West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 148 by Charlie Miller
More old-time business
- Mellott’s Drug Store – The early druggist in West Jefferson was Zachary R. Taylor, who was in business for 55 years from 1873 to 1928. In 1928, his business was bought by Merrill ‘Doc’ Mellott. He opened up in a building that sat on the northeast corner of Main and Walnut Streets. In 1947, he razed that building and built the current one, which is now occupied by Dr. Mark Garwood. This building had huge plate glass windows in the front and an apartment upstairs. Doc added a soda fountain and counter. After school, the booths were always filled with school kids. It was the bus stop for all Greyhound busses westbound. On one occasion, a lady ran through one of the plate glass windows to catch a bus. Doc served with the 308 Engineer Company in WWI, serving at Aisne-Marne and Meuse-Argonne. Merrill H. Mellott died on Christmas Day, 1965, and is buried at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
_ The White Kitchen – The White Kitchen was opened in the 1920s when automobile travel was becoming popular. I was downstairs in the building that was built in 1832 as the National Road was being surveyed and was known as the Mantle House Hotel. This building still sits on the northeast corner of Main and Chester Streets. It was opened and operated by Lou Reason, who died in 1930. It was later owned and operated by George Bernard “Chesty” Smith and Kathryn Smith. Before 1969 and Interstate 70, it did brisk business from travelers on the West to East Coast U. S. Route 40. After Chesty died in 1975, it became a pizza shop and later a bar. There were living quarters above the restaurant, and several years later, the upstairs caught on fine, and there was a fatality. The top floor was removed, and it remained a bar.
- The building on the southwest corner of Main and Walnut Streets held many businesses. In the 1920s, the east side held the A&P grocery store. Later, the east part held Martin’s Restaurant, owned by Steve Martin and his sister-in-law Mamie Martin. It held a Chinese Restaurant at one time. The west side held a barber shop from the 1920s until 1947, when the owner, William Wills, died. Later, it held a bar by different owners. The east side now (2023) houses the Village Bakery and Cafe. Behind it is the “Ice House,” where blocks of ice were stored before refrigerators. In the early days, ice was cut from Little Darby Creek.
- The building at 54 E. Main St. once held the Star Hotel. It was owned by John Kubitschack, who was born in Austria in 1863. He immigrated in 1885. He started out as a baker in the Parson’s Building on W. Main St. He later also opened a restaurant. This building was likely built in the 1850’s. In 1911, he bought the building at 58 E. Main St. and opened the Star Hotel. He died on January 3, 1935. The building later contained a hair salon and was the office of Doctor G. E. Sheetz, later Dr. Theodore Froncek, and their son Dr. James Froncek. Mr. Kubitschack must have been a character the story went around that he sold cigars at the hotel; when asked the price, he’d say, “8 cents a piece or 3 for a quarter, what do I care for a penny!”