1. Robert Eastham House On the mouth of Beaver Creek, Colonel Robert Ward Eastham of Canaan Valley built the first house in Davis. He had secured a contract from the Davis brothers to clear the town site and began work in 1884.2. Site of Davis Train Station This building which used to be centrally located to downtown is no longer standing. It served passengers to Davis starting in June 1885. Within a five-minute walk of the depot were lumber mills, hotels, restaurants, banks, retail operations, boarding houses and hotels. Railroad service was discontinued in 1942.3. Site of Blackwater Hotel Built in 1886 by the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway Company along the rail line from Cumberland to Elkins, it was an outstanding hotel for many years. The 40 room building had a large sample room for drummers (salesman), a barbershop, and a barroom. In 1887, Captain H. N. Worden became the proprietor followed by Mr. and Mrs. William Kramer. When the decline of Davis began, it was dismantled for its fine lumber.4. Boarding Houses The lumberjacks and mill hands often stayed at large boarding houses. The Pennsylvania House and the building which now houses the Bright Morning Bed & Breakfast were used for men’s boarding houses. The Pennsylvania House had 24 rooms, and room and board was $1.75 per day. The building remained a boarding house until the 1960s—1970s. Often saloons, barbershops, restaurants and/or general stores were on the ground floor. Originally there was no indoor plumbing. The building,

now the Bright Morning B & B, was restored 17 years ago.5. Steam Ship Office This historic building was erected prior to 1900. It was T & C’s Market in the 1940s. Some of the interior wood was taken from a barn in the Sugarlands. In 1988 it became home to Sirianni’s Cafe.6. Town Hall An institution, the scene of many interesting events, including political meetings, band practice, 4-H Club meetings, and spelling bees. A two-story building with a tall tower, it was erected in 1894. For the first two years, it was known as hose house, then Fireman’s Hall, and later, the city and town hall. The height of the tower had to be lowered in 1909 when it started to lean due the weight of the bell in its bell tower.7. National Bank of Davis The three-story building was constructed of stone natural to the area in 1892. It is the oldest bank and business establishment in Tucker County. Thomas Beall Davis was the bank’s first president. Fifty thousand feet of maple flooring, was cut in Canaan Valley. It was remodeled in 1898 and the west wing housed the Davis Post Office. Over the years the building has also housed the HMP Clarke Drug Company, C.O. Strieby Law Office, Davis Electric Company and Marshall Coal & Lumber.8. Site of Fayweather and LaDew Tanning Company The building is no longer standing but this tannery operated one of the largest outfits in the nation with a capability of processing 700 hides daily. It was sold to the U.S. Leather Company and continued to operate until 1919, when in a declining condition, it closed entirely due to the labor troubles that were besetting Davis industries at the time.

9. Site of Jacob L. Rumbarger Company In 1886 the Jacob L. Rumbarger Lumber Co., opened, establishing Davis as one of the earliest lumber towns in the state. The company was succeeded by the Blackwater Lumber & Boom Company, which became Babcock Boom and Lumber.. It had the distinction of being the only lumber company in West Virginia that operated nine continuous years without being idle a single day. At first its capacity was seven million feet annually but it grew so rapidly that within nine years its capacity was forty million feet a year. By 1924, the Davis lumber mills had produced nearly 900 million board feet of lumber from along the Blackwater and the mighty forests on the slopes and ridges of Canaan, Cabin and Backbone Mountains.10. St. Veronica’s Catholic Church In 1893, the first Catholic services were held in Davis at the engine house of the West Virginia Central & Pittsburgh Railway Company. Soon a building lot was obtained at the corner of Kent Avenue and Fifth Street. Much of the construction work was done by parishioners. It was dedicated in 1897 by Bishop Patrick Donahue of Wheeling. Unfortunately, like many of the historic churches this one is no longer standing.11. St. John’s Lutheran Church Construction began in 1893 and the congregation was formed soon thereafter. J.F.W. Kitzmeyer was hired as the church’s first pastor and until the structure

was complete in 1894, serviceswere held at various locations around Davis. Dedicated in 1894, this church still serves the community of Davis today.12. Site of Worden’s Hotel Originally Howard House, it was completed in 1898 by Jesse Howard Simmons. The building was used as a hotel until 1917 when Henry D. Worden remodeled it into an apartment house known as Liberty Flat, which included a grocery store on the first floor. It was later renovated back into a hotel which bore the Worden name.13. Site of WV Pulp and Paper Company This company was located at the confluence of Beaver Creek and the Blackwater River. (cover photo)14. Davis Cemetery The cemetery located along the route to Blackwater Falls State Park, is over a hundred years old and contains the burial plots of many early settlers

DavisThe town of

Named for industrialist and United States Senator, Henry Gassaway Davis (1823-1916), paid between $5 and $15 an acre for the land. The town was incorporated in 1880 with a population of 909. Davis was dubbed “stump town” as Robert Eastham had barely cut down the trees before people moved in. The stumps left from the forests of spruce and hardwoods were left in place and buildings constructed around them. People claimed they could walk from one end of town to the other from stump to stump without touching the ground. By 1902, Davis had a population of about 3,000 and more than 80 businesses. Many of these historic buildings, including hotels, saloons, the opera house and the saw mill in Davis were eventually dismantled.

Davis

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