South Charleston, West By-God Virginia

These stories were all written by my Great Grandfather, Homer, a week after I was born in 1983. When my grandfather, Daniel Lee, passed, I was given a copy by my Aunt Janie. I plan to write a series of his stories. This first one sets the stage, and gives some history of the area he lived in. To be honest it’s a little boring, but I promise they get better. But you have to establish the base first. –DM

My name is Homer Davis Meyers, and I was born on June 14th, 1907. I wrote these stories down and have passed them on to my family. My great grandson Daniel Scott Meyers is publishing these. He is going to use a little artistic license to fill in the gaps, but everything herein is true and honest, I think….

My first recollections of South Charleston are of the winter of 1913, having moved up the Kanawha river with my parents and brothers and sisters. If my memory is right after all these years, South Charleston was very small, unincorporated town, having at that time less than one hundred houses, including the U.S. Government houses at Lock No. Six on the Kanawha river. The post office was on Second Avenue near the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad depot.

The only school in town was a two-room wooden building on Seventh Avenue between “D” street and MacCorkle Avenue when we first moved there. A new four-room schoolhouse was being built on the corner of “C” Street and 5th Avenue. Several years later four more rooms were added. This building was constructed of brick. I had a picture taken in 1915 of the old Central School, showing all the pupils and teachers; Walter Lynch was principal. The town’s industry consisted of two small glass plants that made window glass by hand.

The street car track ran parallel to MacCorkle Avenue from the C&O Railroad bridge to St. Albans. MacCorkle Avenue at that time was called 8th Avenue. The street car had regular stops along the line; the first stop was named Stop No. One and was on the C&O Railroad bridge.

• Stop No. 2 was at the south end of the bridge
• Stop No. 3 was just a little way from the overhead crossing of MacCorkle Avenue
• Stop No. 4 was at Short Street
• Stop No. 5 was at “A” Street
• Stop No. 6 was a little west of “B” Street
• Stop No. 7 was at the end of 7th Avenue
• Stop No. 8 was at “E” Street
• Stop No. 9 was at “G” Street
• Stop No. 10 was across Davis Creek bridge in the Spring Hill area.

At one time I could say that I knew every person in town and where they lived. The majority of the people were Belgians, all working in the two window glass factories–The Banner Window Glass Factory which was located where F.M.C is now, and The Dunkirk Factory at the end of “A” Street at the Kanawha river. In the years before World War I, several other companies moved to town. Rollins Chemical, E.C. Klepstine Chemical, West Vaco Chemical, and Warner Kelpstine Chemical. Rollins Chemical was then sold to Barium Chemical and later to Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical), Union Carbide also bought E.C. Klepstine Chemical. West Vaco would be sold to F.M.C.

South Charleston was incorporated in 1917. My father, Daniel Summer Meyers, was the first Chief of Police and my uncle, Homer A. Dunbar was one of the first Councilmen. The Council had their meetings in the Banner Glass Factory office. R.C. “Bob” Jarrold was the first mayor. I am not sure of the names of the other town officers; but I think they were Henry Oaks, Joe Henson, William Pence, Jake pierce, and Quince Jones. At about that time the post office was moved to the old school building on 7th Avenue.

MacCorkle Avenue was a two lane brick road ending at Davis Creek. Joe Henson had a general store and ice house on MacCorkle Avenue between “A” and “B” streets. He delivered ice with a mule and wagon. Billy Cole had a store on 7th Avenue located where the Cole Building is located now (in 1983 it was still standing, believe it is no longer there. -DM) Billy Cole was also the town plumber. Isaac George had a grocery store on MacCorkle and 7th Avenue. He would go around in the morning taking orders for groceries and deliver them by horse and wagon in the afternoon. There was a large walnut tree on 7th and “D” Street, across from Criel Mound. Ike Riley had a large dairy barn on 9th Ave between “F” and “G” Street. All land on the south side of MacCorkle Ave from Beaver Pond was pasture. Land on the north side of MacCorkle Ave from “G” Street to the ball park was planted in corn. The ball park was about where it still stands today. (This is now “Joplin Park“.) Blaine Island was all farm land!

The first firefighting equipment was a two-wheel cart with several section s of fire hose, pulled by volunteer firefighters. Several years later the town bought a brand new Model T Ford fire truck with solid rubber tires, and a hand cranked siren, all painted a bright red. It was housed in an old wooden garage on MacCorkle Avenue near “E” Street. Telephones in the early days were the old hand-cranked type party line “hoop and holler” with about ten parties per circuit.

When we moved to South Charleston in 1913 we had no city water for several months. Our water was from the house roof, caugt in barrels. We had to carry our drinking water from a well at Lock Six to MacCorkle Avenue. Everybody in town had a well but us. We didn’t have one because the city water was soon to be piped in. Our home is still standing–a light brick house on the corner of “G” Street and MacCorkle Avenue. I watched MacCorkle Ave being paved with red brick in 1916.

When World War I started, the U.S. Navy started building the Naval Ordnance plant. When it was about finished the Armorplate plate was started. I remember seeing a large billboard with large letters, “10,000 MEN WANTED. 33-1/3 CENTS PER HOUR”. The town began to boom. I remember seeing an auctioneer auction off lots from 7th Ave to the railroad. He stood in a two-horse wagon with about every man, boy, and dog in town following along behind. We had three banks; The First National, The Bank of South Charleston, and The Day and Night Bank. The street car track was doubled from the C&O railroad bridge to Beaver pond. The street car company had a freight car that hauled freight from Charleston on down the line to St. Albans and was the only way we could get anything from Charleston.

Small carnivals would set up around the Indian Mound. Large carnivals and circuses would set up on the north side of MacCorkle between “D” street and the Banner Glass Company.

The first doctor in town was Dr. Backus, followed by Dr. Dunn, then Doctors O’Dell, Lanbert, and Blagg. During the influenza epidemic in 1918 the little Presbyterian church was used as a hospital. That church stood where Union Carbide offices are now.

Some people called those days “the good old days.” Maybe they were. I could spend a quarter and have a full day’s fun; $.05 for a street car fare to Charleston, $.05 for a hot dog, $.05 for a Coke, $.05 for a bag of salted peanuts from Woolworth’s 5&10 store, and $.05 for street car fare home!

I remained in South Charleston until I retired from Union Carbide in 1967 and moved south to Florida, where my sons and there families had already moved to.