Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1911-02-21
Charlie. Town "A Valley Metropolis.

The Baltimore Sunday Sun of Febru
airy IL contained fine cuts of the princi
pie buildings in Charles Town. and 1
good description of the industries. &c.
as follows
Charles Town, Jefferson county, w
Va, located at the gateway of the
celebrated Shenandoah Valley, ane
eight miles west of the Harper's Fer.
ry Gap, is not only historic town, but
is one Of the best towns for its size in
the Valley of Virginia. 1t has popu.
lation of about 5000 inhabitants, moi
including 1000 or more who are located
outside of the corporate limits. The
county is strictly an agricultural one,
although fruit culture has been taken
up on large scale in the past 10 years
or more, apples being the chief fruit.
The town has three fiourishing banks,
with deposits of nearly one million
dollars, and in addition has several
building and loan associations. The
telephone sytem is owned by the JEFF
ferson County Telephone Company,
which owns and operates nearly seven
hundred phones in the county. 1t has
connection with the Bell.
One of the chief industries which
furnishes motor power to the town as
well as Winchester, Berryville, Mar
tinsburg, and number of smaller
places is the big power plant of the
Winchester and Washington City Rail-
way Company, which is located at
Millville, five miles from Charles
Town, on the Shenandoah River. In ad-
dition to furnishing power it also fur
nishes light. The company has recent
ly completed new sub-station in
Ransom at the cost of several thousand
dollars. and will shortly occupy it.
Charles Town has also a gas plant op-
Grated under the name of the Charles
Town Gas Company, which has ex-
pended large sum of money in the
last two years on improvements and
running additional lines.
The Charles Town Water Company,
private corporation. is another con-
Germ which has expended some S25 900
to put their plant on a good basis.
The town has two railroads, the Nor
folk and Western and the Valley Branch
of the Baltimore and Ohio, which
furnishes 10 passenger trains a day.
The two railroads are connected by a
belt line. which was built by the
Charles Town Mining, Manufacturing
and Improvement Company some 20
years ago, and afterward sold to the
Norfolk and Western and Baltimore
and Ohio Railroads.
The fact that the town is the county
seat no doubt helps it. Last spring
the County Commissioners awarded a
contract for an addition to the Court
House. which has been about COM
pleted, and which makes it one of the
finest and best equipped Court House
buildings in the State.
A new Opera House is being com
pleted and will be ready for occupancy
in about month. 1t will accommo-
date about 800 people, and is said to
be one of the incest of its kind In the
Valley. The town in the last 10 years
has made wonderful strides, and the
new buildings and improvements are
very noticeable. 1t is claimed one
great benefit the town receives is the
good roads and turnpikes throughout
the county. The tolIgates were all
removed some ten years ago by an act
Of the Legislature, and the turnpikes
are in charge of a turnpike superin-
tendent. The county was awarded the
second prize for its good roads in the
contest of the New York Herald and
Atlanta Journal automobile run last
year.
The Board of Education of the
Charles Town district will shortly
commence the erection of a $40, 900 |
school building on the lot known as the
Did Academy property.
The town has two of the best-equip- |
ped volunteer fire departments to be |
found in town of its size. Roth |
companies own their own buildings. |
have their own steamer and other up- |
.o-date equipment.
Churches of most all denominations |
are to be found in Charles Town, and
also good educational institutions.
Adjoining the town on the northern
suburbs is Ransom. The new town has
about $50 inhabitants and has practic-
ally all Of the manufacturing plants in
is corporation, with the exception of |
The Jefferson Milling Company and
few other concerns.
The plants in Ransom are The A.
D. Goetz Harness Factory, Powhatan
Brass and Iron Works, Jefferson Coop
erage Company, Valley Brick Company,
:. L. Robinson & Co., ice manufacture
srs, Maxell Wrapper Factory, and
branch of William Phillips Sons Lum-
Der Mill. The Valley Brick Company
$ new institution, having been start
I'd last spring, and commenced the
of brick about Septem-
per 1st. The plant has capacity of
5, 900 bricks day. The A. D. Goetz
las recently commenced work on
arge addition to its plant which will
;ost something like SIS, 600. The Pow
rattan Brass and Iron works built an
addition to its plant last summer
~hich cost :about $500. in order to
give more space for the increased out
mt