Abandoned Businesses in West Virginia

Abandoned businesses in West Virginia stand as stark reminders of the state’s economic fluctuations and the impact of industrial decline. These empty storefronts and factories, once symbols of local entrepreneurship and employment, now reflect the challenges of adapting to a changing economic landscape.

Table Of Contents

Barlow & Moore Store
Best Western Gateway Hotel
General Store
Hotel West Virginian
Merchants & Manufacturing Warehouse
Moore & Wiants General Store
Seneca Motor Company
Other

Barlow & Moore Store

The Barlow and Moore Store was the centerpiece of Edray, West Virginia, that stood at the crossroads of Marlin’s Bottom along the Huttonsville Turnpike and Back Mountain Road. ⁹ George P. Moore, the great-grandson of Moses Moore, was the proprietor for 64 years. He was appointed the postmaster at Edray by President Franklin Pierce in 1858 at the age of 17, ¹⁰ and also served as a Methodist minister, bank president, and superintendent of a local school. ^{9 10}

In 1867, Henry Barlow and George Moore incorporated Barlow & Moore to sell general merchandise. ^{9 10} The store was the center of attention on August 4, 1916, when the safe was dynamited in the early morning hours. ⁹ The burglars made off with cash and stamps from the post office, along with other valuable items that belonged to Moore.

As George Moore aged, his nephew A. R. Gay became the store manager. ⁹ Eventually, the Great Depression caused the store to cease operations in 1938.

The building has been painstakingly restored by George Moore’s great-great-niece, Nancy Gay Steele. ⁹

Best Western Gateway Hotel

The Best Western Gateway Hotel, a now-demolished hotel in Barboursville, West Virginia, was constructed in 1954 with 18 rooms ⁴ and expanded into a Holiday Inn with a new 250-room wing in 1964. ⁶ A conference center was added in the mid-1980s. Despite $200,000 in renovations during the year, the Holiday Inn franchise was pulled on April 1, 1997. ³ The property became affiliated with Best Western on October 1.

The 208-room Best Western Gateway Inn closed on June 28, 2001. ³Mark Davis, a Barboursville chiropractor, purchased the closed hotel with plans to transform the property into a residential and retirement community, eventually settling on demolishing much of the complex. ⁵ Two buildings would be retained for 66 residential condominiums.

An auction of the hotel’s contents was held on August 24 and 25, 2001. ⁴ The shopping center was opened in August 2002, and the remainder of the property was redeveloped by 2004.

General Store

A lonely general store lies abandoned in the Allegheny highlands. It was last operated in 1991 or 1992.

Hotel West Virginian

The Hotel West Virginian is a former hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia that was constructed in 1930 by Constantine Thymius, a Greek contractor, for Theodore Soure. ¹ The hotel featured an “Old World” design inspired by Edward Simpson’s antique shop at The Greenbrier. It featured 22 guest rooms and the White Sulphur Restaurant, the latter operated by Theodore and John and Nick Argyrakis, both Greek immigrants.

The hotel closed in the 1980s and was subsequently owned by John Bell, a Lewisburg contractor. ²It was then sold to The Greenbrier in 2003 for $160,000 under the assumption that the structure would be preserved and renovated. The Simpson-Taylor Building adjacent to the hotel was also purchased for $250,000. After significant structural problems with the hotel were discovered, it was demolished.

Merchants & Manufacturing Warehouse

The Merchants & Manufacturing Warehouse Company warehouse in Glen Ferris, West Virginia, was part of a larger industrial complex that occupied the area beside the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad (K&M) completed through the area in 1893. ¹² It was once a part of the Willson Aluminum Company factory, which consisted of a powerhouse along the Kanawha River, the furnace, and trackside materials building or warehouse.

The Merchants & Manufacturing Warehouse Company operated the circa 1900 facility under a lease agreement with the Willson Aluminum Company just after the turn of the 19th century. ¹² After the purchase of Willson Aluminum by the Electro-Metallurgical Company in 1907, the building served as a freight depot for the K&M that complimented the railroad’s passenger station in town. The building continued to serve as a warehouse until the building of the Hawks Nest dam and the redevelopment of Glen Ferris as a model company town in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was then used as a recreational hall and bowling alley by employees of EMCO and Elkem Metals.

Moore & Wiants General Store

The Moore & Wiants General Store was constructed for Jake Moore in 1897 in Sand Fork, West Virginia. ¹¹ The Commercial-style structure featured a false parapet wall covering the end gable on the front elevation, a storefront with a recessed entrance with double entrance doors, large 2/2 storefront display windows, divided transoms, and German siding. The building was later referred to as the Ray Jones Store.

Seneca Motor Company

The Seneca Motor Company was the location of D. C. Harper’s Ford dealership in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. ⁷ In 1923, D. C. Harper began selling Ford Model T vehicles from his general store under a sub-dealership arrangement with M. A. Bean. ⁸ In 1946, an adjoining building was constructed, and Harper began selling Ford cars, trucks, and tractors under the name of Seneca Motor Company which remained in operation until 1963 or 1964. ^{7 8}

Other

Sources

Simpson, Debbie Schwarz. “The Greenbrier Razes Buildings, Considers Use of Vacant Lots.” State Journal, 26 Jan. 2006.
Simpson, Debbie Schwarz. “The Greenbrier Razes Buildings, Considers Use of Vacant Lots.” WVNS-TV, 26 Jan. 2006.
Ross, Jim. “Hotel to close after years in bankruptcy, will reopen as another type of business.” Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) 31 May 2001.
Chambers, Bryan. “Everything from cups to shrubs to be sold at Best Western Gateway Inn on U.S. 60.” Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) 23 Aug. 2001.
Chambers, Bryan. “New owner says Barboursville facility should be ready in the next two years.” Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) 23 Aug. 2001.
Chambers, Bryan. “Fond memories, sense of urgency add to intensity of auction at former hotel.” Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) 25 Aug. 2001.
ASC Group. “Seneca Motor Company.” West Virginia Historic Property Inventory Form, 10 Dec. 2015.
Stevens, Nan. “Harper’s Store.” Historic Properties Inventory Form, 1983.
Gay, Liz and Katy Gay. “On the Badge ~ The Barlow and Moore Store.” Pocahontas Times.
“100 Years Ago.” 27 Apr. 2022, Pocahontas Times.
Brimer, Barbara. “Earl Carr Building.” West Virginia Historic Property Inventory Form, 12 Mar. 2003.
Hunter, William M. “Merchants and Manufacturing Warehouse Company.” Cultural Historic Survey for the Hawks Nest-Glen Ferris Hydroelectric Project, 25 Nov. 2013, pp. 62-66.