In 1905 just after the Market Street Bridge was constructed, the “Nathaniel,” a side-wheeler steamboat ferry that crossed between Steubenville Oh., on to East Steubenville, on the West Virginia side, was discontinued.  The ferry landing, known as the middle ferry, was used to transport passengers and farming goods to the Steubenville markets for over a hundred years being established in 1799 by Richard “Greybeard” Wells.  The “Nathaniel” was sold to the bridge company and abandoned.  While many boats were used over the 104 years of the ferry crossing, the “Nathaniel” lasted the longest, being built in 1887 by its former owner W.H. Wells.

The “Nathaniel” docked on the Steubenville side of river in 1905. Courtesy of Jefferson County Library – Steubenville, OH.  

The ferry boat “Nathaniel” docked near Market Street Bridge. Circa 1905. Courtesy of WV Archives.

Three ferry crossings existed below and above Steubenville.  The two ferries that served the Follansbee vicinity were the middle and lower ferry boats.  The middle ferry crossing was located where the “Nathaniel” transported goods across near the Market Street Bridge.  The lower ferry left the Ohio bank from a point south of Wells Run and landed on the West Virginia shore at the Seeley farm located where the Koppers Plant is today.

Above Steubenville, the upper ferry operated at the location where the Fort Steuben Bridge once stood and served the Holliday Cove area.  In its earlier days, it was a cable ferry, operated by Mr. Halleck going back 50 years.  It was sold in 1907 to Harry Lowe.  “He operated it until it was sold to the Butte brothers.” The ferry continued in operation until a brick road between East Steubenville and Weirton was completed in about 1910.

Steubenville Herald Star, “Passing of Old Ferry Boat Nathaniel,” Aug. 25, 1905.

See also on Timeline:  East Steubenville  

The First Presbyterian Church was organized June 6, 1905.  The first pastor was Rev. James L. Reed.  While the earliest meetings were held at Sugar Grove schoolhouse, later services were held at Mahan’s hall on Main Street.  The Sabbath School was organized on April 7, 1906, with James Lusk as superintendent. The church benefited from the support of one of its trustees William Banfield who was general manager of the Follansbee Brothers Mill that generously provided the church with two lots.

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Mahan, Mr. & Mrs. B. H. Brestle, Mrs. Alex Finley, Miss. Ida May and Mrs. Mary Walcamp Jones were  the first members to be recorded on the church records, joining by letters from their respective churches where they had previously belonged.

Thomas. J. Mahan, who became the first mayor of Follansbee, was the first elder of the new church.  William Banfield, B.H. Brestle, L.V. Meek, and also T.J. Mahan were the first trustees.

In March 1910, Rev. Reed was stricken with paralysis and had to give up his work. He lived to see the work he had started finished by an able successor, Thomas C. Pears, of the Western Theological Seminary of Pittsburgh.  Rev. Pears was officially introduced as the new pastor on July 21, 1910.  The new church building was erected at a cost of $8,400, and dedicated on Sunday, October 23, 1910.  In April 1911, the church, which had been receiving aid since it’s founding, became self-supporting.

The special work of the church pastors included efforts to create an Italian mission, and in January1912, Rev. Achille Cremonesi was called upon to conduct a ministry among the large immigrant Italian population of the city.  The efforts of Rev. Cremonesi resulted in the dedication of the Italian mission at the corner of Broad Street and Virginia Avenue on a lot donated by the Follansbee Brothers Company. The little mission was described as a “cosy chapel, with an auditorium on the first floor and Sunday school room in the basement.”  The building cost about $3,300.  Dedication services occurred May 31, 1914.

Rev. T.C. Pears resigned on January 17, 1917, and accepted a position at the Calvary Presbyterian Church in Braddock, PA.  Rev. John A. Shaw of Coltrain, Ohio, replaced Pears as pastor being formally welcomed on June 21, 1917.  Rev. Shaw was in his first year as a minister when called to Follansbee.  His wife Ethel Williams Shaw, of Wheeling, had experienced missionary work and was an accomplished musician.

One of the largest congregations to attend a service at the church occurred during the first World War in May 1917. A patriotic sermon honoring twelve young men awaiting to leave for training camps was given by Rev. Frederick S. Williams of Wheeling. The congregation sang “The Star Spangled Banner” in honor of the men. Large American flags draped the pulpit and were hung from the choir loft and balcony.

