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City Hall's story begins long before it was a city hall. The year was 1872, the United States was just fresh off the heels of a Civil War, and the state of West Virginia had not yet celebrated its tenth birthday. Travel to Logan (or to most anywhere in Appalachia for that matter) was a difficult task. There were small steamboats that would take travelers from Guyandotte to Chapmanville; however, only in high water seasons was travel to Logan permissible.&nbsp; It was at this time that the C&amp;O Railroad Company was working on a railway that would travel from Huntington through Charleston. In March of 1899, the Guyan Valley Railroad was given permission to construct a railroad upstream from Barboursville to Logan. Planning and surveying work took exactly a year, and construction began in the first spring of the 20th century. Crews worked tirelessly, and the company was able to construct twenty five miles of railroad running all the way to Midkiff in just two years. By December of 1901, the Guyan Valley Line opened, and people now had the ability to travel from Barboursville to Midkiff. Yet, they would still have to take a steamboat from Chapmanville to Logan.&nbsp; As per custom of major companies, the C&amp;O Railroad Company was looking to expand their reach so they took over construction of the railroad to Logan in April of 1902. The C&amp;O ended up buying out the Guyan Valley Railroad Company in 1903, and continued building on towards Logan. The first passenger train reached the city of Logan on September 9,&nbsp; 1904, and steamboats were no longer a necessity to get to Logan. The train station served as the main mode of transportation during the Mine Wars and the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain in Logan County.1 The old Logan Train Depot is now&nbsp;used as City Hall for the city of Logan.&nbsp;

United States military arriving in Logan at the train station during the Mine Wars. 

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Originally built as the Logan Train Depot, the city of Logan's City Hall has a rich history. Today, it also houses the City of Logan Police Department and Fire Department.

Logan City Hall

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This short walking tour will include several historic buildings and other landmarks in downtown Logan. 

As the daughter of the
Shawnee Chief, Aracoma was favored&nbsp;among her people. It has been
told&nbsp;that she grew into a beautiful women, standing almost six feet tall. When
Aracoma was sixteen years old, in 1756, she met Boling Baker for the first
time.&nbsp;Baker— a&nbsp;white renegade, horse thief, and a deserter from the British
army—was taken captive by the Shawnees.3,4,5 He was brought before the Shawnee
Chief, Cornstalk, and his council, and sentenced “to run the gauntlet.”6&nbsp;Baker courageously accepted his fate. His courage was noticed by
the young princess, who pleaded with her father to spare his life; "it is
said Chief Cornstalk was kind at heart and he spared Baker from death."3 He
became a member of the tribe and&nbsp;fell in love with Aracoma.&nbsp;&nbsp;When the two married&nbsp;they settled the conflict between the
Shawnee and the white settlers in the region.3It is believed that sometime after&nbsp;1760 Chief Cornstalk established&nbsp;“The
Islands” in what is now called Logan County, West Virginia. Chief Cornstalk
gave his daughter, and her husband the land, as some of her
people went to live under her rule.3&nbsp;Her tribe resided on the bank of the Guyandotte River where they built their own
Native village. It was on this island where their six children were born:
Little Black Bear, born in 1761; Snow Lily, born in 1763; Running Deer, born in
1765; Laughing Water, born in 1767; Blue Feather, born in 1769;
and&nbsp;Princess Raindrop, born in 1771.5 &nbsp;In 1776 tragedy struck the village when a
great plague of smallpox swept through the area; all six of Princess Aracoma
and Boling Baker's children died.5&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
In 1774, Chief Cornstalk was killed at the "Battle of Point Pleasant," and
Aracoma was given command of the Shawnee Indians. &nbsp;In the spring of 1780
and after the majority of the tribe had died from smallpox, Baker led a group
of Indians to raid the settlers in the New River Valley as a last resort to
survive. &nbsp;While Baker was absent, a raid on&nbsp;Aracoma's village was
led by John Breckenridge and William S. Mason. &nbsp;This raid came to be known
as the “Battle of the Islands.”&nbsp;2 According to the website titled “Logan,
WV History and Nostalgia,” “among the wounded Indians was a woman, who from her
dress and bravery, was at once recognized as leader of the Indian party.” Aracoma
was wounded during this event, but was rumored to have said these last words to
the white settlers before she passed:

&nbsp;

