001-0076

Wessels Root Cellar

VLR Listing Date

12/02/1969

NRHP Listing Date

02/26/1970

NRHP Reference Number

70000779

This simple brick structure is possibly a unique example of a decorated outbuilding built solely to serve as a root cellar. It is believed to have been erected sometime after 1768 when William Wessels acquired the property and erected a house for himself. Wessels’s Accomack County home burned in 1937, but Wessels Root Cellar survived and continues to serve its original function. Most colonial root cellars were contained within the foundations of other buildings; this example is unusual for being freestanding and for having its gable decorated with a pattern of glazed-header bricks.

Last Updated: June 2, 2023

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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

For additional information Read

Nomination Form

273-0014

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