THE DAWSON “TIDAL WAVE” SALOON BUILDING

The building that used to sit on the northeast corner of Main Avenue and First Street (102 Main) and housed the Colonial Restaurant for many years dated back to the 19th century, with its interior having been rebuilt following a great business section fire in late December 1894 that destroyed everything but its outer walls. It was originally the Tidal Wave saloon, one of as many as 14 or 15 at a given time that were scattered throughout the business section in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Some of their — and the back-alley bawdyhouses’ — best customers were lumberjacks from the town-less timbering regions of Braxton, Nicholas, Upshur and Webster Counties, who rode the train to “wild and woolly” Weston on weekends.)