&nbsp;“My name is Aracoma, and I am the
last of a mighty line. My father was a great chief and a friend to your people.
He was murdered in cold blood by your people when he came to them as a friend
to give them warning.&nbsp;I am wife of a pale-face who came across the great
waters to make war on my people, but came to us and became one of us.&nbsp;I am
dying, bury me with my face toward the setting sun, that I may see my people in
their march to our happy hunting grounds. For your kindness, I warn you to make
haste in returning to your homes, for my people are still powerful and will
return to avenge my death.” 3

According to findagrave.com, a grave was
uncovered in Logan, WV, which was suspected to be Aracoma’s due to the depth of
her body and the location in which it was found; “the odd and haunting irony
was that the skeleton was buried at the bend of the Guyandotte, almost exactly
where the old and half-forgotten traditions claimed was the final resting place
of Princess Aracoma.”4

Originally, current day Logan County Courthouse
was named after Aracoma in 1852; however, it was changed in 1907 to align with
the name of the post office.1 &nbsp;The love story
of Princess Aracoma and Boling Baker is reenacted every summer at Chief Logan
State Park, performed and produced by the local community.

Logan County, West Virginia, is home to one of America's most romantic legends: the story of Princess Aracoma Sky Cornflower Cornstalk and her white lover, Boling Baker. Their story began in Logan County—known as “The Islands” to the Shawnee people—more than 200 years ago when Boling was taken captive by the Shawnee Tribe. Aracoma Sky Cornflower Cornstalk asked her father, Chief Cornstalk, to spare the British soldier’s life; they were wed, uniting the Native and white settler culture in that region. Aracoma was born in 1740 and died in 1780 during the “Battle of the Islands.” A memorial to Princess Aracoma may be found outside the Logan County Courthouse. Every year, The Aracoma Story, Inc. hosts a theatrical re-telling of the lovers’ story, which is housed at the Liz Spurlock Amphitheatre in Logan.

Princess Aracoma Memorial

During the late 1950s and 1960, John F. Kennedy and his family came to Southern West Virgina different times to promote his&nbsp;road to the&nbsp;White House. When he came, he wanted to meet people and shake their hands, rather than it be formally announced he was in the area. Logan and West Virginia was a heavily Protestant area, and it was questionable that he would get the votes needed to win because he was Roman Catholic. He came anyway and campaigned heavily, which turned in his favor as he was able to win&nbsp;the West Virginia primary and the 1960 presidential election. &nbsp;

This is the site of JFKs speech in downtown Logan, WV. As a Democratic presidential candidate, he came here many different times on his way to winning the WV primary in 1960.

Kennedy Square/Plaza

WVOW Radio had their first broadcast&nbsp;on May 8th, 1952. Former West Virginia governor&nbsp;Clarence Meadows, now former West Virginia Attorney General&nbsp;Chauncey Browning, and Logan county businessman Grover Combs wanted to start a radio station that would compete with the Republican-based radio station WLOG and The Logan Banner (owned by the same man) and be a voice of the Democratic party in the coal-rich areas of southern West Virginia. Two years after the christening of the infant radio station, WVOW hired Bill and Martha Jane Becker, who would take the radio station into a whole new era. Bill Becker was renowned for his ingenuity, while his wife was well known for her desire loving spirit and also financial well-being. Mr. Becker, who as of April 2015, would have turned 100 years old, always knew how to get people's attention. He also knew how to make money. Bill is credited both locally and nationally for his innovation of Little League Baseball. Still to this date, WVOW broadcasts the&nbsp;Little League baseball State Championship tournament every July.1 Becker also sold a remote to local businesses for coverage of Sputnik's flight over Logan County!2&nbsp;Mr. Becker's coverage of the Buffalo Creek disaster helped speed the process along with getting relief from the state and federal governments to help the Buffalo Creek area. WVOW was the first broadcasting entity to break the news of the disaster. WVOW is noted for handling over 200 sporting events a year: Cincinnati Red's baseball; Logan High School, Man High School, and Chapmanville Regional&nbsp;High School football, basketball, and baseball games; West Virginia University football and basketball; Marshall University football and basketball; and Little League baseball every summer.3

WVOW Radio, owned and operated by the Logan Broadcasting Corporation Inc., has been in operation for over 60 years. It was the second radio station to be in Logan. The first was WLOG, which went bankrupt in the 1990s. The radio station was founded by former governor Clarence Meadows; Chauncey Browning, Sr., who was to become West Virginia's attorney general; and Logan county business man Grover Combs. WVOW has been a staple in the coalfields of Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky since its inception. Notable alumni from WVOW include: Doc Thompson, guest host for Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck Radio Program; and Jack Harris from WFLA Radio in Tampa Bay, Florida.

