Hurricane's Rappold House is Haunted!

I have this weird knack of coming across really weird information in a variety of sources.  For example, earlier this week I posted a blog about a haunted house in St. Albans that I had learned about not from any paranormal site or book...but from a tour pamphlet published by the local historical society.  Today, while waiting to use the library's ONE working Microfilm reader, I stumbled upon a book on the history of Hurricane, WV.  And I was pleasantly surprised to see a house that I actually have some history with noted, along with its ghost stories, for posterity!  That house is the Oxley-Rappold-Jarvis House.

Here's a transcript of the article as it appears in the 1994 edition of the History of Hurricane. This was written by Phyllis Jarvis, former owner of the home.  I'm leaving this piece in transcript form until I can take the time to properly research this location:

A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER

The large house at 2707 Main Street was purchased by Phyllis Williams Jarvis in October, 1971.  For many years, it had been known as the "Rappold House."  E.F. Rappold purchased the house in 1925, known at that time as the "Oxley House."  He used the porch for his barber shop one summer.

During the years the Oxleys were owners, it is said that Mr. Oxley built the upstairs sun parlor for his son who was ill.

The land where the house stands was originally owned by Collis P. Huntington, the famous railroad tycoon.  The property was sold to the Central Land Company around 1888, but was purchased by M.L. Dunfee in 1903 and sold to John J. Henderson in 1910.  The property sold again around 1911 to Virginia and Robert Robert and then to Leonard Oxley in 1912.

The house has been preserved as near to the original design as possible.  The old fireplaces and mantels are still in the home, and in most cases, the high ceilings and chandeliers still exist.

The original house has had several additions, one win and the sun porch.  There are no records of any deaths within the house when one owner died, her coffin was brought in through a window because the staircase bannister prevented large objects from being brought in through the front door.

Several boards were removed during renovations and revealed a lady's high-top laced shoe, a whiskey bottle, and a small broken amber vase, in need of repair.

AND, the house has GHOSTS!  Strange sounds have been witnessed and sightings of two live-in ghosts, a young woman in white and a small boy.  The small boy has been seen in the children's bedrooms touching various toys.  The presence of these ghosts appear to be more in the second story of the house.  A few strange encounters have included objects thrown down the stairs and a room being locked from the inside with old-fashioned hook locks.  There appears to be no real danger so all live happily ever after.

Joseph and Sarah Jarvis purchased the house in August, 1991.

Long-time readers to Theresa's Haunted History may know that my boyfriend, Aaron, grew up in Hurricane...and just happens to be very good friends with this family!  Several years ago, thanks to these connections, we were invited over to the home and given the full haunted history tour, details of which coincide with those mentioned in the article!  Words cannot describe how truly beautiful this house is on the inside, and unfortunately, the only picture I have doesn't do the outside justice, either.

I've already begun preliminary research onto the former owners of this house, and will update when appropriate.  For those updates, remember you can follow Theresa's Haunted History on Face Book!