Mount Vernon Dairy 
See much larger photo with airplanes HERE, and see the event recorded at the bottom of this page.
| I
cant remember a time in my life that when passing the Mount Vernon
Dairy on old Rt 35 (previously Rt 17) near Point Pleasant wasnt a
treat. As a young child, I would strain to capture the images of
the magnificent house, the grand barns and the layout of the dairy
before the 55 mph speed limit would whisk me further down the road.
Oddly enough, when I was 16 and old enough to drive, I took my
girlfriend to Mount Vernon on our first date. There was something
about this amazing site, "out in the middle of nowhere" that
always captured my attention. I grew up on Mount Vernon milk, and to
this day I consider it the best milk in my lifetime. Nothing
today compares to the old Mount Vernon milk, and here you'll see why.... |
This Gazette Article from 1926 illustrates the grand home and dairy operation. 
This
article discusses the entire operation, including the plant in
Charleston, of which anyone who ever lived on the West Side was
probably familiar with. No expense was spared to make the Mount Vernon
Dairy the most beautiful business this valley ever saw. Unlike
the other dairies who's ugly industrial buildings dotted the landscape,
Mount Vernon was a class act that you didnt mind having in your
neighborhood.
 The official address was Pennsylvania Ave. , but the building faced Birch Street, now Buchanan Street. Mount Vernon Milk Bottle The House Today..... I took this photo a couple of years ago near the holidays. 
Just a couple of the beautiful rooms in the house.... 
SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE INSIDE HERE
About that old photo at the top of the page:
The
very day that photo was taken, the article below appeared in the
Charleston Gazette. It was the event of the year, with airplanes
carrying dignitaries, taking off from the grass strip in Kanawha
City and landing across the road from the Mount Vernon Dairy.
Everyone else had to drive gravel and sand roads because there
was no paving in this area yet. It was said that the farmers in
those parts were stuck 6 months out of the year due to the bad road.
All the while, they could see the train whizzing by on the other
side of the Kanawha River. It would be quite some time before Blacktop
would reach Rt 17 (later Rt 35) in front of the farm. Today, the
new four lane runs behind the farm while old Rt 35 in front. It
really is a paradise now.... |
Just a few short months after the top photo was taken, the greatest stock market crash in U.S history would occur, on Black Thursday, October 24,
1929. Somehow it didnt stop the Mount Vernon Dairy ...
Panorama courtesy of Breton Morgan
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