The 1917 annual report recorded 217 members active in the Follansbee First Presbyterian Church, including the Italian Mission. The efforts to build the mission progressed slowly. However, Achille Cremonesi’s congregation though small was a very devout one.  Cremonesi, whose efforts resulted in the building of the Italian Mission, moved on accepting a position with an Italian congregation in Harrisburg, Pa.  In the Spring 1918, he was replaced by Rev. F.P. Patrono.  Rev. Patrono was a Canadian by birth and came to Follansbee from Gary, Indiana.  Besides Italian being his first language, he was fluent in English.  The Italian Mission continued existence into the 1920s before disappearing from the newspapers

Photo Courtesy of Jim Piccorella.

• Follansbee Review, “Brief History of First Presbyterian Church,” June 23, 1917, p. 1.
• Follansbee Review, “Review of the Week,” April 12, 1918, p. 7.
• Follansbee Review, “Presbyterian Church Marks 50^th Anniversary,” June 8, 1955.

The earliest church services were probably held in the open air. Other services are documented to have occurred on the second floor of the Humes General Store.  Churches provided the spiritual strength and hope for hundreds of boom town residents. The activities of the following churches were printed weekly in the city newspaper between 1913-1915. The First Presbyterian and the Methodist Episcopal churches were organized in 1904-05.  The Christian Church and St. Anthony’s Catholic churches trace their city roots to 1906.   The Church of the Good Shepherd was organized in 1909.  The Italian Presbyterian Mission started in 1912 and built a church in 1914.   The Free Methodists ministry was in the process of building a church in 1915.

• (See Timeline: April 1914, “Church Census..”)

Residents who arrived during the construction of the Follansbee Tin Mill prior to the city being chartered in 1906, experienced a boom town environment as homes were rapidly built and the population grew from a few hundred to nearly 2,000 by 1906.

Because there was no post office for them, the newcomers went to the railroad stop and sorted out their mail from a mail pouch dropped on the porch of the mill office.   The earlier established rural population of Mahan Village received their mail by carrier from Wellsburg to rural boxes daily.   A fourth class post office was established for boom-town residents on March 11, 1904.   The first actual post office was operated by Mary Hatley being appointed postmistress with her son, Charles Hately as assistant.  They operated the post office out of the Hatley store building, which was the second store opened in Follansbee.  “Mrs. Hately and son conducted a general store and on one side of it placed the post office…”   Residents picked up their mail from Mrs. Hatley.

The post office was advanced to third class on June 9, 1907, and Mrs. Hately continued in service for two terms, or eight years.   In 1913, a change in political administration resulted in the appointment of a Democratic postmaster, Charles M. Brandon who took up his duties on August 20, 1913.   With the city growing rapidly the demand for larger quarters was urgent.  The post office secured the lease of W.E. Godfrey’s building, which was earlier used by the Citizens Bank, just across the street from Hately’s store.  Mr. W. E. Godfrey was appointed substitute clerk.   In 1913, the city council passed an ordinance requiring all houses to have addresses (numbers).   The house addresses made free mail delivery possible since letters could be addressed to specific house numbers.

• Mill Towns Review, “Follansbee’s P.O. Business Grows Rapidly,” July 3, 1914, front page.
• Mill Towns Review, “Men Putting Up Numbers …,” December 19, 1913, p. 3.

The First streetcars to serve Follansbee were supplied by the Tri-State Railway Company, later known as the Steubenville, Wellsburg & Weirton Railway Company. The line extended from Wellsburg through Follansbee to Steubenville, and several years later to Weirton. In 1917 the West Penn Eailways Company of Pittsburgh took ownership of the trolley transportation through Follansbee. In the 1920s the latter companies were operated under leases by the Wheeling Traction Company. The power to operate the streetcars was supplied from the Windsor Power Plant located at Beech Bottom, WV. The Wheeling Traction Company kept up with electric railway industry standards and had on its lines the double truck steel passenger cars of the most recent design. “On the interurban lines large center entrance steel type cars were used.” Additionally, Freight and express cars were operated daily between Wheeling and Steubenville, stopping in Follansbee for postal delivery. Follansbee began using the Star Bus Route for its mail delivery, replacing the trolley freight cars in 1930.

Follansbee-Steubenville Trolley operated a year before the route to Wellsburg was completed in 1906. Photo Courtesy of James Piccirllio 

The company had a corps of about 600 employees. One of the Wheeling Traction Company car barns where repairs and inspections were made was located just north of Follansbee.

