A Look Back

A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans To promote Ford cars and trucks, the Lewisburg Motor Company offered aerial tours for $1 in 1935 at Boone Field in a Ford airplane. The plane in the photo is a Ford Trimotor that was sometimes called the “tin goose.” In 1925, Henry Ford bought the...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans The delightful Irish dancers who performed recently at Lewisburg’s Carnegie Hall may have been surprised to know that one of America’s most famous dancers and his male company performed on the same stage in 1935. When he died in 1972, The New York Times described Ted...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans Shown above is a photo of Rainelle’s first school building that was constructed by the Meadow River Lumber Company in 1913. This first school met for a six-month term in one room of one of the company’s boarding houses. As the number of students increased, a...

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A Look Back

A Look Back By William “Skip” Deegans Whether former President Trump may have an opportunity to again hold an office in the United States government could hinge, in part, on the words of a West Virginian. Peter Van Winkle, a Parkersburg attorney and railroad executive, was involved in the creation...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans The recent debate in the West Virginia Legislature about banning certain books in public libraries conjures up a time 50 years ago when West Virginia drew the attention of the whole nation. In 1974, a state mandate was issued to the West Virginia public schools to...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans In 1935, Greenbrier Military School (GMS) sported the top rifle team in the United States. Coached by Sgt. C.C. Conyers and led by co-captains Cadet William Preston of Lewisburg and Cadet Olin Jennings of Williamson, West Virginia, the team won the William Randolph Hearst national rife...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans Had it not been for James McMillan Lee, Lewisburg would probably not be the home of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Major J. M. Lee, 41, came to Lewisburg in 1896 to start a private school he named the Lee Military Academy. An 1878...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans Standing as a statement of Alderson’s once prominence as a commercial hub and center of education in the Greenbrier Valley, the Alderson National Bank Building is currently on the market. The building was constructed in 1910 at a cost of about $10,000. In addition to the...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans Greenbrier County has recently been in the news as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the West Virginia Spring Salamander for endangered species protection. There are an estimated 300 of the salamanders remaining, and they have been found only in the General Davis Cave...

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A Look Back

By William “Skip” Deegans Shown is perhaps one of the most historic photographs ever taken at what is now The Greenbrier. It was taken in 1869 and labeled “Robert E. Lee With Former Union and Confederate Leaders.” For more than 100 years the photograph was misunderstood, and some of the...

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