Graceland
The historic Graceland mansion of Elkins was named in honor of the young Grace Davis, who was the daughter of Senator Henry Gassaway Davis, a millionaire who co-founded the city of Elkins. Graceland was built as a Victorian style vacation home for the Davis family around 1894.
The mansion to the left of it is called Halliehurst, which Grace’s sister built as her own summer residence. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis is featured on the “Iron Horse” of Elkins, located next to the Davis Presbyterian Church, on Randolph Avenue, or US Route 219. One story about him is that the Senator did not allow popular music to be played on Sundays. Because he was tone deaf, some of his family adapted a few new songs to the same rhythm as old hymns, and apparently he never noticed the difference. The halls of Graceland were known to have some interesting variations of the “new” songs of the early 1900s.
Grace was the Senator’s youngest daughter. She was killed in a car crash at the cusp of the Great Depression, in 1931. One of the staff of Graceland, Kaila St. Louis, noted that this historic photo had come to Graceland early in 2012 after someone discovered it in a dumpster somewhere on Snowshoe Mountain.
Historic Graceland has been fully restored and is currently used as an Inn, Retreat Center, and a restaurant. http://www.gracelandinn.com/main/Graceland_Dining.html
When traveling through Elkins, be sure to take in a view of Graceland, with its impressive stonework used in the chimneys and the original stained glass windows. For an idea of how far the Davis property once extended, look for the original stone wall to your left that was built as a part of the Henry G. Davis property, located to the left of US 219 as you enter Elkins from the North.
Category: Deep Creek Lake to Elkins
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