Cunningham House & Outbuildings - National Historical Site

Tucked away in the hills of central West Virginia lies many Historical sites. One such site is the Cunningham Farm.   It was on this farm that most of the Battle at Bulltown took place. The Cunningham House and Outbuildings were added the National Historical Register in 1984. Also known as the Cunningham Farm, named for Henry Cunningham. This historic treasure  gives a glimpse of what Pre-Civil War life was like in the hills.  The original building was a two-pen structure, two stories high. It had a breezeway in the middle with a stone chimney at each end. The fireplace was hand hewn stone. The structure of the house was of the "dogtrot" style which was more common in the deep south. Modifications over the years with various Cunningham families have added clapboard siding as well as additions to the size and a porch.

This is the view as seen today of the Cunningham Farm and buildings. The photo was taken from the lower wooded area where the battle took place.

Beginning in the early nineteen century, seven generations of Cunningham's lived on the property. The original farm was 1,500 acres owned by Henry Cunningham. It had been parceled out to his 10 children. In 1976 the farm was purchased by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the purpose of preserving the farm, turnpike, trenches, battlefields and other historical structures.

The Cunningham Farm as seen today. The little Kanawha River runs just on the right hand side of this photo. It cannot be seen from this photo.

 As seen in the above photo,the homestead was a root cellar. It was a necessary building in that era. It served as a pantry. It was common in that era for each family to raise their own food. They needed a large storage place to keep it.  It stayed cool enough to store potatoes and apples as well as caned and dried foods.   

This granary is the oldest outbuilding on the farm. It was used to store corn to provide food for both the family and the livestock.

If you will notice the wood slates on the side are nailed an inch or so  apart. This was for ventilation. The family would hang gourds and other food from the roof to dry. The farm animals could not reach them at that height.

The barn was built in the nineteeth century. The original structure was rectangular. It had a loft and gable roof as it does now. D.W. McCauley purchased the barn in 1928. Thus the name "The McCauley Barn" as it was know as. In 1933 he added a three-stall horse shed on the left side and a cow milking shed on the right side.

 The coal & wood house is seen above. Families would gather wood for their heat and cooking stoves in the fall. They used horses to haul the wood from the woods. They then cut it and stacked it in a pile.  This practice is still quite common in West Virginia today.

Neighbors shared coal that was on each farm with others. The coal was close to the surface for access. They would move the coal by teams of horses, mules or even oxen.  

They have also built a museum on the property that houses collections such as   arrowheads. These arrowheads is thought to date back as far as  5,000 BC to the Early Archanic Era.  Also many old photos of citizens that lived in Bulltown at the time are on display.   As well as clothing that was worn in that time period. There are also many artifacts recovered from Bulltown Battlefield. 

In this photo, you can see the museum in the back left side.

This was such a beautiful place and so very peaceful the day we visited it.The Cunningham Farm was the site of most of the Battle of Bulltown.