West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 161 by Charlie Miller
- James Clark, Ol’ timer continued from Series #160 -
The engines of the Little Miami R. R. were wood burners. They always stopped here for a supply of wood. A short distance north of town, a big wood-chopping camp was established, and the railroad company laid a spur track on the hill east of Little Darby Creek through the farms of Wilson, Conklin, Burnham, and O. H. Bliss terminating on the Bidwell land and the east side of the Middle Pike. Here, the wood was sawed and prepared by the use of oxen and mules for power, changing the animals every two or three hours. The Railroad, at best, was a very flimsy affair; the engines were small, and a train of five or six cars was considered large.-- -- Mr. Clark was asked if he remembered the woodshed, which at one time played a very important part in our early development. “yes’ he said, “I will never forget I always went to watch Edward Powell and Mr. Farrington saw wood for the engines. One day when, the wood train blew up, and Farrington was blown under the porch of O. H. Bliss but not seriously injured. The whole block adjoining the Baptist church in North Center Street was piled high with four-foot wood to be re-sawed, and also, there was another big woods chopping east of Big Darby with a spur track, and this wood was hauled to town and piled in the local yard. (At that time, North Center Street ended at Water Street, and the Baptist church sat there until 1887.) -- -- “At this time, I was living in an old hotel that stood where the present Building & Loan Co. is located. In passing, I forgot to mention that my brother Albert and I escaped injury when the engine blew up because we had been sent on an errand to Jacob McNeal and at least escaped a hot water bath.”(The Building & Loan building was on the northwest corner of Main and Walnut Streets, and still (2023) is.)-- -- Very few know that a culvert is buried in front of the Redmond home under the National Pike. Bridge Street got its name from this culvert. -- -- Mr. Clark recalls the flood of 1868 like the one in 1913. The Middle Pike bridge was washed away and was later replaced by a covered wooden bridge. He has been a resident of this town for 66 years. (1868) He attended school in the old academy and later in the present grade school building, where Lyda Mason taught for several years. In those days, plank walks were the vogue, and brick walks were unknown. -- -- in conclusion, Mr. Clark refers to these gay young fellows of a former day, who helped to enliven a rather prosaic existence, all of whom have passed to their reward—Frank L. Olney. (James Clark was born in 1858 and was the brother of Albert “Bird” Clark. For many years, he was the Village Lamp Lighter.
A lot of Oak was cut around here, along with being used to make oak barrels, and lot was shipped out on the railroad. The very first railroad was the Little Miami line that came through in 1849-50. Depot at that time sat on the east side of the tracks on Walnut Street just before it crossed the tracks, the Wood Shed sat on the south side of the tracks just east of the depot.
The Old Academy sat on the current site of the Apostolic Church on E. Pearl St.