Evans, John, House

The John Evans House is significant in the area of exploration/settlement, as one of the earliest homes erected in the area that would become the city of Martinsburg and for architecture, as a well-preserved eighteenth-century dwelling executed in native limestone laid in a coursed rubble pattern. As noted in Section 7, the property retains integrity.

In 1730, the Governing Council of the Virginia colony issued a directive that this section of the colony, then part of Spotsylvania County, be settled. As settlers came west, a new county, Orange, was erected in 1734, followed four years later by Frederick County. In 1772, Berkeley County was erected from a portion of Frederick County. The second oldest county in West Virginia, the new county was named for Norbourne Berkeley, Baron Boutetort, who was the Colonial Governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. Martinsburg, the county seat, was established in 1778 by General Adam Stephen who named it in honor of Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin, a nephew of Lord Fairfax. Martinsburg remained an unincorporated settlement until 1868. Throughout its first century and one-half, Martinsburg was surrounded by a largely agrarian landscape dotted by farms, large and small, which were anchored primarily by modest farmhouses of wood, brick, and stone construction. The Evans house pre-dates the erection of Berkeley County by nearly two decades.

In 1752, John Evans received a land grant of 500 acres, containing the tract presently occupied by the Evans House and also including the "Big Spring" a natural spring well known by the Native Americans who populated the area; Big Spring is east of Winchester Avenue and outside the boundaries of the subject property. Late in the Colonial period, the French and Indian War touched that section of Frederick County which would become Berkeley County. John Evans built a stockade fort which bore his name. Gen. Edward Braddock's troops encamped at Big Spring in 1755 and again in 1759, although Fort Evans is not mentioned in any documents associated with Braddock's stay. It is known, however, that Evans did erect a fort here and that it was subjected to attack by Native Americans in 1756.

Evans also erected a stone house for himself and for his family. It is thought that the house was built c. 1756; it anchored the farm that Evans and his family worked on before the settlement at Martinsburg was established twenty years later. In 1789, John Evans sold the property, including the Big Spring, to his son, Isaac, who remained here for a time but eventually relocated to Chillicothe, south of Columbus, Ohio, where he died c. 1807. John McCoy, also of Chillicothe, eventually acquired the property and held it until 1823 when he sold it to William Snodgrass (1769-1830). By this time the tract contained 429 acres. After the death of William Snodgrass, his widow, Nancy, received "the mansion house" with a garden and orchard west of the house. By this time the property had become known as the Snodgrass Big Spring Farm; a Civil War-era account by Capt. John Nadenbousch, commander of the Berkeley Border Guards, noted "Gen. Stonewall Jackson had ordered us not to make a stand but to engage the enemy only east of Martinsburg and fall back and await reinforcements. We fell back to Snodgrass' Spring where we encamped for the night."

When the property was partitioned in 1870, Isaac Brethed Snodgrass received Lot No. 3, containing the house and c. 155 acres.5 Snodgrass (1841-1890) operated the Big Spring Farm and sold a tract to the Cumberland Valley and Martinsburg Railroad in 1888 but retained the bulk of the farm, operating it until his death. In his will, dated 1888, Isaac Snodgrass left the property to his wife Harriett (1845-1928). Harriett Snodgrass held the property for eighteen years, selling it in 1908 to F. S. Emmert. Subsequent owners include James H. Fulk (ownership: 1912-1917), Bernard F. Fulk (1917-1923), and Ernest L. Payne (1923-1947).

The Evans House clearly reflects the pattern of exploration and settlement in Berkeley County during the middle decades of the eighteenth century. Architecturally, the property ably represents vernacular building traditions in Berkeley County during this same period, in this case executed in stone. The Berkeley County landscape is dotted by significant deposits of limestone, and, like many of his contemporaries, John Evans chose this readily available, inexpensive building material for his home. Although the land around the Evans House has been commercially developed, the house nonetheless is a tangible reminder of the era when Berkeley County was only sparsely settled and remained threatened by the Native Americans who had populated the area for centuries.