West Virginia History - INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING ALONG THE KANAWHA This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm Submitted by Valerie Crook, From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, by James Morton Callahan, 1923, Vol. I, pg. 424- CHAPTER XXVI INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING ALONG THE KANAWHA The first actual railway construction in West Virginia after the war --the construction of a railway westward from the Jackson's river across the middle of the state from east to west along the general route of the old James river and Kanawha turnpike, reanimated the old communities of the lower Greenbrier, the Middle New and the Kanawha valleys. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, traversing one of the most picturesque regions of West Virginia, is the successor of the Covington & Ohio Railroad, which was organized as an extension of the Virginia Central (incorporated 1850) the successor of the Louisa Railroad which obtained its charter in 1836. The Virginia Central received its charter under the influence of a state policy to link Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio river by a railway and construction was prosecuted by state appropriations until 1861 when the line was in operation to Jackson's river (ten miles east of Covington). It was operated to Covington in 1867. Work on the Covington and Ohio, abandoned in 1861, was resumed in 1868 under charters of incorporation secured from the legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia in 1865 and under later acts of 1867 which conferred additional privileges. Commissioners appointed by the two states (1) to cooperate in enlisting the interest of capitalists and the early completion of the road experienced great difficulty in securing the financial aid necessary to meet the heavy expense of construction. In August, 1868, they finally contracted with the Virginia Central railway company which undertook the construction. Under this arrangement the name of the road was changed to the Chesapeake and Ohio. Its president, General William C. Wickham, succeeded in attracting the interest of Collis P. Huntington and his associates, who in November, 1869, made contracts which ensured the successful completion of the road. On June 9, 1870, the new road acquired from Virginia the title to the Blue Ridge Railroad which Virginia had constructed through the mountains. The new road was aided by the state through an act of 1868, which authorized townships to hold special elections to determine whether they would purchase stock. It also received aid from the sale of public land. The policy of the state to aid the road created much opposition to which railroad men actively replied. To leading citizens of Monroe, familiar with the topography of Monroe, it seemed rather strange that the Chesapeake and Ohio should have chosen the difficult route between Callaghan and Ronceverte, requiring long tunnels and heavy cuts and fills, while from Covington to Peterstown there is one continuous valley. Had the watergaps through which Second creek escapes been followed, the economic consequence to Monroe county would have been striking. Sweet Springs, Salt Sulphur and Red Sulphur would have become prominent by their nearness to the railroad.(2) Apparently the influence of White Sulphur and Lewisburg was the double magnet that drew the road into its more difficult course. (1) The commissioners of Virginia were John B. Baldwin, George W. Belling, Thomas S. Flournoy and William J. Robertson. The commissioners of West Virginia were James Burley, E. D. Ramsdell, Joel McPherson and John S. Cunningham. (2) In 1889 there was an agitation for a second C. & O. line on the Monroe survey, which would have been equivalent to a double track similar to the double lines between Clifton Forge and Richmond. It was urged that the Big Bend tunnel could not admit a second track. In 1904, a paper railroad, called the "Monroe Central," was much discussed. The first line surveyed for the main line of the railway was through Keeney's Knobs from Alderson, down Lick Creek to its mouth, but it was abandoned and the present route secured. The principal rights-of-way from the land owners were secured by Robert F. Dennis, a lawyer of Lewisburg. Comparatively few of the rights-of-way were condemned. Mr. Huntington purchased, about the time he was securing right-of-way, or soon after, the land on which Hinton is built from Rufus Pack; administrator of the estate of Isaac Ballangee, in the name of the railway company, and later organized the Central Land Company and transferred the land to that company. He did the same at Huntington, purchasing the real estate upon which that city is built, and transferring it to the Central Land Company, of which he was the president until his death. Immediately after the location of the line of the railroad, the excavations for the round-house at Hinton were begun by Alexander Atkinson, an Irish-American contractor. Morton in his History of Monroe county states that the decision to construct the road from Covington to the Ohio was partly due to General Echols who resided at Staunton after the close of the Civil war and who induced C. P. Huntington to ride horseback with him over the proposed route in order to convince him of its practicability. In the Greenbrier Independent in 1872 appeared articles opposing the road on the ground that it carried whiskey, killed chickens and cows, scared the horses, and threw teamsters out of employment. Construction westward to Huntington was pushed vigorously. From 1869 to 1873 engineering corps and contractors were busy in the Alleghenies, in the Greenbrier valley, along the canyons of New river and the bottom lands of the Kanawha, and across Teay's valley until continuous rails completed the new link between East and West. The full story of the work done would tell of the hardships and dangers bravely borne, and of the faith and patience of skill and intelligence. The materials for construction were brought over land in wagons or down the Greenbrier river in bateaux. The labor used in construetion was largely furnished by colored laborers from Virginia. The employees for several years were principally Virginians. The Big Bend tunnel (located a half mile west of Talcott Station) which was completed early in 1872, was constructed by William R. Johnson, a Virginia contractor, at an immense cost. Several shafts were drilled from the top to the level of the grade so that forces could work in each direction. On January 29, 1873, the last spike was driven on the New river bridge at Hawk's Nest, and the special Richmond train of President Wickham proceeded westward to Charleston and to Huntington. At Charleston the event was celebrated by appropriate display of speeches terminating in a great display of fireworks. At Huntington the union of opposing waters by bands of steel was celebrated by pouring into the Ohio a barrel of James river water brought from Richmond. The President in his speech emphasized four great advantages of the road: (1) shortness of route between the Ohio and Norfolk harbor; (2) its easy grade and reduced number of curves; (3) the mild climate along the route; (4) the short distance