Rion Hall is a late Federal style house near Halltown, West Virginia

Halltown, West Virginia

Halltown is an unincorporated community along Flowing Springs Run in Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA. Halltown is located off of US 340 on West Virginia Route 230 between Charles Town and Bolivar. A few houses, a fork in the road, a tiny post office, and the large Halltown Paper Plant are the...

. Built in 1836, it consists of a three-story brick house with a two-story kitchen wing connected by a wood hyphen. The house was used as a headquarters for General Philip H. Sheridan during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

The house was built in 1836 by William Lucas

William Lucas (politician)

William Lucas was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia. He was the brother of Edward Lucas....

. Lucas was the son of Robert and Sarah Rion Lucas, and was born at Cold Spring

Cold Spring (Shepherdstown, West Virginia)

Cold Spring is a house near Shepherdstown, West Virginia, childhood home to two United States Representatives. The house was built by Edward Lucas III and his son, Robert in 1793. It is a two-story house of coursed ashlar stone masonry....

. In 1838, Lucas was elected to the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, serving a total of three terms. At William Lucas' death, the property passed to his son, Daniel Bedinger Lucas

Daniel B. Lucas

Daniel Bedinger Lucas , was a poet and lawyer from West Virginia. He was the son of United States Senator William Lucas....

, a lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and a poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, who was briefly appointed to the US Senate by the Governor of West Virginia, but not seated. With Daniel Lucas' death the property passed to Virginia Lucas, whose accidental death in 1929 left the house vacant for ten years. In 1938 the house changed hands and underwent renovation.