West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 122 by Charlie Miller

____February 24, 1927 – “New Elevator is Completed At West Jefferson”---It stands on the site of the original elevator built in 1894 by Myron Silver and Robert F. Chenoweth. The new plant cost $30,000.00 and has a capacity of 30,000 bushels of grain. It is located on the Pennsylvania R.R. at the west end of town. The manager is Fred P. Weber, 34. Other workers are Harrison Smith, Pete Merrick, Tracy Hopper, and James Soloman. (Corner of W. Pearl St. and S. Frey Ave.)

____April 25, 1927 – Lukens and Rader open a new funeral service in West Jefferson.

____April 25, 1927 – Mr. and Mrs. William Wanzel will open the “Ye Olde Trail Dance Pavilion” on May 1, on W. Main Street. (I remember this later as the Longstreth Dance Hall. It sat on the northwest corner of W. Main Street and Blair Road. It was a huge building that drew huge crowds, and a lot of people came out from Columbus to dance. Wanzels also owned a bar at 25 W. Main St.)

____May 16, 1927 – The Commercial Bank closes. It was organized in 1882 by Ashton A. Gregg.

____May 30, 1927 – Only two West Jefferson Civil War Veterans are left. W. R. Borland and James "Daddy" Chambers were given ‘honor’ seats on the stage of the Opera House at a program given there to commemorate Memorial Day. (James Chambers was born in 1939 in Burlington, NJ. He served in Co. A 40^th O. V. I. W. R. Borland was born in 1838 and served as a Pvt. in Co. D 95^th O. V. I)

____May 1927 – Col. Charles Lindbergh, air hero of the New York to Paris non-stop flight, passed over Jeff Friday at about 12:28 p.m. on his way to St. Louis. He was flying fast and leading his escort planes. The entire town turned out for the occasion, and the siren was sounded, and auto horns were blown, but it isn’t likely that he knew anything about it!

____June 30, 1927 – Hume’s new 5 c. to $5 store is to open here Saturday in the former building occupied by Taylor’s Drug Store. (15 W. Main St. is at the west end of the building. A lithograph of the drug store is in the 1875 Madison County Atlas.)

____October 1927 – A traffic light has been installed on Main St at the intersection of Walnut St. (This one was used for several years, it was just red and green with no yellow caution light.)

____November 1927 – It is predicted that by 1935, the population of West Jefferson will be between 3,000 and 5,000 people. (Their count was right; the year was wrong.)