By Bobby Bice
For a column photo this month, I chose a postcard from my collection showing Bridge Street in Shinnston in 1912.
The postcard was published by Wedell and Finlayson, a “five and dime” store once located along Pike Street in the building next to the present WesBanco. There may be a few readers who remember “Finlayson’s Five and Dime” in the same location. John Finlayson, known locally as the author of the book, Shinnston Tornado, operated a store in town for many years. He was initially in business with Edward W. Wedell and operated stores in both Shinnston and Monongah, but purchased Mr. Wedell’s interests in those stores in July 1913. These postcards were sold in their Shinnston store. Additional knowledge, for those who may be interested, is that Mr. Finlayson was the maternal grandfather of former Shinnston residents George Rice and the late John Rice.
My favorite thing about this postcard is the timing of the photo being taken. The photographer was standing on the hill at the head of Bridge Street with the bridge seen in the distance, but there is a train travelling northbound. Steam smoke can be seen on the left half of the photo with the train’s engine shown at the left (south side) of the bridge. If the photographer had waited even one second later to snap the photograph, then the train would have blocked view of the bridge and made the receiver of the postcard question the significance of a postcard captioned as “Bridge Street, Shinnston, W.Va.”.
Shinnston’s first bridge was constructed across the West Fork River in this same location in 1876. Until that time, wading the river at low stages or utilizing one of two ferry operations during higher water conditions, were the only options for crossing the river. (Note: One ferry operation was along the bank at the foot of Walnut Street, which used to be named Ferry Street; the other ferry operation was from the west side near the former Fortney home, now the Brown residence). The lowlevel 1876 bridge had a steep road approachment over the bank to the river’s edge. The bridge itself was only 30 feet long, 16 feet high, and 12 feet wide—just enough for a couple of wagons to pass.
There was a severe flood in July 1888 that swept away every bridge, both iron and wood, in the entire county. The following year, a new iron bridge–the one seen in the photo–was constructed at a level above the 1888 water’s crest. Until that time, Bridge Street had actually been named Locust Street. In 1930, Shinnston received yet another bridge when one was built to cross the West Fork River near Clement Street. The Bridge Street bridge remained in place and travelled upon for a few more decades until it was closed permanently due to safety regulations. It remained a skeleton for several more years until being removed in the mid-1990’s. The “new old bridge” was replaced in 2014. And that is this month’s story behind the photo!