of its Huntington terminus from Cincinnati. The service of the road for several years was very inefficient and the tonnage very light. Only local passenger trains, and only a few freight trains were operated. Mails were not carried for some time. The first engines were fired with cordwood. L. S. Alley, one of the first locomotive engineers who made the trip on the road, was born in Prince George county, Virginia, in 1832 and served on the eastern end of the road (east of Jackson river) as early as 1852. During the war he ran an engine between Jackson river and Staunton. His first trip west of White Sulphur Springs in the Allegheny mountains was in the latter part of 1873. The first telegraph operator at Hinton was a man by the name of Robert Baird, who had his office in a box car, and used the old-style telegraph instrument. The first passenger depot there was a one-story frame building (immediately opposite the Hinton ferry) which was converted into a freight depot in 1900. The construction of the railroad resulted in the settlement of a number of Irish families in the communities along the route. Among these was Thomas Hurley, a native of Cork County, Ireland, who married Catherine Lawler, and reared a family on the mountain above Elton in Summers County. Other Irish settlers of the neighboring region were James Hurley, who located near the top of Keeney's Knob, and Patrick O'Leary, who located in the same neighborhood. Another was Richard Twohig, who had emigrated from Ireland to Rockingham County in 1850, and after aiding in the construction of the railroad resided in Greenbrier County. Others were Patrick Conly, Terrence Foley, Edward McGuire and Mr. Florence Donohue, who settled in the same region. About 1876 the Irish settlers of Summers County built for Catholic worship a log church which was later abandoned for a frame building. The completion of the railroad soon resulted in the abandonment of tolls (about 1875) on the old James river and Kanawha turnpike-which thereafter was used as a public road. To secure heavier tonnage the railroad corporation early offered inducements for the establishment of enterprises along the line. Among the immediate industrial influences of the new railroad was the impetus given to the timber and lumber industry along the entire region of the route. Activity in the stave business appeared first. Along the New river many buyers of staves or stave timber arrived to encourage the business. Among the earliest was Theodore Arter of Cleveland, Ohio, a representative of the Standard Oil Company, who by 1875 established at Hinton headquarters for purchase and shipment of staves for oil barrels. In the early days Captain Thomas Quinn, an Irish boatman, floated large quantities of staves and lumber down the New river in bateaux. Among the earliest lumbermen in this region were Robert Elliot (a native of Canada), W. R. Johnson (a Pennsylvanian), James Allen Graham and his brothers, B. F. Hall (of Ohio), Owen Bearse, Jr. (of Massachusetts), R. B. Burks (of Kentucky), Sam Smith (of Ohio), John P. Mills (of New York) and Daniel F. Mohler. Burks began operations on Tallery Mountain at the mouth of Bluestone as early as 1873. Bearse's firm began business on Lick creek and at one time owned all of North Alderson which they converted into town lots. Hall and Bearse did a large business at Meadow creek, up which they built a tramway, but they finally failed. Mills built below the Hinton ferry a large steam mill and a handsome residence which were damaged by the flood of 1878. Mohler, one of the first to operate on a large scale, located at the mouth of Griffith's creek about 1880. Smith, the first to engage in the walnut timber business, began his purchases by 1874, but failed in business. Those who undertook the risks and inconveniences and hardships of that period deserved large profits. Some sacrificed the pleasures and conveniences of established homes in towns and cities of the East in order to start enterprise in the wilderness. About 1874 or 1875 William R. Taylor of Philadelphia bought the old Cabell place in the Big Meadows, Greenbrier County, and upon it erected a very large steam sawmill and grist-mill with a church in the roof, and also a large store building and a modern barn which he filled with a fine stock of horses. He was a pioneer in other developments in the neighborhood. A few years later, however, each of his buildings was burned to the ground and Mr. Taylor abandoned the country, sold his land, and removed his family to Philadelphia. Neighborhood gossip attributed the destruction of the buildings to his wife who did not desire to live in the region and wished to induce her husband to return to Philadelphia. Among the later successful lumbermen of that region was T. H. Lilly who opened business at Hinton by 1901 and organized the Lilly Lumber Company. The Commonwealth Lumber Company, a corporation composed of Pennsylvania capitalists, constructed a bridge across the Greenbrier at the mouth of Griffith's creek, built a broad gauged lumber railroad to the top of Keeney's Knob and built up a village of fifty houses near the site of the old fort. An immense amount of timber was floated down the Greenbrier river by the St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing company and other companies. Within twenty-five years the walnut and cherry was largely taken out by rafting, even from points on the upper Greenbrier above Marlinton. This rafting became an important industry at flood periods in the river. There were a number of skillful pilots who with a raft of 50,000 feet of lumber could thread their way between the rocks of the swift river. By 1910, the timber business was about terminated in the immediate vicinity of the main line of the railway in the region of Summers and Greenbrier counties. The most valuable forests had been largely cut and removed. The earlier success of the railroad was restricted both by loose methods of management and the provincial prejudices of many people residing along the route some of whom had originally worked on the road. The company charged high freight rates for slow transportation, and at the same time conductors, baggage men and other subordinate offiicials in some instances managed to secure free transportation for county produce which they purchased for almost nothing and sold at good prices at Richmond and other eastern points. Various people inscrutable and mysteriously peculiar or jealously prejudiced objected to the collection of fares or at least objected to paying their fares in money. Some seemed to regard the railroad as the visible representative of a magic fund of wealth upon which the people should draw as heavily as possible at every opportunity. To maintain telegraphic connections at first was rendered difficult by the depredations of the natives who cut the wires and appropriated them for domestic purposes. The later effect of the road may be traced in the increasing price of the land, the rise of many new industries and the changed character of the population. Speculators and promoters promptly arrived to survey the resources of the country and to prepare for the new era of greater activity in opening the wealth which had so long remained dormant. Many who came to work on the