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16 East Main St.

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16 East Main St.

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16 EAST MAIN STREET
Building in 2013
Main Street c. 1911-1919 (UCHS, Amy Post Collection) HISTORICAL SKETCH
The Farnsworth family owned much of the land in this area in the early history of Buckhannon. Trading much of the southern portion of Staten Island for 3,500 acres of land in western Virginia, Daniel Farnsworth moved west and settled on the Buckhannon River with his wife and five sons in 1821. Leonard Farnsworth, born in 1830 to Nathaniel and Susanna Farnsworth, was the grandson of Daniel Farnsworth. In 1849, Leonard set off for California during the early days of the gold rush to make his fortune. Upon returning to Upshur County, L.S.S. Farnsworth became a prosperous business man, buying half of this block on which he built a two story home and two store buildings, one of which was a shoemakers shop. In 1901, he sold this part of the property to two brothers, Gustave F. and John M. Stockert. These brothers were the sons of a German immigrant, Julius F. Stockert, who came to West Virginia in 1871. G.F. and J.M Stockert had three other brothers, who all went into the lumber business.
In 1904, the Stockert brothers took down the building made by L.S.S. Farnsworth and erected this building, the main floors being used as a store for most of its existence. In 1908, the basement of the building was used as a bowling alley while the third floor was used as an assembly hall. In 1940, an out of town grocery store, Kroger, took over the space. After Kroger moved, G.C. Murphy’s 5 and 10 cent store took over in 1949, allowing them to expand to this building from the adjacent three buildings to the west.
OWNERS OF RECORD
 1998-2013: C.J./M.J. Rylands
 1901-1998: Stockert Family (originally J.M. and G.F. Stockert, brothers)
 -1901: Leonard S.S. Farnsworth
For reference to list above, see in Upshur County Courthouse deed book number/page number: 408/465; 403/133; 248/632; 186/513; 82/400; 147/288; 25/278; D/59(?)
LIST OF BUSINESSES
All dates in italics are spans of time when the business was known to exist in this location. Dates could extend previous to or after stated dates.
Construction of Current Building: 1904
 2003-2013: CJ Maggies (UCHS Businesses)
 1949-1990s: GC Murphy’s (UCHS Businesses)
 1940: Kroger (UCHS Businesses)
 Before Kroger: Leader Store
 1908-1913: dry goods store, lodge room on 3rd, bowling alley in basement (Sanborn Maps)
 1898: 2 buildings, confectionary and photo studio (Sanborn Maps)
 1894: confectionary (Sanborn Maps)
 1872: shoemakers shop and store room (Heavner)
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
 L.S.S. Farnsworth (Morgan)
o Born December 21, 1830
o 49er who went to CA during gold rush
o 15 children
o First resident dentist (Cutright 441)
 Stockerts
o John M. and Gustave F. brothers
 Father, Julius F, immigrated from Plowen, Germany in 1846 (BR, 11/18/55)
 Moved to Lewis Co. with parents in 1871 (Cutright 576)
o G.F. Stockert
 Born September 3, 1854
 moved to Upshur in 1886 (Morgan 176)
 September 23, 1877 married Hannah “Pooce” Bailey
 Went into the lumber business with brothers
WORKS CITED
Buckhannon Record newspaper. Buckhannon, WV, November 18, 1955.
Chace, Jacob. Gray’s New Map of Buckhannon Upshur Co. West Virginia, 1879. Upshur County Historical Society.
Cutright, William B. The History of Upshur County, West Virginia. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Company, 1977 reprint
of 1907 original. Pgs. 441, 576
Heavner, J. Lee. Memories of a Barefooted Boy, Buckhannon From the Year 1865 to 1870 and Later. Buckhannon, WV:
Upshur County Historical Society, 1998
List of Businesses. Business Files, Upshur County Historical Society.
Morgan, French. Recollections of Buckhannon, West Virginia 1888-1958. Buckhannon, WV: Upshur County Historical
Society, unpublished. Pg. 176
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Buckhannon West Virginia. Pelham, NY: Sanborn Map Company, 1894, 1898, 1904, 1908,
1913, 1923, 1930.
Upshur County Deeds.

