Charleston WV – The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
Dec. 24, 1852: The last spike was driven on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and the Ohio River. The event occurred at Rosbys Rock near Moundsville. To mark the spot the following words were carved upon the rock: Rosbbys [sic] Rock Track Closed Christmas Eve 1852.
Dec. 24, 1942: The Committee on Fair Employment Practices ordered that Jehovah’s Witnesses be reinstated to their jobs at Pittsburgh Plate Glass in Clarksburg. The workers had been fired for refusing to participate in union-sponsored flag-salute ceremonies at the plant.
Dec. 25, 1887: Folk artist James Tyree Rexrode was born in Pendleton County. He created a visual record of rural West Virginia life in the early 20th century. He died in 1976.
Dec. 26, 1998: Sportsman George Bird Evans was in Pennsylvania. In 1939, he and his wife, Kay Harris, bought the historic “Old Hemlock” farm in Preston County, where he bred the Old Hemlock line of grouse-hunting setters. He wrote 27 books and numerous articles on upland shooting; Kay also co-wrote five mystery novels under the pseudonym Brandon Bird.
Dec. 27, 1797: The county seat of Ohio County was moved from West Liberty to Wheeling.
Dec. 27, 1923: Businessman and Point Pleasant native Michael Owens, who revolutionized the glass industry through automation, died at age 64.
Dec. 28, 1879: Brigadier General Billy Mitchell was born in France. As chief of the Army Air Service, Mitchell ordered aircraft of the 88th Squadron to perform reconnaissance during the 1921 Miners’ March on Logan.
Dec. 28, 1978: The last trains ran on the Greenbrier Division, a branch line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Unlike most C&O branches in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Division was not a coal-hauling line but served the valley’s timber industry.
Dec. 29, 1861: Confederate soldiers burned most of downtown Sutton. The town slowly rebuilt but remained small until the local timber industry boomed in the 1890 to 1920 period.
Dec. 29, 1928: Humorist and political cartoonist James Frederick Dent was born in Charleston. His talent for turning daily events into delightful anecdotes gained him national fame. Reader’s Digest reprinted 194 items from his columns, and radio commentator Paul Harvey often used his work.
Dec. 29, 1970: John Denver and two friends completed the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Denver performed “Country Roads” in West Virginia on several occasions, notably for the opening of the new Mountaineer Stadium in Morgantown in 1980.
Dec. 30, 1901: McKendree Hospital started providing medical care in rural Fayette County. It was one of three hospitals established by the state in the fast-growing coalfields.
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or visit e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
