This plate might have been some kind of a sample plate for the Arthurdale Inn, in that it is missing the "Arthurdale Inn" lettering that can be found on every other piece of china for this venue that we've seen. Thus, identifying it provided us with a challenge until we spotted its photo in "Restaurant China Volume 2."

The Arthurdale Inn still stands in West Virginia, though it now serves as the headquarters for a hospice.

It was built in 1936-38 on the southeast side of WV 92, opposite the Arthurdale town center.

According to "West Virginia, A Guide to the Mountain State: "Arthurdale was on of three Federal resettlement projects in West Virginia, established in 1934 to rehabilitate selected families. The settlements offers each homesteader a house, a combination barn and poultry house, and three acres of land. The fireproof dwelling of concrete block have five, six and seven rooms, and have been arranged in a semicircle around the meadows which slope from the hilltop crowned with the 20-room Arthurdale Inn of modified Colonial design. Handicraftsmen of the resettlement project have fashioned the furniture, draperies and linens of the inn, which has become nationally known through the frequent visits of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"Arthurdale sits on the former plantation of Col. John Fairfax, one of George Washington's close associates. The land was later sold to Richard Arthur of Pittsburgh, whose name it now bears."

The images of the inn, both on the plate and on the photograph, show the back of the building, according to Jeanne Goodman with Arthurdale Heritage Inc. "If you could see the other side," she said, the first four windows on the left bottom floor were Eleanor Roosevelt's private suite."

In addition, we wondered about the circular landscaping shown, and Goodman said that is and has always been merely a grassy area.

The plate was distributed by A.C. Hoskins of Morgantown. In an Oct. 8, 1965 story announcing his retirement in the Morgantown Post, Hoskins' career was summed up in part as follows:
"A. C. Hoskins, a parcel post clerk at Sterling Faucet Company who will be 81 on Dec. 28, retires Oct. 8 after 20 years of service.

"A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Mr. Hoskins had spent over 30 years in the china and pottery business before joining Sterling in 1945.

"His first job was working in a wagon factory, which was the second largest in the United States, and was owned by his father and located in Zanesville.

"In addition to the 75 wagons produced daily, the company also produced plows, cultivators and other farm equipment.

"He traveled as a sales representative for the leading pottery and china plants in the Ohio Valley.

"His last affiliation with the china industry was with the Carr China Company in Grafton. It was here that he designed the original china table service used at Arthurdale Inn when it was formally opened by the late Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.

"After his career in the china industry, he began another in the brass industry when hired by Sterling as a shipping supervisor in 1945.

"He was 60 at that time. … "

Note: We believe that the white plate with brown decoration was a sample plate and not indicative of the actual pattern used at the Inn. We obtained a group of plates, all in a smaller size, and all in white with brown decoration.