By Bobby Bice
With the Fourth of July holiday fast approaching, I thought I would use June’s column to discuss a photo that I have always found interesting. It was taken on July 4th, 1907 after a parade in Shinnston and shows “the winner” for having the most people on one wagon.
The image was taken along Pike Street, in front of Muta Swiger’s jewelry store, now the location of Harmer Funeral Home. Muta was also a photographer and he is the one who took the photograph. The men and women are holding fans, which have an advertisement on them, “Muta U. Swiger, Jeweler, Shinnston, W.Va.”. Dozens of people were loaded onto the wagon, with an additional group of at least seven seen on the team of horses, bringing the total winning number count to 94! The team and wagon were owned by L.R. Sturm of Enterprise. Lucius Riley “Loouse” Sturm ran a dairy farm on land that is now on the north side of the Enterprise-Kilarm Road, just before entering Marion County.
The buildings along Pike Street were donned with red, white, and blue bunting and American flags. Several flags are seen displayed from the second level windows of the building in the background. In addition to a parade, day-long activities were held in town to encourage people to spend the day. Some patrons utilized the streetcar system to arrive on the west side of Shinnston’s old Bridge and walk into town from there. Many others traveled long distances on their wagons from Shinn’s Run, Peora, Wyatt, and Bingamon, bringing their families to spend the day in Shinnston. Carnival-like booths were setup on Pike Street, offering contests with prizes as well as food items for sale. The crowd gathered to a few speeches, with the principal address being made by the Honorable Harvey W. Harmer. Harvey was a lawyer in Clarksburg, but it was his father who started the Harmer Wagon Shop (known today as Harmer Funeral Home).
The Shinnston Band group played patriotic-themed music throughout the day with some of the town’s youth singing songs. One of the poles in town was coated with grease and a contest was held to see who could climb the highest on the greased pole. Similarly, a greased pig contest was held as well. Foot races as well as wheelbarrow races were other activities held that day.
An evening musical concert of dramatic art was given by a well known travelling group known as the Frederick Benson Concert Company and was held at the Methodist Episcopal Church. At that time, the M.E. Church was located approximately where the American Legion building currently sits along upper Bridge Street (the same congregation is now known as the First United Methodist Church and is located at the corner of Pike and Rebecca Streets).
The following year (1908), pony races began being held annually on the eastern half of Mahlon Street. During the 19- teens, Independence Day activities also consisted of having a ferris wheel brought into town and setup on Pike Street.
The streetcar system had come to Shinnston in September of 1906, so July 4th, 1907 was the first holiday that gave more people an easier access into Shinnston for special events, hence the reason for photographing contests as shown in this month’s story behind the photo!
