Author: M. Lynne Squires

Today, the Libby Owens Ford smokestacks remain only in the memories of those old enough to remember Reagan becoming President, John Lennon being shot, and Mt. St. Helens erupting.  The austere row of brick stacks towered over the far east end of Kanawha City’s MacCorkle Avenue; a silent sentries of a passing era. Glass product manufacturers Edward Drummond Libbey, Michael Joseph Owens and Edward Ford, who had all separate, sizable companies, merged in 1930 to form the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company. The Libbey Owens Company opened its glass manufacturing operations in Kanawha City in 1917, building six units in 1917, six...

Long before ‘anchor stores’ became synonymous with shopping malls, Charleston had a few stores that anchored the downtown shopping experience.  Among them, The Diamond Department Store, the jewel in the retail crown of the capitol city. Completed in a record six months in 1927, The Diamond was built on Capitol Street, on the site of the state capitol building that burnt to the ground in 1921. Designed by architect Charles Haviland, The Diamond was a state-of-the-art store.  The original building was five floors boasting large display windows fronting Capitol Street, modern ventilation, three elevators, and a pneumatic tube system to...

The diner is a commonplace sight in more northern states. In Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York you can stand on just about any street corner, throw a penny, and hit a diner. Diners are usually small eateries, family orientated, with vast menus, and open twenty-four hours. In Charleston’s mid-century heyday, the downtown boasted two diners. One, the Empire Diner was across from the Post Office on Lee Street, and was torn down before the century was over. The other downtown diner still stands. A mid-town Art Deco icon, the Quarrier Diner resolutely stands alone, and is still going...

Looking Back at the Municipal Auditorium New Years Eve of 1952. Hundreds of revelers were preparing to descend on the Municipal Auditorium for a concert by the country music star Hank Williams. Advance ticket sales already totaled $3,500 with more seats anticipated to be sold at the door. In 2017 prices, that would be over $32,000. Just hours before the concert was to begin, Williams cancelled due to an ice storm that prevented his plane from taking off for Charleston. Hundreds of fans were disappointed to miss seeing him. Thousands more would be stunned to learn of his death in the...