West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 62 by Charlie Miller

____April 25, 1927 – Lukens and Rader open a new funeral Home service in West Jefferson. (Luken’s had a funeral home in London for a number of years.) 

____April 25, 1927 – Mr. and Mrs. William Wanzel will open the “Ye Olde Trail Dance Pavilion” on West Main Street. (This was later Al Longstreth Dance Hall on the current site of the Dollar General Store on the northwest corner of Blair Rd. and Main St. Wanzel was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in November of 1865. His father was born in Austria. In 1900, he owned a saloon in Chicago and opened one in West Jefferson in 1905. The building still stands at 25 W. Main St. ) 

____May 16, 1927 – The Commercial Bank closed; it was organized in 1882 by Ashton A. Gregg. 

____May 30, 1927 – Only two West Jefferson Civil War Vets are left. W. R. Borland and James Chambers were given the ‘honor seats’ on the stage of the Opera House at the program given there to commemorate Memorial Day, 1927. 

____Col. Charles Lindbergh, air hero of the New York to Paris non-stop flight, passed over West Jefferson Friday at about 12:28 on his way to St. Louis. He was flying fast and leading his escort planes. The entire town turned out for the occasional and the siren was sounded and auto horns were blown, but it isn’t likely that he knew about it! 

____June 30, 1927 – Hume’s new 5 cent to $5 Store is to open here Saturday in the building formerly occupied by Zack Taylor’s Drug Store. (This was at the west end of the big brick building located at 15 W. Main St.) He went by Z. R. Taylor. He was born in January 1850 in Champaign Co. His father was born in Scotland. Z.R. came to West Jefferson and set up his Drug Store in 1873. He died February 17, 1838, and is buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, His brother, S. M. Taylor, was appointed Ambassador to Scotland in 1897 by President William McKinley) 

____October 1927- A traffic light has been installed on Main Street. (This was at the intersection of Main and Walnut Streets. This just had red and green lights, no yellow. It stayed this way until the 1950’s.) 

____November 1927 – It is predicted that by 1935, the population of West Jefferson will be between 3,000 and 5,000 people. (They hadn’t quite reached 5,000 by 2020) 

____January 28, 1928 – A beacon light is to be built near West Jefferson for an emergency landing field for government aircraft hauling mail, etc. The beacon tower will be 80’ high. (I remember the beacon light on the west side of State Route 29 about across from Jefferson Industries)