Streetcar Service to Wellsburg in 1908.

Workman laying trolley tracks to Follansbee, Circa 1904. Photo Courtesy of West Virginia Archives.

Streetcar on Bates Bridge once located over ravine where Archer Heights & Route 2 intersection is today.

 1907 Streetcar near crossing at Market Street Bridge. Notice only a dirt road continued to Weirton. Photo: Richard A. Boyd.

 
 
 
Rugged cliffs always posed danger for rock slides.

Rockslide near Market Street Bridge Rt. 2 showing track damage, circa 1910. Richard A. Boyd Collection. 

• History of West Virginia, Old and New, in one volume. (New York: American Historical Society, 1923), p. 460. 

First Boys Born in Follansbee

John William Rogers, the first boy born in Follansbee celebrated his birthday.  John, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Rogers, of 832 Virginia avenue, entertained a host of his little friends in honor of his birthday.  John William was born on March 30, 1905, and was the first American family boy of Follansbee.  The gathering occurred at the Eagle Hall.

The second boy whose birth was celebrated in Follansbee was Charles Neumeyer, who was the first child born after the city was chartered in July 1906. He was later honored for his life achievements by the Follansbee High School Class of 1938-39 at their Reunion in 2001. The Neumeyer family helped in the building of the Follansbee Brothers Mill.   He was the oldest of six children and his mother passed away when he was ten years old.   He attended all the schools of Follansbee as they were constructed, the Jefferson and Mahan Schools, and later the old high school building on Allegheny Street.  Because of conditions at the time of his mother’s death, his father withdrew him from school during his freshmen year when he was 16, and got him a job in the Sheet Metal Specialty Division of Follansbee Steel.  If he had remained in school, he would have been a member of the 1924 graduating class of the new Follansbee High school built in 1922.

• Mill Town Review, “John W. Rogers,” April 3, 1913, Front.
• Brooke County Review, “Follansbee High School Class of 1938-39 Held Reunion,” October 4, 2001, p. 2.

First Girl Born in Follansbee

“My Dad was a McGraw and my mother was a Hahne.  She was the first baby girl born in Follansbee, her doctor was Dr. Huth.  You may remember that there were maple trees all around the house.” – Norma Henson

• Source: I’m From Follansbee, West Virginia; Facebook 

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 30^th of May, he bought a lot and built the first store in town and was selling fireworks the 4^th 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.

The city gradually added boardwalks to the city avenues and residential areas.  An ordinance was passed requiring property owners to keep them in good repair.

Virginia avenue boardwalk – 1906.

Mahan Avenue Boardwalk circa 1906.

Completions of boardwalk curbs.

Notices out houses behind homes, dirt streets, narrow board walks behind homes to alley.  Photo: 1907 WV State Archives.

* Photos courtesy of – WV State Archives, Kenneth Loy, and James Piccirillo.

For years, rocks below the Wabash and Market Street bridges along the river were popular hang outs and swimming holes for area residents. During this early era, few public swimming pools existed.  Hundreds of locals went to the river to cool down during the hot summers. Unfortunately, many drowned due to high or swift water and the absence of lifeguards. Every town had its popular swimming areas along the river.   It was common for kids to swim or walk across the river, especially during low water in July and August. In fact, even cars drove across the water as documented by early photographs. Hundred-year-old Joe Prest of Follansbee recalled walking across the river from the bathing beach at Pastime Park, which was located behind the present day Follansbee fire department.  He was 9 when he crossed in 1919.  He recalled seeing numerous sand bars and remnants of small islands dotting the river.  The water came up to his waist.

• Joe Prest, Oral Interview, Follansbee, July 2009

As early as 1877, prehistoric burials and artifacts were discovered in a cave on the East Steubenville hillside (See 1877 on Timeline).  In 1938, The West Virginia Archaeological Society found more remains of a 4000-year old Native American encampment now called the East Steubenville site.  It was perched 300 feet on a hillside above Route 2.  The site contained human skeletal remains of six prehistoric burials.   In 1999, archaeologists attempted to record and remove many of the thousands of artifacts before the site was destroyed by the expansion of WV Route 2.   A reburial ceremony occurred at the Highland Hills Memorial Gardens for the skeletal remains.

• Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Archeological Society, November 1, 2003. http://wvarch.org/default.asp?name=Annual%20Meeting%20-%202003