and maintain the property, Sibray said.

“The availability of grants and tax credits is often a deciding factor in the development of these kinds of historic properties,” he said.

“Knowing that more than 50 percent of these costs will be covered is almost always a factor.”

Sibray said Foxfire Realty, which is brokering the sale, is arranging an open house for historians. For more information on the property, contact Sibray at 304-575-7390 or visit the Foxfire Realty website.

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