WVOW Radio Station

<blockquote>

Bruce Harris was the undertaker of
Logan County for over&nbsp;40 years.&nbsp; Before the Harris Funeral Home was
built he would ride a horse to the homes of the deceased to prepare their bodies
for burial.&nbsp; The caskets would be made by family or friends&nbsp;and the
last rights given before he left the body and returned to Logan.&nbsp;
Eventually after some time the railroad came through town and the official
stationary funeral business began.&nbsp; The addition of the railroads meant
that he could now complete funerary services quicker than ever before.&nbsp;
People could now bring their loved ones to the undertaker for services.&nbsp;
The third floor of the Logan Mercantile was converted into funeral parlors, and
the first semblance of present day funeral service was started.

The funeral operation was founded by
B.C. Harris.&nbsp; B.C. Harris was Bruce Harris' brother, they were business
partners.&nbsp; Together they were able to create and maintain the funeral business
that has served Logan County for decades.&nbsp; The most famous client of the
Harris Funeral Home was Mamie Thurman.&nbsp; Mamie was murdered and her body
was found and brought to the Harris Funeral Home for preparation in June
1932.&nbsp; The body was prepared and moved to Nighbert Methodist Memorial
Church for the funeral.&nbsp;

Mamie Thurman’s death certificate filed at the courthouse
states that she was buried at Logan Memorial Park in McConnell. Harris Funeral
Home records show a charge for thirty-five dollars for moving Mrs. Thurman’s
body to Bradfordsville, Kentucky. However, the cemetery in Kentucky has no
record of the interment of Mamie’s body. It remains a mystery to this day as to
where Mamie Thuman’s body was buried.

The
Harris Funeral Home served Logan County from 1908-1966. Before being used as a
funeral home, it was the home of John B. and Rebecca Chafin Wilkinson. In 1895
during the home’s construction, eleven Native American skeletons were exhumed.
John B. Wilkinson died Aug. 12, 1919 and was buried in the Straton Cemetery. In
1966 Joe and Dolores Honaker purchased the business and the name was changed to
Honaker-Harris Funeral Home. In 1973 after the passing of Greta Harris, the
name was changed to Sadly, Joe D. Honaker died in 2006. His wife and son,
Michael now run the family business. 

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

</blockquote>

The Honaker Funeral Home was formerly known as the Harris Funeral Home.  The funeral home has been in business at this location since September 6, 1931.  The funeral home is located on Main street next to WVOW radio station.  The original owner of Harris Funeral Home was Bruce Harris.  He was one of Logan's first undertakers.  He had the task of preparing the body of Mamie Thurman after her murder in June 1932.  The funeral home is still in business in the original building.

Honaker Funeral Home

The first Methodist settlement was made&nbsp;in downtown Logan in 1799. According to the church's history, the first settlers in Logan were of the Methodist faith, and they would happily were&nbsp;circuit-riding preachers to come expound upon the scriptures with them. By 1825, a full-time pastor was assigned to the Logan area. Before the church was constructed, the Methodist believers would meet in various homes of the congregants. Once the first Logan County Courthouse was built, the Methodists&nbsp;began to host their meetings there (since it was the only public building in town). The Logan County circuit during the 1800s would average around 250 members. The 1880s brought about the first push to get a formal church building constructed in Logan. The church was deeded the land in Midelburg (just down the boulevard from the city of Logan at present day) where the Midelburg Apartments stood. Not too long thereafter, they built their building and became the first church to be built in the city of Logan. By 1916, the building became entirely too small to house all of the worshippers coming to the church, so they constructed the building that stands in downtown today (still one of the oldest in Logan). The architect was an Italian man by the name of Rosassi.1

Possibly the oldest religious institution in the coalfields, Nighbert Memorial United Methodist Church continues to be a thriving congregation of Christian believers. The church not only conducts services throughout the week, but also serves community dinners once a week for whosoever shall come.

Logan West Virginia Walking Tour

Logan City Hall

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information