railroad or in some resulting industry later married or sent for families left behind, bought a small farm along the route of the railroad, or contributed to the growth of new towns. The mingling of newcomers from many older communities was conducive to the formation of new ideas and the stimulation of a larger and more vigorous life. On November 1, 1873, the Chesapeake and Ohio found itself unable to meet the interest on its mortgage bonds. On October 9, 1875, after strenuous efforts to effect a settlement with the creditors, the road passed into the hands of a receiver appointed by the United States circuit court. After a sharp litigation, on January 21, 1879, it passed to another receiver General Wickham, appointed by the state courts of Virginia and West Virginia and by him on July 1, 1878, it was sold and conveyed to C. P. Huntington and others by a scheme of reorganization which simply allowed time for further development of the business of the road without any diminution of the bonded indebtedness. In 1880 the road was extended from Richmond to a more satisfactory terminal at Newport News, and westward from Huntington to the Big Sandy and across the bridge, thus connecting with the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad. In the same year the fare was reduced from five cents to three and one-half cents per mile. Unable to meet the heavy fixed charges provided in the plan of reorganization, on June 15, 1886, the road was leased to the Newport News and Mississippi Valley Company with hope of greater returns. After the annulment of this lease, and as a result of suits brought by Mr. Huntington to recover advances of money, the road again passed to the receivership of General Wickham and in September, 1888, it was reorganized through the cooperation of the powerful house of Drexel, Morgan & Co. and placed under control of M. E. Ingalls, who was also president of the "Big Four" system. In 1889, under charge of H. E. Huntington the line was finished to Cincinnati. Meantime various improvements on the line had been begun at considerable expense. Among these was the arching and ventilation of the Big Bend tunnel. This tunnel was originally arched with wooden timbers, which becoming decayed, were condemned by the county authorities under the direction of Elbert Fowler, the prosecuting attorney. A short time before Mr. Fowler retired from the office of prosecuting attorney a crew on a freight train was caught in the tunnel by the falling of rotten timbers from the arch, and a number were killed and crippled. Through Fowler's initiation, a coroner's inquest was held, the tunnel was condemned, and the railroad company was held responsible. Finally, the railroad company was induced to begin work on a brick arch which was completed after more than ten years (in 1897), the construction being managed without interfering with the transportation of the road and without interruption of trains, exception temporary delays from occasional falls of debris. Apparently Mr. Fowler's activities in compelling the company to arch the tunnel, aroused the antagonism of railroad officials, who especially opposed him in his last race for prosecuting attorney.(3) With the increased number of trains passing through the tunnel the density of the smoke increased until the fumes therefrom became almost unbearable and even destructive to human life. After public sentiment had been aroused by the danger to employees and to passengers, the railroad company finally undertook the work of installing fans which after a year or two were placed in complete operation, resulting in safety of passage through the tunnel. Other improvements which followed were the substitution of stone abutments and iron superstructures for the large wooden trestles originally constructed over ravines and creeks, and the erection of a better bridge across the Greenbrier at Lowell and the enlargement of the yards at Hinton and other points. To meet the demands for extension and increasing traffic exacted high intelligence and forethought and much outlay of money. The entire road was gradually relaid with heavier rails and furnished with the most modern equipment. From a single track line laid with light rail upon a road bed unfit for modern traffic, the road grew into a double-tracked well-equipped line with grades and curves much reduced by changes in alignment. In 1914 the road bed was double-tracked from Clifton Forge, Virginia to Cincinnati with the exception of a few short sections in tunnels and along the gorge of New river from Cotton Hill to Gauley Junction. To avoid expensive litigation resulting from accidents which were quite frequent for Gfteen years after the completion of the road, the company finally inaugurated the block system. In 1908 it obtained connection with Chicago by acquiring a road through Indiana via Indianapolis. From a line battling for its corporate existence before 1890, it later, under the presidency of George W. Stevens and his successor, W. J. Harahan, became a legitimate competitor of the other great trans-Allegheny carriers. From 1890 to 1909 the mileage increased from 215 to 600, the number of locomotives from 237 to 672, the number of freight cars from 9,707 to 35,700 of larger capacity, the number of passenger cars from 155 to 300, the total annual tonnage from 3,760,577 to 18,511,362, the annual coal shipment to seaboard from 682,551 tons to 4,800,000 tons, the total coal tonnage from 1,454,856 to 12,795,786 (including coke), and the total revenue from $7,161,949 to $26,630,717. From 1890 to 1920 the size of the heaviest rails increased from 75 pounds to 100 and 130 pounds, the number of locomotives from 237 to 946, the number of freight cars from 9,707 to 52,394 (of largely increased capacity), the number of passenger cars from 155 to 400, the total annual tonnage from 3,760,577 to 40,838,116, the total revenue from $7,161,939 to $90,524,184. (3) Mr. Fowler was killed at Hinton in 1885 by an attorney named J. S. Thompson. He was engaged in a number of enterprises in the region about the vicinity of Hinton. One of these enterprises was the proposed construction of a branch of the Norfolk and Western Railway from the mouth of East River in Giles County, down New River to Hinton. He was also a promoter of the Nem River Railroad and Mining Company which proposed a railroad up New River. He was also a promoter of the Hinton Steamboat Company which proposed to,navigate New River east of Hinton. From 1910 to 1920 the railroad's first track mileage in West Virginia increased from 630 miles to 802 miles; the number of coal mines on its West Virginia lines from 115 to 520; the total coal production at these mines from 15,073,000 to 28,625,000; and the coke production from 467,740 to 614,755. The comparatively small increase in coke production is due to the by-products arrangements which are largely superseding the bee hive ovens as coke producers. The recent increase in passenger traffic along. the line of the C. & O. is redected in the following comparative statement of the number of passengers from its largest stations in West Virginia for 1910 and for 1920. 1910 1920 Per Cent Passengers Passengers Increase Huntington .........149,654 294,434 98 Charleston .........172,291 295,913 71 Hinton ............. 