Humes General Store was able to profit as a single supplier of goods for the boom town. It also became the social gathering place for new residents. For example, in October 1904, Rev. J. R. Fritts came from Wellsburg’s Methodist Church to conduct the town’s first religious services on the second floor of the Humes Store. Mr. Humes claimed that “when the sale of town lots was first made on the 30th of May, he bought a lot and built the first store in town and was selling fireworks the 4th of July to the children of the orchardists and farmers. “
An advertisement in the Wellsburg Daily Herald from 1905 boasts that R. Humes, “Sells Everything.” The ad informed readers that they had stores in two locations – Lazearville and Follansbee. The Humes Store was located on Main Street near where the Eagles building is today.
- Wellsburg Daily Herald, “R. Humes, Sells Everything,” January 3, 1905, p. 4.
- Mill Towns Review, “R. Humes Large Department Stores,” September 18, 1914.