Dear Readers,
My name is Alexandra Flohr and I want to take you on a tour of
historic Main St. in Grafton to honor our heritage. I will not be able to give
you all the history of every building, but I can give you a taste. If you like
what you see you can visit the Taylor County Public Library and read more
in the Taylor County Historical and Genealogical section.
The first white men came to Taylor County in 1751. They were David
Tygart and Robert Files. In 1753 the Files Family was killed by Native
Americans, except their son. Their son fled to the Tygart’s home and all
escaped. In 1761 Willie Childers, Joseph Lindsey, and John and Sam
Pringle deserted the British Army to become hunters and trappers. This
was the case for many of the first residents. Many hunters and trappers
would deplete the land and move on. The first permanent settler in Taylor
County was in 1766, Thomas Merrifield in Booths Creek and it goes on
from there.
Taylor County was established January 19, 1844 from Monongalia
County. Grafton was chartered March 15, 1856 and named for John
Grafton, civil engineer for the B & O Railroad. Main Street buildings
became historic landmarks in 1984.
During the 1900s Grafton was full of activity mostly due to the
railroad. 1910 Grafton had about 12,000 residents and seven to eight miles
of paved roads. We had the best water supply around from the Tygart
River. Grafton had an electric street car line in the middle of the street.
Grafton was also known for being the most lit town around. Grafton has
also had its share of disasters, like floods and fires.
I hope you enjoy the tour!
The Grafton Hotel and the B & O Railroad Depot
These buildings were built by John T. McGraw, contractor and financier. The
ground was first leveled January 1, 1852 for the depot and completed on
Christmas Day, 1853. Grafton received its first passenger train on June 22, 1852.
A new passenger train station was dedicated on September 28, 1911. During the
hub of activity in the 1900s, Grafton received about 33 passenger trains per day.
We have had many special guests come through our train station including,
Franklin Roosevelt in 1944 and Harry Truman in 1948. The last passenger train
came through on May 1, 1971 Engine #12 which had once carried President
Lincoln’s body after his assassination.
The Grafton Hotel was originally called The Willard Hotel after John McGraw’s
friend and president of the B & O Railroad, Daniel Willard. The ground was
broken for the hotel on September 21, 1910 and the hotel was finished on April
12, 1912. It was a very luxurious, seven story building with ballrooms and
marble floors. Unfortunately, business slowed and the hotel was only used for
the train crews from the sixties through the eighties. The hotel closed in the mideighties and became vacant. The Vandalia Heritage Group owns it now.
The Masonic Temple
The Masons in this area formed September 26, 1860. They
moved to this building on January 14, 1878 and changed
their name to Grafton Lodge #15. They had a fire here on
August 2, 1893 and were back in the rebuilt building on
March 12, 1894. The Masons consist of the merged York
Rite and Scottish Rite.
Cohen Building
This is the location of the first bank in Grafton in 1873, Citizens
Savings Bank, which merged with Grafton Bank which is now
First National Bank.
In 1876 August Pollock bought this property and had a men’s
clothing store with a community center on the second floor.
James Love bought it and added more stock to the store. An
interesting fact to this is Mr. Love’s son, Dr. Earnest Love, was
among many things postmaster of Grafton and was a driving
force in getting the post office built here at the end of Main St. Dr.
Love was hit by a car and died on January 12, 1932.
This building also housed Rite Aid.
The Brinkman Block
George Brinkman started building his “city within a block” March 12, 1876.
He originally started with three buildings from 1876-1879. His building
stretched from McCrorys five and dime to Archdeacons. He had eleven
children. He had many businesses in his buildings including his bakery.
People often commented that he did not have to leave his block for
anything.
The buildings are now occupied by a video store, a dentist, and an art
gallery. Some other owners in the past have been Halls Floor Covering,
Nancy Bartlett Florist, and Pettrey’s Shoes.
Taylor County Courthouse
Before this courthouse was built in 1882, court was held in
Brinkman’s Hall. The first session was held November
1878. The jail was in the basement of the courthouse until
1928. The annex was built in 1976.
The Grafton Post Office
Grafton had a lot of mail due to all the train traffic. The
first post office to serve Grafton, Virginia was established
on April 1, 1854. They broke ground for this building on
June 1, 1913 and the corner stone was laid on Tuesday
December 2, 1913. The building was occupied on
December 26, 1914.
The Bonafeed Building
This three story building with light brick and dark brick
trim was built in 1926. The architecture was interesting
for the time. It now houses Mountaineer Legal Services,
Attorneys at Law.
Heritage Park
This caboose (C2445) was set here May 19, 1985. The
caboose was built in Keyser, WV December, 1941 and is
painted in a fifties theme.
There was a large building here that housed The Grafton
Banking and Trust.
The Loar Building
Adolphus Armstrong, a clerk of courts for many years,
had this building built in 1902. William R. Loar was a
prominent photographer in Grafton. Loar’s family
inherited this building.
The Joliffe Building
George L. Joliffe had an American Bazaar in this building
around 1889. It was also owned by Lee Evans who had a
furniture store which closed in 1978 after being in business
for 81 years.
Now this building and the M & M Bank building are
owned by the Taylor County Historical Society.
The Merchants and Mechanics Building
This property has had a colorful history. In the 1860s it was owned by William Cole
who was a cabinet maker which easily transitioned to coffin maker. He never had a
robbery the papers said. The Merchants and Mechanics Savings Bank organized May
21, 1891 and moved 1893. Unfortunately, the bank failed during the Great Depression.
This building has housed many businesses and apartments over the years, including a
newspaper business and dentist. Perhaps one of the most famous was Loars Jewelers.
Loars had a lot of business because they inspected the watches for the B & O train
crewman. Loars closed on December 23, 1984. There was a big fire in this building in
1937 and they were back in the building in 1947.
The Gough Building
This building has been occupied by the American Legion
#12 from 1960 through 2010. The building was just sold a
couple of weeks ago to be made into apartments.
International Mother’s Day Shrine
Originally this was Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1873. May 15, 1962 the name
changed to the International Mother’s Day Shrine. The reason behind the change is Anna Jarvis
asked President Woodrow Wilson to establish a day to honor mothers. He agreed to this in
1914. This church was special to this cause because Anna’s mom, Anna Reeves Jarvis, was a
Sunday school teacher here for 25 years. Mrs. Jarvis lived in Taylor County during the Civil
War and gathered other mothers to help the soldiers in their efforts, especially with food and
clothes. Mrs. Jarvis always thought there should be a day to honor mothers, so her daughter set
out to make it so. After the holiday became known, Anna Jarvis was upset with the
commercialism of the event and tried to get rid of the holiday. Fortunately, we still can
celebrate this holiday today.
The Elks Lodge #308
The Elks organized in 1864 and were instituted on June 29,
1895 and chartered on July 11, 1895. They bought this
property in November, 1901 and July, 1902. They
formally opened March 24, 1913. One of their first
community efforts was to raise money for the flood
victims. They raised $260 in their first hour.