55,118 87,957 60 Ronceverte ......... 47,851 62,075 30 White Sulphur ...... 11,907 31,980 168 Along the main line of the new railway, new towns vigorously sprang into existence. White Sulphur Springs, at the eastern border of the state, recognized new opportunities to become a greater health resort. A few miles farther west, the site of a new town was partly determined by the needs of the old county seat of Lewisburg which was located several miles from the railway route. From a village of three houses which owed its birth to the construction of the railroad, Ronceverte evolved into a good business town. Its growth was largely determined by its timber industries, its convenient access to a good agricultural region and its location at the junction of the later Creenbrier branch line. In 1872 on the site of Ronceverte stood only one or two farm houses and a grist mill. Soon thereafter Colonel C. C. Clay began the lumber industry, which finally culminated in the formation of the St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing Company (of Pennsylvania and Maryland capitalists) which built at Ronceverte one of the largest mills in the state, opened large timber holdings in Pocahontas. The timber industry continued to be a factor in the life of the town until September 1908 when the last log was cut and the mill closed. In 1882 the town was incorporated. In 1888 the first bank was opened. In 1589, a steam fire engine was installed and a voluntary-fire department was organized. In 1892, an electric light plant was installed. In 1900 coincident with the opening of the Greenbrier division of the C. & O. a second bank began business. In 1903, the city reservoir and water system was installed. In 1907 the electric railway connecting Lewisburg and Ronceverte was completed. In 1909 a new charter was obtained and in 1911-12 the streets were paved. Hinton was built on land purchased by Mr. Huntington who later transferred it to the Central Land Company which he organized and of which he was president. Its growth was influenced by its selection as the end of the Huntington division, and the headquarters superintendent and operative and office forces of the division since the construction of the road. The town of Hinton, which includes two separate municipal governments (Hinton and Avis) was largely a result of the railroad. Its growth began in 1872 with the arrival of the first train of flat cars carrying material for construction of the railway. Within nine months it increased from a single log hut to a town of 300 inhabitants. In 1871, when Summers county was formed, there were but two houses within the corporate limits of the two corporations, Hinton and Avis. One was the old "Jack" Hinton residence built of hewed logs near the railroad crossing at the foot of the hill in Avis; the other, known as the Ballangee residence, was in the center of the yard near the round-house. The Hinton homestead was occupied as a boarding house for a number of years after the completion of the railroad. It was an old two-story log house, with an old fashioned stone chimney, large fire-places covered with shingles, and the kitchen at the end of the "big house." It was finally torn down by the railroad company to make room for its double track. The Ballangee house was also of hewed logs, the "big house" was two stories and the kitchen one story. There was a double porch fronting the mountain. This house was used by the railroad company for round-house, offices, and storage place for junk and rubbish for many years, but in the construction of the new yard tracks about 1898 or 1900 it was pulled down. The Isaac Ballangee tract, on which the city of Hinton stands, was owned by the heirs of Isaac Ballangee, and consisted of 165 acres. Rufus Pack, guardian of some of the heirs, who were infants at the time the railroad was projected, took proceedings in the circuit court of Summers county to secure 3 decree for sale, by which the title was conveyed to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company, in consideration of the sum of $3,500. Afterwards the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company conveyed all the property except what it desired for railroad purposes, and some five lots on which it had built tenement buildings, to the Central Land Comnanv of West Virginia, a corporation of which G. P. Huntington, the promoter and builder of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was the President, and continued in ownership until the company was placed in the hands of a receiver of the United States Court for West Virginia, who continued to sell lots and exercise dominion over the property until the death of C. P. Huntington, in 1903, when the remaining unsold portions, about 80 acres mostly hill land, were sold to William Plumley, Jr., and E. H. Peek of Hinton for $11,000. The territory now included in the boundaries of the city of Hinton was laid off into town lots and a map made thereof in 1873. Stones mere placed at the corner of each street, and corner lots were sold for $300, while inside lots brought $250 each. The first buildings erected in the town were principally on Front Street. The site of the present court house and all the flat remained an open common and was used as a pasture for cows, hogs and horses. The first business and residence building on the flat was that of John N. Carden opposite the court house in which he established the Hotchkiss House, which he ran as a hotel for a number of years. The next building was on the corner of Second Avenue and Ballangee Street, near the court house square. It was built by Carl Fredeking and used by him for mercantile business. Another one of the early buildings was a one-story two-room frame built by R. L. Hoge, directly after the flood of 1878, near the present brick Methodist church. Another of the earliest buildings was the old Thespian Hall, built in what was known as Middle Hinton. This building was used for some time in connection with an amateur theatrical venture by which home talent furnished the actors and amusements for the town, but not being well supported financially the venture failed and the building was torn down. The first brick house in Hinton was built by John Finn on the corner of Third and Summers streets in 1874. The building was later owned by the city and used as an administration building. W. C. Ridgeway, early in the history of the town built what was at that time considered a modern hotel on the corner of Third and Front streets, a corner now known as "Scrapper's Corner." The upper town mas building uis more rapidly than the lower until the great flood of 1878, which practically destroyed the upper part of the town. Seventeen houses were washed away, a great deal of real and personal property ddstroyed. but no lives lost. The Bank of Hinton, established in 1887, was the first bank in the town, it has since (1900) been converted into the First National Bank of Hinton. The second bank established was the Bank of Summers which opened for business in 1895. The Citizens Bank is the youngest banking institution in the county and was founded in Hinton in 1905. In 1878 several enterprising citizens of Hinton undertook the building of a steamboat by popular subscription. The