WEST UNION BANK PURCHASED OLD DODDRIDGE COUNTY BANK BUILDING IN DECEMBER 1934
Originally the West Union Bank was located on the corner of Columbia and Court Street on lots which were purchased from J. V. And Ella W. Blair. The $300 for the original lot was paid in stock according to records from the Doddridge County Courthouse. This site is now home to Town of West Union City Hall.
The West Union Bank remained in this building until 1934 or 1935, when they moved to the corners of Main and Columbia in the defunct Doddridge County Bank building which they had purchased on December 1, 1934 for $10,250. The following photograph shows the appearance of the building prior to the remodeling.
The photograph below shows the West Union Bank building after the remodeling took place. Notice that the left corner entrance is gone.
West Union Bank built a new bank building in West Union on East Main Street with all the modern conveniences in 1974. This new current building can be seen to the right side of the photograph and remains a vital part of the community today. It has expanded its reach to include Clarksburg, Salem, West Union, Pennsboro, and Harrisville.
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
THIS WEEK – 100 YEARS AGO
Events happening in Doddridge County’s world in 1920… these subjects made the local newspaper’s headlines.
Did you ever wonder what was going on here in Doddridge County one hundred years ago? You’re not alone. I have had so many loyal readers ask me to do an article about the ‘good ole days’ when Christmas cheer was in the air and all was good with the world. I agreed to research it and the following is what I discovered.
It seems that one hundred years ago, things were much like today, both amazingly great and unbelievably terrible. Some of these events are as follows:
FOUR NEAR DEATH
WHEN SPECTACULAR MIDNIGHT
FIRE DESTROYS HOUSE
“While S. S. Nutter, of Broadway Industrial, visited his parents in Doddridge County Saturday night, fire of unknown origin completely destroyed his home, a six-room cottage, at Industrial, and very nearly resulted in the death of his wife, his sister-in-law, and his two small children. The fire, which started at about midnight Saturday, did more than $4,000 worth of damage and threatened for a time to destroy several other frame structures near it, but prompt work on the part of the city fire department checked the course of the flames and saved these buildings from destruction.
Flee From Flames
When Mrs. Nutter woke, shortly after midnight, she found herself surrounded by flames and nearly suffocated by the dense smoke. She screamed and wakened her sister, Miss Goldie Sletz, who was staying with her while her husband was away. The two small Nutter girls, Audrie, aged 6 years, and Rubie, aged 8 years, were sleeping near their mother. Mrs. Nutter and her sister leaped from their beds and catching the children in their arms, made their way with difficulty from the burning building.
When Mrs. Nutter recovered sufficiently to go in a neighbor’s house to call the fire department, she was told that the firemen had already been summoned, and even as she received the information, the big fire truck swung around the corner of Main Street and Broadway toward the burning building. The structure was too far gone to save, and the firemen concentrated their efforts on protecting nearby houses which were threatened when the leaping flames were carried in their direction by a strong south wind.
Carried $4,000 Insurance
Mr. Nutter is an employee of the Clarksburg Window Glass Company at Adamson. His home was insured for $3,000 and the furniture for $1,000. Mr. Nutter purchased the home only about two months ago. All of the occupants of the house lost all their clothing and other belongings with the exception of the garments in which they were sleeping.
Blaze Spectacular
The fire, while under complete control, was still burning at 2 o’clock Sunday morning. A large crowd remained on the scene for more than an hour. The blaze was a very spectacular one and caused much alarm generally throughout the city. It cast a lurid red hue on the sky and could be seen from a distance of close to a mile
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DEEP VALLEY NEWS
Rev. Stewart of West Union preached two very interesting sermons at the Arnolds Creek new church Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
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Mr. and Mrs. Amos Pigott of Akron, Ohio, are visiting the latter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thomas, this week.
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Our schoolteacher, Mr. Clyde Monroe was to Parkersburg last week to attend a teachers’ meeting held at that place.
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Dorsey Duty and James McCollough were called to Ohio last week to attend the funeral of Abel Rogers’ son, who was killed in a coal mine.
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Mrs. A. P. Lewis is moving to West Union this week. Sorry to see her move from our midst, as she is one of our very best neighbors and a friend to every one she meets.
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Doddridge Football Team Wins Against Pennsboro
That week, there was a great win for the Doddridge County football team. The beat one of their greatest rivals, Pennsboro. The Pennsboro News downplayed the win, but Doddridge Countians were ecstatic with the victory. The news article in the Pennsboro News read:
PAY HIGH TRIBUTE
West Union pays Pennsboro a high tribute in the great exultation it manifests over having defeated Pennsboro at football. It is always a landmark in the history of any school which has little recognition in athletics when by some lucky chance, they happen to defeat a school that stands high in athletic circles. – Pennsboro News.
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Doddridge County’s Proud Girls’ Basketball Team
I discovered that this week, one hundred years ago, West Union had a fine girls’ basketball team. The article below reveals the details:
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAM
West Union is assured of several excellent games here this season, as the Girls’ Basketball Team is practicing an hour every evening, under the direction of their coach, Howard Dilly, and as we have several of last season’s stars again on the team, they will be able to make it better showing than last season.
The opening game will be played with the Jane Lew High School girls here on the local floor soon, and we hope to be able to give a complete schedule of the games at a later date.
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Today with the COVID 19 Pandemic, it is important to remember that one hundred years ago, the world was fighting another dreadful disease called Tuberculosis. The search for a cure for tuberculosis was in the news a hundred years ago with the following article:
TUBERCULOSIS
Is Curable and Preventable – BUT
1. More than 2,000 lives are destroyed by tuberculosis every year in West Virginia.
2. Tuberculosis kills producers-one-third of the men and women who die between the ages of 18 and 45 years.
3. The economic waste alone to the State of West Virginia by death from tuberculosis is more than $10,470,000 every year.
4. More than 30,000 men, women and children in West Virginia have tuberculosis in active form.
5. For every active case, 15 other persons are liable to infection.
6. Tuberculosis menaces every community, every home, every individual.
7. The average community has about nine times as much tuberculosis as it thinks it has.
8. This insidious and communicable disease is spread largely by ignorance, carelessness, and neglect.
9. Tuberculosis strikes silently and often has been long at work before it is discovered.
The fight against tuberculosis is financed chiefly by the sale of Christmas Seals and Health Bonds.
BUY CHRISTMAS SEALS
AND HELP STAMP OUT
TUBERCULOSIS
(West Union Herald – December 1920)
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Like Ebola, H1N1, and the pandemics before them, COVID 19 will pass. God Bless everyone this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas and I pray that you have a blessed 2021.
Happy Holidays
Patricia Richards Harris
Doddridge County Historical Society