| Wappocomo | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Wappocomo_Romney_WV_2013_07_14_01.jpg) Wappocomo viewed from Cumberland Road (West Virginia Route 28) in July 2013. | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Eastern_Panhandle_of_West_Virginia_Location_Map.svg)  Wappocomo | |
| General information | |
| Type | Residential |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Location | Cumberland Road (West Virginia Route 28), Romney, West Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°21′37″N 78°45′10″W / 39.360345°N 78.752835°W |
| Completed | 1774 (main house) 1861 (stone addition) |
| Client | Nicholas Casey (1774) Col. Isaac Parsons (1861) |
| Owner | Peter Casey Nicholas Casey James Gregg Parsons Col. Isaac Parsons Susan Blue Parsons Garrett Williams Parsons Charles Heber Parsons Charles Heber Parsons, Jr. Charles Heber Parsons III Charles Heber Parsons IV Garrett Timothy Parsons Jr. |
Wappocomo is a late 18th-century Georgian mansion and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. It is located along Cumberland Road (West Virginia Route 28) and the South Branch Valley Railroad.
The original section of the mansion at Wappocomo was built in 1774 by Nicholas Casey (1745–1833), using bricks that had been used as ballast to stabilize ships loading tobacco in the James River. The Wappocomo property had been a part of the South Branch Survey of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron's Northern Neck Proprietary. The Parsons family, prominent in Virginia and West Virginia politics in the 18th and 19th centuries, acquired Wappocomo and continue to maintain ownership of the property into the 21st century.
Wappocomo was involved in two slavery-related disputes that caused friction between the governments of Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1788, Nicholas Casey purchased a freed slave by the name of John, who had been kidnapped in Pennsylvania and returned into slavery in Virginia. Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin demanded that the Governor of Virginia punish the three Virginia residents responsible for the abduction and re-enslavement of a freedman, however, Virginia's governor cited the absence of such a clause in the United States Constitution. In August 1855, a fugitive slave named Jacob Green escaped from Wappocomo with several other slaves to Pennsylvania. Col. Isaac Parsons (1814–62) and his nephews went north to pursue the escapees, resulting in the arrest of his nephew, James "Zip" Parsons III (1831–93). Parsons' trial caused a further dispute between the states of Virginia and Pennsylvania over the latter's refusal to execute the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
The mansion at Wappocomo is unique among the historic residences along the South Branch Potomac River, in that its formal façade faces toward the road and the western flanks of South Branch Mountain rather than toward the river. The original 1774 portion of the mansion is a square two-story Georgian-style structure, an architectural style prevalent in Virginia at the time of Wappocomo's construction. The bricks used to build the 1774 structure were manufactured in England, and used as ballast to stabilize ships loading tobacco in the James River. The interior of the 1774 structure contains a grand stairway in the center hall and all the original handmade woodworking. A stone addition to the mansion with two stories of deep verandas was completed in 1861. The principal passenger depot for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, Wappocomo Station, is located at the farm.