Boyd Avenue Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Boyd Avenue Historic District is a residential district comprising 80 houses in Martinsburg, West Virginia
. The district includes the circa 1776 Aspen Hall
and the associated Mendenhall's Fort of circa 1756. The district extends along Boyd Avenue 1500 feet (457.2 m) from West Race Street to Aspen Hall. The older section of the street is a single 40 feet (12.2 m) right-of-way, while the newer portion is boulevarded, with a grassed median between two separate roads. The older section is significant from about 1888 to 1914, while the newer portion is significant from 1914 to the 1950s.
Houses reflect a variety of styles, ranging from Italianate and Colonial Revival through Bungalow
and 1950s ranch and Cape Cod styles. A mixture of wood and masonry construction is present, typically two stories high. Lots are typically narrow and deep. House forms, independent of style, range from the I-house
in older sections to American Foursquare
, to 1½ story Cape Cod and 1 story ranch houses.
The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2007.
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
. The district includes the circa 1776 Aspen Hall
Aspen Hall (Martinsburg, West Virginia)
Aspen Hall, also known as the Edward Beeson House, was built beginning in 1771 as a stone house in the Georgian style in what would become Martinsburg, West Virginia. The first portion of the house was a 20 by 20 foot "fortified stone home", 2½ stories tall., in coursed rubble limestone built in...
and the associated Mendenhall's Fort of circa 1756. The district extends along Boyd Avenue 1500 feet (457.2 m) from West Race Street to Aspen Hall. The older section of the street is a single 40 feet (12.2 m) right-of-way, while the newer portion is boulevarded, with a grassed median between two separate roads. The older section is significant from about 1888 to 1914, while the newer portion is significant from 1914 to the 1950s.
Houses reflect a variety of styles, ranging from Italianate and Colonial Revival through Bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
and 1950s ranch and Cape Cod styles. A mixture of wood and masonry construction is present, typically two stories high. Lots are typically narrow and deep. House forms, independent of style, range from the I-house
I-house
The I-house is a vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period onward. The I-house was so named in the 1930s by Fred Kniffen, a specialist in folk architecture who identified and analyzed the type in his 1936 study of Louisiana house types...
in older sections to American Foursquare
American Foursquare
The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was...
, to 1½ story Cape Cod and 1 story ranch houses.
The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2007.