Grassroots Revitalization: Starting in 2009 as Revive the Waldo, a small Facebook discussion group of motivated community members, the Waldo Hotel Preservation Society incorporated in 2011 as a non-profit corporation. Now with 15 dedicated board members, as well as mulitple volunteers and concerned citizens supporting the cause, we are working to create an anchor for the future of downtown Clarks
burg. Designed by noted architect, Harrison Albright, the Waldo Hotel is an eight-story building. The Beaux-Arts style hotel with Moorish influences was constructed beginning in 1901 and was completed in 1904. The cost to build the hotel was $400,000 and employed over 1000 men, making as little as five cents per hour up to as much as ten cents per hour (sometimes slightly more) for the skilled workers. The Waldo’s construction was funded by Nathan Goff, one of Clarksburg’s most reputable citizens and was named in honor of his father, Waldo P. When built it was one of the most luxurious hotels in West Virginia and was built so Goff could entertain “prominent and important guests in magnificent style.”
The Waldo thrived for many years but the depression took its toll and business slowed. After Nathan Goff’s death in 1920 he left the hotel to his sons, Guy D. In turn, Percy Goff passed his interests on to his son, Nathan Goff, III. Carol Reece, a cousin living in Tennessee who, with her husband, held on to the hotel until 1964. It was in 1964 that the Waldo ceased to function as a hotel. Salem College bought the hotel from Reece in this year and after taking time to remodel the building, made it into a dormitory in 1965. It served as a dormitory for three years and then was sold a few more times and served various purposes including office space and apartments. Building Description
The building is anchored on all four corners by towers that extend approximately 1 story above the top floor and have hipped roofs with large overhangs. The front elevation has a horizontal orientation and is eleven bays wide. The outermost tower bays on the left and right sides on the facade, as well as the three center bays are marked by limestone quoins. The other six bays, three on either side of the center section, are recessed. Each bay is indicated by a pattern of windows; in the center and end bays, there are two side-by-side 1-over-1 wooden double hung windows in arched openings on each floor. In the recessed bays, there are large arched windows spanning the second and third floors, and side-by-side double hung wooden windows on the upper stories. Single windows on floor seven of the tower bays are ornamented with classical pediments. The facade of the hotel features a tripartite arrangement. The base of the building, encompassing the ground and first floors, is marked by a rusticated limestone arcade. The intermediate and cornice sections of the building are indicated by a string course between floors 5 and 6. A parapet at the roof level of the building displays the hotel's name. The other sides of the hotel are similar in appearance to the front elevation; the shorter side elevations consist of six bays, the central four of which are recessed. The foundation of the Waldo Hotel is a conventional reinforced concrete wall and column spread footing system. The exterior bearing walls are standard brick construction. The floor structure is a composite system consisting of steel I-beams, tie rods, wooden beams, concrete and clay tile. The roof is constructed of metal trusses with clay tile sheathing. The interior spaces of the building include a three-story entrance lobby, two ballrooms, and guestrooms. The lobby originally featured ornate floor tile work, a grand staircase, decorative moldings, chandeliers, and wooden and upholstered furnishings. Many of these details remain intact, either visibly or hidden beneath later alterations. In 1964, the building was converted to a college and the rooms changed to classrooms, dormitories and offices. In 1971, the building was sold to private owners and slowly converted into apartment units through 1980. Owner, Nathan Goff Jr. Senator, Congressman, U.S. attorney, judge, and Republican Party leader Nathan Goff Jr. (February 9, 1843-April 23, 1920) was born in Clarksburg of a prominent family. He was educated at Northwestern Academy in Clarksburg and at Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) in Washington. Goff left Georgetown in 1861 to join the Union service in the Civil War, enlisting as a private and rising to the rank of major and brevet brigadier general. He was captured at Moorefield in January 1864 and imprisoned in Richmond’s notorious Libby Prison before being released in an exchange personally authorized by President Lincoln. Goff began the practice of law in Clarksburg in March 1865. He served in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1867 and 1868, and President Grant appointed him U.S. district attorney for West Virginia in 1868. In 1881, he briefly served as secretary of the navy under President Hayes. Goff was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1882, serving from 1883 until 1889. In 1888, Goff lost West Virginia’s most controversial gubernatorial election to Aretas Brooks Fleming. Goff ’s initial 106-vote majority was challenged by Fleming, and both men were sworn in on inauguration day. The incumbent, E. Wilson, refused to vacate the office under the circumstances, and West Virginia found itself with three would-be governors. The issue was finally settled in Fleming’s favor in January 1890 by a party-line vote in the legislature. In 1892, Goff was appointed a federal judge in the U.S. Fourth Circuit, which included Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Carolinas. Goff finished his political career with a term in the U.S. Senate, serving from 1913 until 1919. His many high offices notwithstanding, Nathan Goff Jr. wielded his greatest power as party boss during the time the Republicans were building strength to recapture control of West Virginia politics. Goff controlled federal patronage in West Virginia during several Republican presidential administrations. He was succeeded as Republican leader by Stephen B. Elkins, the industrialist and U.S. senator who led the Grand Old Party into the 20th century. Goff succeeded in business as in politics, inheriting wealth and multiplying it. With four others, he bought the Clarksburg Telegram in 1891. He invested in coal mining and profited extensively from the oil business. As a builder he added landmarks to the city, including the Waldo Hotel and his own lavish house, which was on the National Register of Historic Places at the time of its demolition in 1993. Nathan Goff married Laura E. Despard in 1865 and Katherine Penney in 1919. Architect, Harrison Albright
West Virginia State Architect Harrison Albright, who was based out of Charleston, designed and oversaw the construction of the Waldo Hotel in 1901 to 1904 for Nathan Goff Jr. The hotel was the largest building in Clarksburg and was key in spurring the development of the city through its direct connection to the B&O Railroad. Albright moved to California in 1905. Born a Philadelphian in 1866, Albright began his architecture business designing residential and public projects. He moved to Charleston, WV in 1891 and was architect for the State of West Virginia in addition to designing residential projects. As State architect he designed an annex to the State Capitol, a state asylum at Huntington, West Virginia, the Miners' Hospital in Fairmont, West Virginia and buildings at Shepherd University and the Preparatory Branch of West Virginia University at Keyser. In 1901, he was hired by Indiana hotelier Lee Wiley Sinclair to design the landmark West Baden Springs Hotel which included the 200-foot-diameter steel and glass dome which would be the largest free-spanning dome in the world until 1913 and the largest in America until 1955. In 1905, he moved his architectural practice to California, working in Los Angeles and San Diego, as early proponent of reinforced concrete construction. John L. Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright was employed in the Albright firm. Albright designed other hotels including the West Baden Springs Hotel, Hotel Richmond, U. Grant Hotel, Eli P. Clark Hotel, and Golden West Hotel. He retired in 1925 and died in 1932.
