Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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In 1889, Stephen Benton Elkins, a former frontier schoolteacher who once taught the outlaw Cole Younger, built a 23,000 square foot castle on a remote West Virginia mountaintop, inspired by a Rhine River fortress his wife Hallie had fallen in love with during a trip to Germany. Halliehurst, as it was called, became the crown jewel of a empire built on railroads, coal, and political power. But what happened to it after the Elkins family was gone is perhaps the most remarkable chapter of all.
Location: West Virginia
Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress,
CC BY 2.0 Photos from: Flickr User: Generic1139
CC BY-SA 4.0 Photos from: Wikipedia User: Lectrician2
Assets from: Envato Elements
Music from Epidemic Sound
Visit the VSA website to learn how you can get involved today: victoriansociety.org
In 1889, Stephen Benton Elkins, a former frontier schoolteacher who once taught the outlaw Cole Younger, built a 23,000 square foot castle on a remote West Virginia mountaintop, inspired by a Rhine River fortress his wife Hallie had fallen in love with during a trip to Germany. Halliehurst, as it was called, became the crown jewel of a empire built on railroads, coal, and political power. But what happened to it after the Elkins family was gone is perhaps the most remarkable chapter of all.
Location: West Virginia
Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress,
CC BY 2.0 Photos from: Flickr User: Generic1139
CC BY-SA 4.0 Photos from: Wikipedia User: Lectrician2
Assets from: Envato Elements
Music from Epidemic Sound
