INDUSTRY PAGE TWO
Kanawha Chemical Fire Engine Co
 | Morgan Lumber Co was owned by the Shadle's. The same man who founded the Mount Vernon Dairy The company was located on Pennsylvania Ave about where the Womens and Children Hospital is today. It too was involved in a spectular fire. |
Kanawha Planing Mill was off Stockton St near the railroad tracks.
| The F. Lory
and Sons company was located on Florida Street near the underpass. They
were involved in all sorts of business, especially wood planing and
real estate. They even loaned money and made mortgage loans. They
were considered the finest wood planers in the state. Back in
the day, they bought the old Dunbar Rubber Plant which
later caught fire in 1926. I'm not positive where this photo was
taken however. |
 The Diamond Ice & Coal Company on Bullitt St has been an institution since day one. It was founded by some
of the city's top leaders, and there is information all over the internet regarding it's history. ( think Capito's)
 Another institution on Bullitt Street was the Kanawha Brewing Company.
 National Veneer Co. on the Elk. Veneers
from Charleston were used exclusively in the handsome interiors
of
the Pullman cars and furniture around the world, especially Germany.
Logs from which veneer was made ranged from 12 inches to four and
a half feet in diameter. They were brought down the Elk River in rafts.
Most of these wood industries
finally closed for one simple reason: Through clear cutting, they finally ran out of wood, especially White Oak. |
 | Vulcan
Iron Works. They worked on everything right up to Shay Steam Engines,
and occasionally had one for sale. You're looking at the corner
of Morris and Lewis Streets. When I was a kid, there was a large
rail yard here with a train warehouse that looked almost exactly like
the one on Smith Street that now houses the Farmers Market. This
entire section was torn down to make way for the small shopping area
that housed (among other things) a Hecks store and BoWinCals and movie
theaters. This corner now supports a CAMC Sports Center medical
facility. |
| The
Tanners and Dyers Extract Company on the South Side of the Kanawha
River. Anytime you have a company like one involved with dyes and
extracts "back in the day", you had a company that was dumping
chemicals into the river, usually far more than most. This
company was indicted for doing just that in 1914, which when you think
about it is pretty remarkable. Remember however that at the time,
dyes and extracts were some of the most important products made in the
United States, and so companies like this were a little tougher to deal
with. While I'm not what some people call a tree hugger, I AM for clean water especially. It's amazing that with all the chemicals that were dumped in the river back then, the people in South Charleston and downriver even survived. |
 ..... BUSINESS
Back to Index
|