TAG GALYEAN CHEVROLET

Tag Galyean Chevrolet started life as *Roger Dean Chevrolet which started life as Charleston Motors, a Lincoln dealership.  Gene Byard Ford was right down the street,  and we couldn't wait to visit both showrooms when the new models arrived.  They really made a big deal of it back in the late 50s and 60s:  Gene Byard for instance brought-in a Country band that just had a hit record.  They played in the used car lot across the street from the showroom.  Their name?  Buck Owens and the Buckaroos.  All around Tag Galyean were many homes, apartments and businesses.  About 100 feet to the right of the above photo for instance,  was Herbert's Music Company,  which was housed in the end (facing Broad St) of a long line of nice brick apartments.

Roger Dean had a locally famous horse stable out on the Elk River right before you get to Pinch WV.  He sold his dealership to Tag Galyean by the time I was a teenager.  Tag went-on to expand the business until it took-up the entire block between Broad-Lee-Washington-and Brooks Streets.   The entire footprint of Tag Galyean Chevrolet now holds the Clay Center.  In the photo above,  you can see the old Charleston High School in the background.

Washington Street at Brooks.

 

*LISTEN TO TWO ROGER DEAN COMMERCIALS FROM 1970

1... 18 feet Of Chevrolet!

2.... Chevelle SS 396.

Both commercials from WKAZ Radio.  The Chevy spokesman is the famous Lloyd Bridges.

 

This is the first ad for the new Charleston Motors, a Lincoln dealership.   At this time, it was the grandest auto dealership in the valley, with a new building style.  Charleston Motors was located here for a relatively short time, when Bob Hess and later Roger Dean bought them out in 1958. Finally Tag Gaylean owned the business until it closed and the Clay Center was built.

SIDE NOTE:

When I was a kid and Roger Dean had the dealership,  there was a spooky old house directly across Broad Street on the corner of Washington & Broad.  I walked past this house on my way to Mercer School for many years.  It would soon become run down,  which made it look even worse.  Around 1965 or so, the house was demolished.  I have tried to discover who built the magnificent house and who lived in it last,  but have hit dead ends.  I do know that a lady who was very well known in her day, moved into the house after her husband died and lived there a short time before she too passed away.  Her name was Lula Boyer, and she owned much property around the city, including parts of the Broad-Lee-Washington block.  She lived in this house in the late 30s.

As you can see,  the Heart O Town Motor Hotel has just been completed, and the house will soon be gone.

 

In the photo above you see a parking lot that was to the rear of the Boyer House. (I hesitate to call it that, but it's the only name I know for a fact lived there. Did she own the house before she got married and then move back in after her husbands death?  I don't know.) That parking lot once held a fine home owned by the Frankenbergers.

 

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