project was launched by an excursion from Hinton to Bluestone and the necessary money subscribed The boat "Cecilia" was built in 1878 and made a few trips between Hinton and Bull Falls. hut it proved to be too large for the rough waters of the New, and the enterprise failed. The Hinton Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1872 as part of the Baltimore Conference. Services were held in an old frame public school building situated where Dr. Holley's hospital now stands until 1876 when the First Baptist Church was erected. This church building was used jointly by the Methodist with the other denominations until the First Methodist Church was built in 3880. The cooler stone for the First Methodist Episcopal Church South. was laid in December, 1876. The Presbyterian Church of Hinton was organized in June, 1874, but owned no church property for some time. The services were held once a. month in the building of the First Baptist Church. The St. Patrick's Church, organized organized April 25, 1874, by Father D. P. Walsh, secured a deed for their lot from the C. & O. Railroad an May 26, 1874, and in 1878 erected a one-story frame church building which was occupied by the congregation until 1898 when a new modern brick church was erected. In 1879 an effort was made to incorporate the two towns, Hinton and Avis, as one. The town of Avis was so bitterly opposed that incorporation was voted down, but Hinton (the lower town) proceeded at once to vote for incorporation as the "Town of Hinton" and was so incorporated in September, 1880. Ten years later, Avis became convinced that it should be an incorporated town and in 1890 was incorporated as "Upper Hinton." The two towns remained separate until 1897 when, for political reasons, they were united by a special legislative charter under the title of the "City of Hinton." This union, however, did not prove satisfactory to the politicians who, therefore, proceeded to secure an act of the legislature of 1899 which established Hinton as a separate corporation and left Upper Hinton without a municipal government. Soon, the upper town was again separately corporated under the name of Avis and so continued. At an election held on May 2, 1919, a charter bill of the legislature, consolidating the three towns of Hinton, Avis and Bellpoint, was adopted. There have been many interesting features in local politics throughout the history of Hinton. For many years the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was a large influence in city polities. The princinal trouble in elections for several years was the use of illegal negro voters brought in for the purpose; an influence of this character occurred in the general election of 1902. At this election a number of negro laborers, complete strangers in the community, came to the First Ward polls to vote late in the evening. Their votes were challenged and refused, but a mandamus was secured from Judge McWhorter of the circuit court, and under this preemptory mandamus the ballots went into the box. The negroes were arrested at once, but obtained bail and were never seen in Hinton again. Hinton and Avis were without water service until 1590 when the Hinton Water Works Company, composed of enterprising citizens, put in a first class system of water works for both towns. In 1901 this water company purchased from Dr. Peck and Mr. Starbuck their electric light plant with which they had several years earlier disolaced the old fashioned kerosene street lights. In 1904 this local company sold both the water works and the light plant to a company whose stockholders resided in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. At the end of five years this company had never declared a dividend on the stock. This company in 1909 sold to another company composed entirely of local men, which continued to operate it thereafter. The sewage system was established at a bonded endebtedness to the town of $10,000. A factor in the improvement of the town was the bridge planned across New River from Temple street to the mouth of Madam's creek, incorporated by the Hinton Toll Bridge Company in 1905, and completed only after considerable delay. In 1907, the post-office at Hinton distributed mail to 7,000, including six country postal routes. Hinton is the center for a large surrounding country, twelve public roads centering there. In 1907, the bank deposits at Hinton mere about $1,000,000. In 1907. Hinton had three weekly newspapers and two dailies. The McCreery hotel, built in 1907, was constructed by local capital and is thoroughly modern and complete in its appointments. The population which was 3.763 in 1900 decreased to 3656 in 1910 and increased to 3.912 in 1920. In 1916 it had 8 churches, 4 hotels, 3 banks, 2 theaters, 3 public schools, 2 daily newspapers, 2 weekly newspapers. Its principal industrg was the manufacture of lumber. There are two mills in operation. The estimated population of Rinton and Avis in 1918 was 6,000. The population of Avis increased from 1.432 in 1910 to 3,912 in 1920. The development in Favette county is reflected in the incorporation of the following towns. Fayetteville, 1883; Montgomery, 1890; Ansted, 1891; Mt. Hope, 1895; Powellton, 1897; Glen Jean, 1898; Scarboro, 1901; Thurmond, 1903; Oak Hill, 1903; Kilsyth, 1903; Macdonald, 1904 and Stuart, 1906. Of these Montgomery, a shipping center for twenty-six coal operations, is the largest town. Until 1890 the station was called Cannelton which at the completion of the railroad was the name of the post office on the opposite side of the river. From 1876 the town was called Coal Valley Post Office, through the influence of the Coal Valley Coal Company which began to operate a coal mine there, platted the town and changed the name from Montgomery's Landing to Coal Valley. The number of stores in the town increased to four or five by 1880, but the rapid growth did not begin until about 1895. The later growth was influenced by the construction of the Kanawha and Michigan on the opposite side of the river, the erection of the new bridges across the river, and the connection of the Virginia Railway with the Chesapeake and Ohio. Its future is assured by vast tracts of neighboring coal land still undeveloped, including a tract of 10,000 acres belonging to the C. P. Huntington estate. The proposition to relocate the county seat at Montgomery was submitted to the voters in 1892 and rejected by a vote of 1,894 against 2,357. Mount Hope, around which mines opened in rapid succession after the opening of the Loup Creek Branch, was incorporated as a town in 1895, and had attained a population of about 1,200 persons on March 24, 1910, when a disastrous fire left it a mass of blackened ruins, the loss aggregating one-half million dollars with only one hundred and sixty thousand dollars insurance, and fully 1,000 persons rendered homeless. It revived quickly, however, and new houses of brick and stone with much better fire-proof construction largely replaced those that had been destroyed. Ansted, two miles from the main line of the Chesapeake and Ohio, began its progressive history in 1873 with the organization of the Gauley-Kanawha Coal Company which acquired lands through the agency of Col. G. W. Imboden and completed a narrow gauge railroad, later (1889) converted into a broad gauge. Thurmond, located at the mouth of Dun Loup creek at the junction of the Loup creek branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio, where a moun- tain side was cut away to make a train yards for the hundreds of cars of coal that arrive daily from the mines along the branch. Through it in 1910 the road secured nearly one-fifth of its entire revenues and about 45 per cent of the earnings of the Hinton division. It handled in that year 4,283,641 tons of freight producing a revenue of $4,824,911.49. The growth of Glen Jean resulted largely from its location at the junction of the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Kanawha, Glen Jean and Eastern, and the White Oak railways. In relation to the railroad, Charleston had the disadvantage of loca- tion across the unbridged Kanawha, which, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer, had "the poorest excuse of a ferry that was ever allowed to cross a stream, "The Intelligencer", referring to the uncertainties of the ferry, predicted that the town, whose facilities for modem travel were restricted to a "John boat" controlled by a lazy oarsboy imper- vious to the appeals and signals of beckoning passengers, would become a mere "Switchville." In this forecast, the oracle of Wheeling was mistaken. Charleston rose on field and swamp and soon became the state capital. In 1892 it secured improved facilities of access to the railway station by the erection of a toll-bridge under the auspices of a private cor- poration. Its later growth was assured by its location in the center of a region of unexploited wealth of timber and minerals and by its selec- tion as the permanent seat of the state government. Naturally it be- came a center of banking, wholesale mercantile business, and industrial manufacturing plants. Its recent development was also influenced by improvements in river navigation and by increased facilities of railway connection with the northwest, northeast and southeast. Charleston was incorporated as a city in 1861. Its first brick street paving was begun in 1870 by Dr. John P. Hale on Capital street, and its first gas lights appeared in 1871. In 1871 the names of streets, which had been much confused, were reconstructed and recorded. In the same year the first steam ferry across the Kanawha was established. In 1872 the temporary capitol building was com- pleted, and the West Virginia legislature first met in Charleston. In the same year the first wholesale grocery of Charleston was established by Euby and Halo. Two years later the first wholesale dry goods house was opened by Jekenko Brothers. The first wholesale hardware store was opened in 1875, the first wholesale liquor house in 1876, and the first wholesale shoe house in 1877. In 1873, coincident with the opening of the 0. & 0. for travel, the improvement of navigation on the Kanawha was begun by the United States government. In 1875, the slowly growing town encountered a disappointment in the re- moval of the capital to Wheeling by act of the legislature—an act largely due to lack of adequate communication and hotel facilities at Charleston, and special in- ducements offered by Wheeling. On the 18th of January, 1875—five days after the session began—Hon. Jonathan M. Bennett, of Lewis county, a senator from the Ninth Senatorial District, introduced "Senate Bill No. 29," entitled "A Bill to remove the seat of Government temporarily to Wheeling." On February 13, this passed the Senate by a vote of thirteen yeas, to eleven nays. It was reported to the House of Delegates the same day, and five days later, passed that body, the vote standing thirty-eight yeas and twenty nays. Although Governor Jacob [----], not approve this act, it became a law on February 20 without his signature. This act was as follows: "Whereas, Henry K. List, Michael Reilly, John McLure, Geo. W. Franzheim and Simon Horkheimer, citizens of Wheeling, have agreed to furnish the State, without cost thereto, suitable accommodations, in said city for the legislative, exec- utive and judicial departments of the State, including the state library, should the seat of government of the State be removed temporarily to said city; and Whereas, It appears to the legislature that the capital of the State should be located at a more accessible and convenient point; therefore, Be it enacted ty the Legislature of West Virginia. That on and after the passage of this act, until hereafter otherwise provided by the law, the seat of government of the State of West Virginia shall be at the city of Wheeling." The date of the removal was fixed for May 21. The people at Wheeling ener- getically proceeded to erect a new capitol building. A Capitol Committee was ap- pointed, Captain John McClure being its Chairman. On March 17 ensuing, the city council adopted an ordinance providing for an issue of city bonds to the amount of $100,000.00, the proceeds to be used for the erection of a public building. This ordinance was approved by a vote of the people in April, following. The bonds were issued and put on the market. Bids aggregating $429,000.00 were made for them, and all were sold above par on July 19. The purchasers being: John J. Brown of Morgantown, West Virginia............. .$20,000.00 Exchange Bank of Wheeling, West Virginia............... 60,000.00 Bank of Wheeling, West Virginia. ........................ 15,000.00 Kingwood National Bank, Kingwood, West Virginia. ........ 5,000.00 On September 4, the foundation of the new building was completed. Meantime, Charleston decided to test the constitutionality of the act providing for the re- moval. On March 30, sixty days before the day set for the removal, John Slack, Sr., John T. Cotton, Edward C. Stolle, John C. Kuby, John T. White, Alexander H. Wilson, and Gustave Stolle, representing the interests of Charleston, applied to Evermont Ward, Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, for an injunction restrain- ing the State officials from removing the State Archives and other public property from Charleston to Wheeling or elsewhere. The applicants having entered into bond under the penalty of $5 000.00, the injunction was granted. Thus began, what proved to be in some respects at least most remarkeble legal proceedings. On May 18, John L. Cole, the State Librarian, appeared in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, and asked that the injunction be dissolved. James H. Ferguson and William A. Quarrier, made able arguments in favor of its perpetuation. Joseph Smith, the presiding Judge, ordered the injunction dissolved, but suspended his decree until May 27 so that the plaintiffs could apply to the supreme court for an appeal. On May 20, an appeal was granted by Judge Charles P. T. Moore at Point Pleasant. Meantime, on April 24, Governor John J. Jacob issued a notice to the Auditor and all other heads of Departments to have the archives and paraphernalia of their offices ready for shipment to Wheeling on May 21, and he employed carpenters to make boxes for packing the archives, and draymen to convey them to the wharf boat. These laborers, arrested under complaint of the plaintiffs, were taken into court, where they were held to answer the charge of violating the terms of the