History Lives at Calhoun's Heritage Village

Calhoun County's Heritage Village stands quietly in a clearing at the edge of a wood. No classes are held in its one-room school. No mail passes through the post office, and no hooves are shoed in the blacksmith's shop. Items on the shelves of the general store will never be sold. Indeed, the county's newest community will never be home to people, but it is a place where the region's history has come to reside.

The tiny village, which was opened to the public last fall, was the dream of Lorentz C. Hamilton III, a Calhoun County native and former president of the Calhoun County Historical and Genealogical Society. In his travels as a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Hamilton had seen many such historic communities. When he returned to his home county in the 1980s, he began to imagine a place composed of buildings filled with artifacts from around the region.

Today, the village of Hamilton's dreams has become a reality at Calhoun County Park in Mt. Zion. In the last 10 years, through the extraordinary efforts of many volunteers, four buildings have been secured and now stand as a testament to this central West Virginia county's unique rural past.

The first structure to be acquired, Stevens School, originally stood at the top of Pine Creek Hill above Grantsville and was built around 1885. Because it was donated to the historical society before a site for the village was available, the school was dismantled and stored for two years.

Once the park land was secured, many volunteers, some of whom were former Stevens School students, gathered to rebuild the school house. Because the hand-hewn poplar and oak beams had not been marked, reassembling the school was, according to one volunteer, "like working a jigsaw puzzle."

Volunteers prepared the park site, set the foundation with original cut stones, and cut timber to replace damaged framing. They also provided boards for the tongue-and-groove interior and replaced all of the windows.

By the summer of 1997, Stevens School was under roof. Unfortunately, that fall, high winds nearly leveled the building, knocking it off its foundation. After the school was reassembled yet again, a tree fell against it just days before its October 2002 dedication. Volunteers came through again, however, making the repairs in time for the ceremony.

Stevens School is now filled with an assortment of old school desks, including one with a cane bottom. A pot-bellied stove sits prominently in the center of the room. The teacher's paddle, also known as the "attitude adjuster," hangs near the chalkboards. The walls are decorated with old maps, historic pictures, and a 48-star flag.

Other items that add to the period authenticity of the school include a water bucket, schoolbooks, a dictionary on a metal stand, a learner's bench, and recitation benches. The coat rack has antique doorknobs for hooks. Furnishings in the school were donated by the Calhoun County Board of Education, as well as Stevens School alumni. Some were found by historical society volunteers Jim Bell and Donald "Duck" Stevens, who have made Heritage Village their pet project. Bell constructed the recitation benches as well as benches for the school's new front porch. Members of the Calhoun County Retired Teachers Association maintain the flower beds.

Just to the left of Stevens School stands the Jarvis Store. The store was built in Chloe in 1926 and operated by Spencer "Dock" Jarvis, who was known throughout the state for introducing Hereford cattle to the area. The lumber used to build the store was cut from Jarvis's land on Yellow Jacket Road. Jarvis's friend Lonnie Watkins built the store at Oka Road, placing it on a foundation built with locally cut stone.

Jarvis's daughter, Irene Gunn, donated the little store for preservation in Heritage Village, and it was moved there in August 2003. The village is actually the third location for the store. About 50 years ago, it was moved to the intersection of Oka and Beech roads. For its 25-mile journey to Mt. Zion, the building was loaded onto a flatbed truck. The roof slats were removed and the rafters were laid flat to allow the building to pass under electrical wires.

County workers used the store's original cut stones for a nearby flowerbed and set the building on a block foundation. They later restored the wooden shelves, walls, and floors and repaired the windows. Meanwhile, a volunteer crew from Stumptown in Gilmer County reassembled the roof.

The tongue-and-groove floors and counters were polished to a shine. Some original store furnishings, including wrapping paper, were also donated by Gunn. The collection of period dry goods, grocery items, hardware, and medicinal sundries were donated by supporters from throughout the county, or were located by Bell and Stevens, who also painted and hung the new store sign. Special items in the store include antique scales and an antique fire extinguisher. Jarvis Store was dedicated August 28, 2004.

In a simpler, bygone era, Heritage Villagers might have picked up their necessities at the Jarvis Store, then stopped by the Starcher Blacksmith Shop. Charley Starcher first opened his blacksmith shop up the right fork of Barnes Run in Hur in 1915. He served the Hur community as the "smithy" until 1950.

The Starcher Blacksmith Shop and nearly all of its contents were donated to the historical society by Dottie and Lou Slider of Hur. In 2005, Bell and Stevens, with the help of other society members, worked for two weeks to stabilize the structure for relocation. They also prepared the new site, setting concrete block foundation piers. The shop was towed across six miles of winding Calhoun County roads, then reassembled and given a new tin roof.

When the Sliders donated the blacksmith shop, it had not been opened in 35 years. Volunteers were delighted to discover much of the original equipment still inside, including a wood-and-stone furnace and Starcher's primitive tools. Today, the furnace is again surrounded by horse and ox shoes, tackle, and tools. Bell and Stevens added more items to the original contents, including wagon wheels and anvils ranging from 100 to 300 pounds. A display rack shows examples of two old-time saddles and harnesses. Interestingly, the natural grain of the wood on one of the walls in the shop resembles a wolf. After a visit to the smithy, villagers may have stopped in at the post office, always a hub of rural life. The Heritage Village post office was originally located in Freed, a little town that grew and prospered at the mouth of Coal Fork in the late 1800s. The town was named after its first postmaster, George Washington Freed. Seth Collins built the post office in 1886. Much later, in 1903, his wife, Ivy Collins, became postmistress.

The Freed Post Office was originally located on Leading Creek Road off Route 16, 10 miles northeast of Grantsville. A center of activity in this coal mining town, it once stood near a telegraph agency, hotel, general store, wheelwright, and flour mill. Sadly, most of the town was erased by a fire in 1933. The post office, however, was spared from the blaze.

After the post office closed in 1954, it became a storage facility. In 2005, Marguerite Collins Hardman, daughter of Seth and Ivy Collins, donated the building to the county historical society. Relocated on September 8, 2005, it became the fourth addition to Heritage Village. Among its historic contents are letters with the original Freed postmark, post office boxes from the 1930s, a set of antique mail-sorting shelves, and a sorting table. The original drop slot still exists in the front of the building.

The Freed Post Office and Starcher Blacksmith Shop were dedicated in May 2006. Volunteers are now working on the next addition to Heritage Village, the Ahab Stemple House, one of Calhoun County's oldest standing log houses. Built around 1880, the structure currently stands near Rowles Run, not far from Hur. Donated by Georgia Stemple Weaver and Carolyn Stemple Kelley, the house originally stood along main Rowles Run. It will be dismantled, log by log, for its trek to the village and is expected to arrive in the spring of 2007.

Several members of the Calhoun County Historical and Genealogical Society, including Jim Bell and Duck Stevens, have been named "History Heroes" by the West Virginia Legislature for their relentless efforts to preserve the past of their beloved home county. Bell and Stevens and other enthusiastic volunteers guide visitors through Heritage Village on scheduled spring, summer, and fall weekends. For tour dates, or to set up a personal or group tour, contact Bell at (304) 354-7961 or Bob Bonar at (304) 354-7507 or at rbonar@access.k12.wv.us.