Clarksburg Business District - Approximately
1952
Photograph was taken from the east side of the side-rooms
of the "Homer Williamson Store". Homer's family lived
in the side-rooms located on the north side of the store.
This is the same store building which is occupied
(August 2004) by OMA's ANTIK HAUS.
Children in the photograph are from left to
right:
Linda Williamson Reed, Sylvia Earleen Pendergrass Brandon,
and Martha Taylor Gooch. As of August 2004, both Linda
and Sylvia live in the Clarksburg area. Linda is
the mother of the current mayor, Dwight Reed. Martha lives
with her family in Yuma.
The store building located on the left was known
as the "Guy Pritchard Store". Guy Pritchard
sold groceries, cut hair, and was the
Clarksburg postmaster. About 1962, he sold
the store and property to Jessie Pendergrass.
Jessie immediately sold the building to William Jefferies who in
turn tore it down in 1962. William used the materials to
build his new home in north Clarksburg
on Highway 22. He later sold the home
which is now owned by Lyndol Lee Scott. Jessie
also purchased the old store building and lot to the north of
the Pritchard Store. This store building previously was
used as residence by Mr. Early Scott. After combining
both tracts of land, Jessie build a restaurant on the property
in the fall of 1963. Paul Bartholomew became the
proprietor of the restaurant which became known as
"Paul's Place". It opened in January 1964. Paul and his
family ran the restaurant until his death in 1984. His wife, Marion,
continued to operate the restaurant at this location
until Spring 1990. Currently, the restaurant
is managed by the family of Kelley Grant and is known
as "The Galaxy".
The store building on the right was used for
business ran by Ben Johnson and later by Robert and
Ocie French Singleton. Around 1962, Robert and Ocie went out
of business and had the store building sawed in two and moved
to the rear of the business lot. Two homes were
made out of the halves. The Jim and Linda Williamson Reed
family lived in one and Martin and Gracie Mae Pratt Kelley lived in
the other. A warehouse attached the old store building
was saved and used for various business endeavors.
Woodrow Enochs once used it
for his fertilizer business.
Later Robert and Ocie converted the warehouse
to a home and lived in it for a year or two. Jim Reed later used the
building for a garage. In April 1965, Cecil McClure
purchased the Singleton property. He converted the shop
to a pool hall. Robert and Ocie in turn moved both of the
houses made from the store to their property in West Clarksburg.
Linda and Jim continued to lived in one of the houses until
they purchased their current home. Cecil later tore down
the pool hall and built a new service station and barber shop.
In 2000, widening of highway 22 required the demolition of the
service station and barber shop. Cecil's son, Glenn, constructed
a new shop on the property and currently serves the
community as a mechanic (2004).
Photograph provided by Linda Williamson Reed