injunction. Writs were also served Upon the State officials all of whom made answer except Governor Jacob who gave the matter no attention, and he was not arrested. On May 12, the City Council of Wheeling appropriated $1,500.00 to defray the expenses of the removal. The steamer "Emma Graham," one of the most popular passenger packets on the Ohio, was chartered at a cost of $1,000.00 to transport the officials and State property from Charleston. At the appointed time she steamed up the Great Kanawha and arrived at the landing at Charleston on May 31. Captain John McClure, Chairman of the Wheeling Removal Committee, hastened to notify the government of the presence and purpose of the steamer. After all the state officials had boarded her and selected their quarters, the steamer de- parted, leaving all the public property behind in the custody of Judge Smith. At Parkersburg all passengers were transferred to the steamer "Chesapeake," bound for Wheeling. Near Sistersville, the boat received an escort Committee composed of twenty gentlemen from Wheeling, who had descended the river on the steamer "Hudson" to conduct the State officials to the new capital city. On May 23, the state officials arrived at Wheeling and on the morning of May 24 established their offices in the Linsly Institute buildings to await the decision of the supreme court of appeals (consisting of three judges)—Alpheus P. Haymond, John S. Hoffman and Charles P. T. Moore. Following the decision of September 13, dissolving the injunction, the archives and other property of the state government was boxed at Charleston, and forwarded to Wheeling on two barges towed by the steamer "Iron City." Three days after their arrival at Wheeling, Governor Jacobs issued a proclamation declaring Wheel- ing to be the capital. On November 10, the legislature met in Washington Hall. Over a year later, on December 4, 1876, the government occupied the new capitol building. Charleston did not lose hope. The people were weary of a "capital on steam- ers." On January 16, 1877, Peregrine Hays of Gilmer county submitted in the house a bill providing for the location of a permanent capital and erection of nec- essary public buildings. This bill, approved by the house on February 5 by a vote of 40 to 16 and by the senate on February 19 by a vote of 12 to 9, submitted the question of location to a vote of the people by an election which was held in August, 1877. In the spirited triangular contest between Charleston, Wheeling and Martins- burg, Charleston received a majority of the votes—by which under the provisions of the bill she became the permanent capital eight years later on May 1, 1885. Prompt steps were taken to select a capitol site and to erect a capitol build- ing thereon. For this purpose the legislature appropriated $50,000 and authorized the Board of Public Works to receive donations of land or money to supplement it. On August 13, 1878, the old State House Company donated the old eapitol building which had been erected in 1870, and also the grounds. The old building was demolished and on its site a new one was begun by A. H. Sheppard of Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, under a contract of May 27, 1880, and finally completed (in- cluding inside decorations) by July 7, 1888, at a total cost of $389,923.58. Early on May 2, 1885, two steamers, the "Chesapeake," carrying the state officials and their effects, and the "Bell Prince," towing a barge full of archives, left Wheeling for the new capital. Large canvas banners decorated the sides of the barge and steamers, and legends thereon informed the populace along the river that the State Capital of West Virginia was again in transitu. Early on Sunday, May 3, the steamer arrived in sight of Charleston. A cannon on the deck of the "Bell Prince" was fired every few seconds, and all the steamers in port kept up a continuous blowing of whistles. The entire population lined the banks of the river, thankful for the victory in securing the capital, which "shall never be removed, ex- cept by vote of the majority of the qualified voters of the State cast at an elec- tion held for that purpose, in pursuance of an Act of the Legislature." By 1885 Charleston began to feel the stimulation of a larger life, which was marked by a series of improvements. In 1884 its desire for more convenient communication with the northwestern part of the state was partially realized by the opening of the Kanawha and Michigan railway (an eastern continuation of the Ohio Central) in 1884* and the completion of the Ohio River Railroad soon thereafter. In 1884 the city hall was built. In 1885 an ice plant was established. In 1886 the Charleston Water "Works Company began business. In 1887 electric lights were introduced. The first street car line began to operate in 1890 with mules and changed from mule power to electric power in 1894. The old Keystone bridge, built in 1873 in the interests of the * The K. & M. was extended to Gauley Bridge by 1894. In the summer of 1917, an extension of its main line from Gauley Bridge to Belva was begun with plans to connect, at the Nicholas county boundary, with the Flynn Lumber Company Bail- road, an important standard gauge subsidiary begun about 1905 and now owned by the K. & M. Co., but also tributary to the C. & 0. Railway at Belva. "West End" and destroyed by ice in 1879 was rebuilt in 1886 as a free bridge. About the same time the old suspension toll bridge, con- structed in 1852, was purchased and made free from toll. Better communication across the river was secured in 1891 by the opening of the new steel bridge for traffic. New evidences of improvement appeared in the opening of the Burlew Opera House in 1892 and the completion of a new stone court house in 1894. By 1910 the city had eighty-three miles of street paving, seventy- five miles of paved sidewalks, twenty-seven miles of sewers, fourteen miles of electric street railways in operation, thirteen school buildings. thirty-eight churches, four first-class hotels and ten smaller hotels Local transportation by trolley lines is furnished by the Charleston Interurban Railroad, which maintains fourteen miles of track within the corporate limits of the city and interurban lines sixteen miles east, on the south bank of the Great Kanawha River, to Cabin Creek Junction, and twelve miles west, on the south bank of the Great Kanawha River, to St. Albans, a city of 4,000 people. The Charleston-Dunbar Traction Company maintains about three miles of track within the city limits and (since 1914) about four miles of interurban track to Dunbar, Va.. a thriving in- dustrial town of about 3,000 population. Other suburbs housing industries tributary to Charleston are Spring Hill and Belle, Va. The recent growth of the town is reflected by the increase of postal receipts at the city post office as indicated below: 1909 ..........................................$ 93,720.00 1910 .......................................... 103,517.00 1911 .......................................... 116,663.00 1912 .......................................... 141,366.00 1913 .......................................... 150,068.00 1914 .......................................... 170,578.00 1915 .......................................... 