IC Fowler
House

Isaac Chapman Fowler was born in Tazewell County, Virginia,  on September 23, 1831.  He attended Emory and Henry College and became a merchant and postmaster of Emory, Virginia.  At the outbreak of the Civil War, Fowler worked for the Commissary Department of the Confederate States of America under General John C. Breckenridge and eventually lost all his property.  After the war, in 1868, Fowler came to Bristol, known as Goodson at the time, and along with his brother Elbert, purchased the Bristol News from A.C. Smith who had started the newspaper in 1865.  Fowler became the paper’s editor and remained in charge  until  February 1884. He was very involved in the community, serving as Mayor  five times, from 1871-1875,  and serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates twice, 1875-1879 and 1881-1883.  He was the Speaker of the House in 1881-1882.  Fowler remained in Bristol until he was appointed as Clerk of the U.S. District Court in Abingdon in 1884, at which time he moved there to a house on Main Street.  He resigned in 1904 just prior to his death in 1905.  Fowler is buried in Bristol’s historic East Hill Cemetery.

 

The I.C. Fowler House at 417 Spencer Street was built by Fowler in 1867. It is one of the oldest standing structures from the original town limits of Goodson, Virginia.  It was constructed by carpenter and furniture maker George Blackley in the Greek Revival architectural style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the Virginia Landmarks Register as a contributing structure to the Virginia Hill Historic District.  It was in the parlor of this house that I.C. Fowler, W.W. James and several other businessmen formed the committee to establish Sullins College.

 

Following Fowler’s move to Abingdon, Charles Finch and his family became the second owners of the house.  Finch worked for the Norfolk & Western Railway and was a member of the Goodson Town Council.  It was Finch who made the motion that Goodson be renamed Bristol.

 

Over the years, the home had many owners.  Finally, Blevins Funeral Home acquired the I.C. Fowler house and used it for the storage of funeral equipment for a number of years. In the fall of 1988, Heritage Family Funeral Services bought Blevins and its property, including the Fowler house. Blevins donated the house to the Bristol Preservation Society which later merged with the Bristol Historical Association, and the house then became the property of BHA. 

 

BHA sold the house in 2009 to Scott Otis, who along with his father, Dr. Jim Otis, spent years working on restorations before selling it to Tom and Vickie Mitoraj in 2019.  The Mitorajs  completed the restoration in 2021. The house retains many of its original features, including fireplaces, a central staircase, plantation windows and casings, and flooring.  Thanks to the preservation efforts of BHA, the Otis family, and the Mitorajs, the I.C. Fowler House remains standing as both a testament to one of Bristol's early leaders and a tangible part of the historic fabric of our community.