page_title: Howard Llewellyn Swisher
section_title: Business career
hierarchical_section_title: Howard Llewellyn Swisher / Business career
caption_attribution_description: English: Howard Llewellyn Swisher (September 21, 1870 – August 27, 1945) was an American businessperson, real estate developer, orchardist, and historian in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Portrait of Howard Llewellyn Swisher from: Biographical Publishing Company (1903) Men of West Virginia, Volume 1, Chicago, Illinois: Biographical Publishing Company OCLC: 3463313.
context_page_description: Howard Llewellyn Swisher was an American businessperson, real estate developer, orchardist, editor, writer, and historian. As a prominent businessman, he established several companies responsible for the development of businesses and real estate in Morgantown, West Virginia.
  Swisher was born in 1870 near Levels, West Virginia. He became a schoolteacher there at the age of 18, then graduated from Fairmont State Normal School and West Virginia University. He then remained in Morgantown, where he established a bookstore and stationery shop. Following the success of his bookstore, Swisher organized the Main Street Building Company, the Howard L. Swisher Company, and the Morgantown Building Association, each of which constructed a large number of residences in the city. He was also the inaugural secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia Real Estate Dealers' Association.
  Swisher was secretary of the Royalty Oil Company, which owned mining rights for approximately 16,000 acres of prospective oil lands throughout the United States.
context_section_description: As a prominent businessman, Swisher established several corporations and companies responsible for the development of businesses and commercial and residential real estate in Morgantown. He remained in Morgantown after his graduation from West Virginia University, and in 1897 with $700 in capital, he opened a book and stationery store known as the Acme Book Store. The business prospered, and in April 1898, Swisher established the Acme Publishing Company, which he served as president of for several years.
  Swisher subsequently organized the Main Street Building Company, which became responsible for building the Strand Building, a business and commercial block in Morgantown. He established and incorporated the Howard L. Swisher Company in November 1914. He also organized the Morgantown Building Association in November 1918 with an authorized capital of $250,000 and himself serving as its general manager. The Morgantown Building Association undertook extensive construction of residences in the city. In December 1914, following its organization in Parkersburg, Swisher was named the secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia Real Estate Dealers' Association. The association was formed in cooperation with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and other state agencies for the promotion and development of the states's agricultural resources, real estate, and investments.
  In addition to his real estate and construction ventures, Swisher was an organizer and secretary of the Royalty Oil Company, which owned mining rights to approximately 16,000 acres (65 km²) of prospective oil lands throughout the southern and southwestern United States. He built and operated the Swisher Theater in Morgantown. Swisher was also a director of the Valley Wood Working Company, the owner of the Monongahela Valley Posting and Distributing Plant, and the secretary of the Federal Savings and Trust Company prior to 1903. By 1913, he was the president of the West Virginia Tri-Products Company, which invested in coal and oil production, glass manufacturing, and the production of timber and fruit. Swisher maintained fruit growing interests on South Branch Mountain (known as Jersey Mountain) in Hampshire County, and served as the president of the South Branch Merchandising Company.
caption: Swisher in 1903
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