Lyon’s Den in Fairmont, West Virginia

Nestled in the northcentral section of West Virginia is my hometown. Fairmont, the county seat of Marion County.

Having a conversation with my brother the other day, we realized that there is not a part of this town we don’t have a memory of, good memories. This is the town we went to school in, the City we had parades in, the City we got our first job in and married in. We grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, and although the town was not as prosperous as in earlier decades, it still had plenty of good jobs and recreation.

The buildings and houses that established Fairmont are varied architectural styles that make it a unique city. The town was pushed into the forefront of a modern village with the finding of coal. Fairmont was and is a coal town. When coal was found, Fairmont boomed, and people came and worked for various mines in Marion County. What had started as a town of 2000 soon blossomed.

A man by the name of Andrew C. Lyons would be front and center in creating the beautiful city I call home.

Andrew C. Lyons Arrives in Town

A.C. Lyons was an architect born in Pennsylvania and lived in Huntington, W.V., for a time. Lyons would grow up and decide that his future would be in architecture. He would later be acquired by Musch and Huemme and do his apprenticeship there. His hard work and talent were not unnoticed by senior partner Soloman Musch. Musch, whose firm was based in Pittsburgh, Pa, followed the progress in the coalfields of northern West Virginia and sent the 19-year-old Lyons to Fairmont, which was the start of his career.

He was tasked with opening up the local branch of Musch and Huemme in Fairmont and, not much later was made partner. This young man saw a very ornate city rising from the dirt streets of a place where millionaires were being created from the coal business.

To this day, Fairmont still has some beautiful buildings and houses that were built from the plans drawn up by Lyons. The features of these buildings are still as impressive as the day they were constructed.

One of the first buildings to be designed by Lyons was the Skinner Building. I could not find out for sure, but I think the building was owned by Charles L. Skinner, the same man that built and owned Skinners Tavern down by the river. The Skinner building had many businesses in it over the years. Looking into the old newspapers of the time, I found Stoy the Tailor, Norman Buhrman Co [coal], Hills Bros. dentist, The Louisiana Mutual Oil Co, and Modern Woodmen Of America; the Woodmen rented the entire second floor. Many other organizations used it to hold their meetings too. Also, G.C. Powell [realtor], a store named Jolliffe’s, and a school for shorthand and typewriting. The most exciting item I uncovered was that the first floor held the post office. The building is still in use today in Fairmont and holds the Marion County Chamber Of Commerce offices. It seems that what Lyons Created was aesthetically pleasing and built to last.

In 1908, William D Straight, a realtor in town stated that the 1890s was the period when the ‘town awakening’ began.{ excerpt from Andrew C. Lyons and Raymond Stroker, 20th Century Architecture, and Art of Fairmont West Virginia by M. Raymond Alvarez ; Fairmont Historian} The coal that made the wealth in Fairmont, and Marion County was ample enough to carry out the expansion of real estate projects for the future. Mr. Lyons I’m sure realized he had been given an opportunity of a lifetime.

Lyons career was off and running. One of his next properties to be designed was another downtown building known as the Yeager Building. At the time 1913, it was constructed for George G. Yeager and was rented out to Jones Dept Store , later Jones Dept. Store moved into another building erected by Lyons, it was leased to A Mr. Harrison for use as a newstand. Mr Harrison expanded as he had leased the space for ten years and the newstand began to carry other small articles. The last owners of the Yeager Building were two jewish brothers with the last name of Golden. They turned the cornor of Main and Madison St. into one of the best upscale Department stores around. I know my family visited Golden Bros many times. The store was incredible, the large windows on the front let so much light in, the squeak of the wooden floors, and the pnematic tubes that sent your money to the office for change. The Yeager building is no longer with us, but the aesthetics that Lyons created will permanently live in our memeories.

The Carr Building on the corner of Adams and Cleveland Ave. Not sure who obtained Lyons to build it, but it did house a Johnston Photogriphy Studio, and meat market, and eventually Lyons and his partner Tibbetts were also tennents. I no longer think the building is there.

Biggest Project Yet

Town was growing fast, due to more and more investors in the coal trade, workers invading the county for the mines. The infrastructire of the city needed to meet the needs of the people.

Lyons biggest project to date would be the plans for what is still known today as the Jacobs-Hutchinson Block. A large structure in the Renaissance Revival style, it would be the center of Main St. and the corner of Monroe St. It would hold a variety of businesses. Lyons envisioned the building on Main as having four separate stores. In 1902 J.M. Hartley & Sons Department Store set up shop in the section nearest to the courthouse. A Furniture Store had the cornor of Main and Monroe, and Racket Store { small general store, selling food and everyday items} was in the center. I do believe that Hartley’s actually oppupied three different buildings in Fairmont. If I’m wrong please leave me comment. Subsequently, Peoples National Bank bought out the furniture store, and remodeled the structure for its use. The floors upstair, unused by the bank, provided space for the Consolidated Telephone Co., H.H.Lanham Realty, and brokers. Later on Jones department Store conducted buiness from the center and corner section.

The Jacobs Building was finished in 1906, and Lyons moved his office there. The building was on Monroe St., directly on the side of the Jacobs-Hutchinson building. The two structures made a most opposing presence in town.

The building would be a site for many different businesses over the years following its construction. It entertained such businesses as Union Business College, Hutchinson-Barns Brick Co, Hammond Fire Brick Co, Brady Construction, C.A. House Piano, A.M. Knight Plumber, and many lawyers. I could do an article on all the businesses that went through these two buildings alone. Fairmont was exploding, and Lyons was at the forefront of it all.

Houses

Given the success of the two buildings in town, he was tasked with building the two Jacobs Bros. [George and J.M. Jacobs] houses on Fairmont Ave and Third St. The grand Mansions would be set side by side.

He would also design houses for other prominent dignitaries in Fairmont. Judge J.F. Morgan, J.O.Watson, Charles Reed, and Clyde Hutchinson were some of his Clients.

Mr. Lyons would wed a daughter from one of these prominent families. Mary C. Fleming, daughter of Thomas and Lucy Fleming and grandaughter of Marshall T. Fleming, who was one of the area’s early settlers.

Some other buildings here and around the region designed by Lyons were: Central School on the east side of Fairmont, and White School, which had a grand auditorium on the top floor. He designed schools in Grafton, Wv, and in 1904, added a wing to Fairmont Normal School that would be named for him. Interesting fact; the bell tower from the Normal School, when razed, would be put on the new East Fairmont High School, later to be struck by lightning and removed. The Opera house in Monongah was a Lyons Design also, as well as Thoburn Elementary. He also designed schools in Grafton and Elkins W.V.

Lyons had made his mark in West Virginia, especially in Fairmont, as the most prominent of the five local architects. As his business grew, he ventured into other opportunities, such as creating the Lyons Coal Co.

He and his family would live in Fairmont for another 30 years before moving to Pittsburgh. He became captain of a tugboat he called the Katie Lyon after his wife passed away. One day on this boat, in a storm, the ship would smash into a railroad bridge and sink with Lyons on board. Just as his wife’s body had been brought back to Fairmont to be buried, he followed. They both rest in Woodlawn cemetery.

Some of these great structures still stand today as a testament to Lyons’s ability to design.

I hope you enjoyed my blog about some of the history of my hometown, Fairmont, W.V.

I will publish a new weekly blog containing more Fairmont and Marion County history. If there is a topic you may want to explore more, please comment below, and I will research it. Please leave a comment below, letting me know if you did or didn’t like this article. It helps me improve with your suggestions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and remember: History is the spine of America; not learning from it would make us collapse and fall!