191,930.00 1916 .......................................... 212,237.00 1917 .......................................... 267,971.69 1918 .......................................... 534,141.53 By 1921 there were in the Charleston District—extending from Montgomery to St. Albans—55 large manufacturing plants of various kinds, with investments ag- gregating $35,000 000, and employing 9,440 people. They included the following: Steel and other metal workers, 12 plants, with capital of $5,520,000; employees, 2,550; chemical products, 8 plants, with capital of $10,375,000; employees, 2,080; electrical, 6 plants, with capital of $7,950 000; employees, 900; glass manufacturers, 9 plants, with capital of $5,800,000; employees, 2,200; wood-working mills, 5 plants, with capital of $975,000; employees 435; other mills, 6 plants, with capital of $960,000; employees, 580; brick and clay products, 4 plants, with capital of $410,000; employees, 420; and oil and gas products, 4 plants, with capital of $3,300,000; employees, 260. The owners of these plants chose their present locations because of the ad- vantages of fuel, power, transportation, and the convenience of raw materials. Most of them have lately added very largely to the size of their original plants, the amount of their investment, the number of people employed and the amount of their output. Four of the manufacturing plants recently acquired by the Charleston District are quite notable both for their intrinsic importance and for the impetus their stamp of approval will undoubtedly give the district as an eligible location for plants of similar kind. These are the Libby-Owens Sheet Glass plant, the Owens Bottle plant, the Rollin Chemical plant, the Warner-Klipstein Chemical plant, and the BoessIer-Hasslacher Chemical plant. These plants represent an investment of $14,450,000. The Kelly Axe factory, located on the west side near the mouth of Kanawha Twomile, was established in 1905. It covers about 30 acres of land and produces more than one-half of the axes manufactured in the United States. The South Side Foundry and Machine Works, located on the south side of Kanawha river, was established in 1890. The plant of the Charles Ward Engineering Works, located on the south side of the Kanawha river near the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway depot, was established in 1873. The Kanawha Mine Car Company factory, located on the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad near the eastern end of Thompson street, was estab- lished in 1902. West Virginia Clay Products Company, located on the south side of Elk river on the Coal & Coke Railroad near the month of Twomile, was established in 1912. It manufactures all kinds of building bricks. Baldwin Steel Company plant, located on south side just west of the railroad bridge across the Kanawha river, was established in 1907, and reorganized in 1912 with Joseph Kreg as president and treasurer. Banner Window Glass Company plant, located in South Charleston on Eastern avenue near D street, was established in 1907. Its glass sand is shipped from Lawton, Ky., and its lime from Marble Cliff, Ohio. The Charleston Window Glass Company plant, located on the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad near Twomile creek, was established in 1910; employs 50 skilled workmen and 90 laborers. Charleston has a large number of wholesale houses distributing groceries, dry goods, hardware, machinery, etc. It is also a strong financial center. The following was the financial statement of the various banks of the city for April 4, 1913: Loans Deposits Kanawha Valley Bank ............................. $1 028,730.52 $3 089,954.94 Charleston National Bank ........................ 1,031,929.21 1,770,934.53 Kanawa Banking & Trust Co. ...................... 486,935.84 1,163,692.08 Kanawha National Bank ........................... 380,055.32 1,155,229.17 Citizens National Bank .......................... 294,250.48 1,238,537.40 National City Bank .............................. 154,954.27 815,688.72 Capital City Bank ............................... 237,327.65 438 717.74 Charleston-Kanawha Trust Co. .................... 168,637.80 272,975.14 Elk Banking Company ............................. 65,411.89 213,989.17 Peoples Exchange ................................ 42,427.14 130,456.42 Glenwood Bank ................................... 30,327.43 39,075.99 Totals ......................................... $3,920,987.55 $10,329,251.30 During the World war, Charleston was the center of a tremendous expenditure of money including more than $100,000,000, by the United States Government for the location of armor plate, projectile, gun forging and high explosive plants. The signature of the armistice in November, 1918, temporarily stopped the operation of the high ex- plosive plant, permanently built, but on June 1, 1919, the War Depart- ment announced that it would sell this entire plant to private pur- chasers for operation as a manufacturing city for chemical purposes. The sale of this plant to large chemical manufacturers greatly in- creases the prominence of Charleston as a chemical manufacturing center. Charleston's increase of population for each decade of more than a century is indicated in the following table: 1778 to 1790 .............................. 35 1798 to 1800 .............................. 60 1805 to 1810 .............................. 100 1820 ...................................... 500 1830 ...................................... 750 1840 ...................................... 1,200 1850 ...................................... 1,500 1860 ...................................... 1,800 1870 ...................................... 4 000 1880 ...................................... 4,500 1890 ...................................... 8,000 1900 ...................................... 11,099 1910 ...................................... 22,996 1920 ...................................... 39,846 At St. Albans the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company in 1871 erected a sawmill to cut lumber for the railway which was then under construction and which later attracted the mills and factories which made St. Albans a prosperous "lumber town." Several great timber companies located up Coal river, down which they rafted their products. St. Albans was retarded in growth by the policy of the Central Land company, which, although it held lands at St. Albans, devoted all its attention to the development of Huntington. Later the preparation for a greater city was made by Grant Hall who, after purchasing the lands of the Central Land company, graded the streets and laid cement walks. These foundations were soon followed by the inauguration of a system of lighting and water-works, and more recently by other municipal improvements including trolley car connections with Charleston. In 1900 contracts were made for the construction of the Kanawha, Pocahontas & Coal River Railway along Coal river. The charter, granted in 1896, provided for a route via the junction of Marsh and Clear forks, thence via Marsh fork to the Norfolk and Western in Mercer county. The road was constructed from St. Albans through Boone and into Lincoln counties in 1905-07. It leads to rich coal fields and lumber regions. [to be continued. vfc]