Misc Photos From The 50s Page Two
Early recycling without government intervention
This is the alley between Capitol &
Hale Streets. You can see the Kanawha Valley Bank building in
the background. The man in this photo is most likely what we
called a Bum back in those days. Today we call em Homeless.
However, there's one big difference: Most of the Bums in my
day actually WORKED, at least part of the week.
I can remember setting on my porch on
Smith Street watching these huge carts go by, being pushed by
men a fraction of their size, loaded down with cardboard and
other items. Those huge carts normally had real automobile axles
and car tires! The carts were so heavy, that the men had
to balance them just right in order to push them. I watched many a
man up in the air holding onto the handle because the front of
the cart was so heavy. They were on their way to what we call
today... "the recycling center" on Dryden Street just off
Capitol Street next to the railroad tracks. Most often,
they were doing this just to get money to buy alcohol, and take
a couple of days off. Then, back to work. |
TODAY
Kanawha Boulevard Near Capitol Street 
| Here you see Kanawha Blvd in the mid
50s. The black car in the center is turning onto Capitol Street. All
of the buildings beyond that car have been torn down to make way for
the bank, which now takes-up the entire block. Some of the businesses
you can see include WKNA Radio, Arthur Murray Dance Studio,
Park Hotel, Johnston Cleaners, Keller's, Cavender Furniture. |
Capitol Street
Capitol St. in the late 60s. The
only business left today in this photo is the Peanut Shop,
which ironically opened it's doors on the day I was born. (
1950 ) It's obviously winter, and some demonstration
appears to be happening at what is now the Public Library.
I'm guessing it was something put-on by the Charleston Fire
Dept.
405 Washington Street West
This old building is standing in the
exact spot where the "RX-By Tel" Pharmacy on West Washington
St. stands
To the right
of this building you will see a driveway. It's still there today
as an alley
TODAY
The Park Ave Pillars 
The old pillars at Park Ave and Washington Street West were probably removed in 1954
The
old pillars at Park Ave were actually once the gates to the Glenwood
Estate, which is still there today. They were built by William
Preston for James Laidley, father of the late George S. Laidley, for
many years city superintendent of schools.
William Preston was
born in Sileby England in 1794, and died near the mouth of
Tyler creek, in Kanawha County, Feb. 5, 1855.
One of his first
jobs was to build the Littlepage Mansion in 1845. It was built for a
man who had come out from the easternpart of Virginia. His name was
Thornton and he was a son of one of the three Thornton brothers who
married the three Gregory sisters, who were first cousins of
George Washington. (Thornton would not live in the house
and before it was finished, he sold it to Littlepage)
Laldley
had' William Preston build the stone pillars, at Park Avenue and
West Washington street, and between them he hung the gate which opened
into his driveway. When the city changed the old driveway
and straightened it into Park Avenue, the stone pillarswere moved by H.
B. Agsten a few feet from where they stood originally. They were three
feet square, some 12 feet tall and were surmounted by stone stars, cut
out of solid foot-square stones. While the stars would seem to
have been put on for mere ornaments, the fact that a similar
stone though smaller, was placed over the main entrance to the
Littlepage mansion.. and so it appears that Preston had adopted this
sort of star as an emblem of his own to mark his
workmanship. Glenwood was
built in 1890 and the stone pillars were probably built about
the same time. Preston's family still lives in the Kanawha Valley. |
Photo courtesy of Nancy Williams
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