Where Charm And History Meet Midd

associated the Weaver name with its storied history,” she wrote.

As such, Hammer said the original plan for the home’s restoration was to once again see it as a residence for one of the Weaver descendants, with it being made open to the public for tours several times a year to satisfy the requirements for public grants. But the timetable for the restoration combined with the advanced age of the family member who intended to live there makes that plan seem less likely now, Hammer said, and more public uses are being considered for the property.

Now Hammer and Jamila Fleet, the chair of the local NAACP chapter’s economic development committee, are working with the eight Weaver descendants who co-own the property to apply for newly available federal historic preservation grant money and to raise public support through a GoFundMe campaign, which has secured more than $6,500 of their $7,500 goal so far.

In a June 22 letter from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History supporting grant applications for the home, Susan Price, the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, wrote that much of the property’s historic value lay in the fact that it still belongs to the descendants of one of the town’s early African-American civil rights activists.

“Instead of being detached from the Weaver family during times of economic hardship through a sale to new owners, it retains the memories of family and community members who have

Though no plans are firm, Fleet envisions the restored Weaver-Gillison House will serve as an African-American cultural center. The Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the town have many ways for visitors to experience the local Civil War history, she said, but very few options for those interested in the town’s post-Civil War role in the advancement of African Americans.

She said a recent PBS special brought a lot of visitors to town who were interested in Storer College, but its remaining buildings belong to the National Park Service and are not normally open to the public.

“Clearly there’s demand for that type of information, and when people come here, I thought this could be a place that could be open, where people could experience that knowledge,” she said. “It’s far way from being open, but ultimately what funders want to know is if there is a bigger vision and how could you sustain that.”

In addition to the newly uncovered documents regarding George Weaver’s involvement with the persecuted missionary founders of Storer College in the 1870s, his living family preserves a well-remembered history of a thriving African-American community that used to live on the border of Harpers Ferry and Bolivar.