Description

Title	16 East Main St.
Alternative Title	Buildings of the Past: Buckhannon's Downtown Historic District
Creator	Buckhannon Historic Landmarks Commission
Contributors	Stoner, Julie (Editor)
Description	This project began in 2006 with the formation of the Buckhannon Historic Landmarks Commission. One of the main goals of the commission is to “Encourage and support efforts to identify, evaluate, study, and designate significant structural and archaeological resources. To this end, after much effort on the part of the members of the BHLC as well as through the tremendous support from the Upshur County Historical Society, the downtown Buckhannon Historic District was created and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The next step was to further another other goal of the commission, to “educate Buckhannon residents about the wealth and value of our City’s history, the resources that embody it, and the opportunities that historic preservation offers our community.” In September of 2012, the landmarks commission joined with the historical society to fund an AmeriCorps volunteer to help in researching the remarkable history of the buildings in the downtown district. This research is the result of my year’s study of Buckhannon’s downtown area. All historical photographs provided courtesy of the Upshur County Historical Society
Transcript	16 EAST MAIN STREET Building in 2013 Main Street c. 1911-1919 (UCHS, Amy Post Collection) HISTORICAL SKETCH The Farnsworth family owned much of the land in this area in the early history of Buckhannon. Trading much of the southern portion of Staten Island for 3,500 acres of land in western Virginia, Daniel Farnsworth moved west and settled on the Buckhannon River with his wife and five sons in 1821. Leonard Farnsworth, born in 1830 to Nathaniel and Susanna Farnsworth, was the grandson of Daniel Farnsworth. In 1849, Leonard set off for California during the early days of the gold rush to make his fortune. Upon returning to Upshur County, L.S.S. Farnsworth became a prosperous business man, buying half of this block on which he built a two story home and two store buildings, one of which was a shoemakers shop. In 1901, he sold this part of the property to two brothers, Gustave F. and John M. Stockert. These brothers were the sons of a German immigrant, Julius F. Stockert, who came to West Virginia in 1871. G.F. and J.M Stockert had three other brothers, who all went into the lumber business. In 1904, the Stockert brothers took down the building made by L.S.S. Farnsworth and erected this building, the main floors being used as a store for most of its existence. In 1908, the basement of the building was used as a bowling alley while the third floor was used as an assembly hall. In 1940, an out of town grocery store, Kroger, took over the space. After Kroger moved, G.C. Murphy’s 5 and 10 cent store took over in 1949, allowing them to expand to this building from the adjacent three buildings to the west. OWNERS OF RECORD  1998-2013: C.J./M.J. Rylands  1901-1998: Stockert Family (originally J.M. and G.F. Stockert, brothers)  -1901: Leonard S.S. Farnsworth For reference to list above, see in Upshur County Courthouse deed book number/page number: 408/465; 403/133; 248/632; 186/513; 82/400; 147/288; 25/278; D/59(?) LIST OF BUSINESSES All dates in italics are spans of time when the business was known to exist in this location. Dates could extend previous to or after stated dates. Construction of Current Building: 1904  2003-2013: CJ Maggies (UCHS Businesses)  1949-1990s: GC Murphy’s (UCHS Businesses)  1940: Kroger (UCHS Businesses)  Before Kroger: Leader Store  1908-1913: dry goods store, lodge room on 3rd, bowling alley in basement (Sanborn Maps)  1898: 2 buildings, confectionary and photo studio (Sanborn Maps)  1894: confectionary (Sanborn Maps)  1872: shoemakers shop and store room (Heavner) ADDITIONAL MATERIAL  L.S.S. Farnsworth (Morgan) o Born December 21, 1830 o 49er who went to CA during gold rush o 15 children o First resident dentist (Cutright 441)  Stockerts o John M. and Gustave F. brothers  Father, Julius F, immigrated from Plowen, Germany in 1846 (BR, 11/18/55)  Moved to Lewis Co. with parents in 1871 (Cutright 576) o G.F. Stockert  Born September 3, 1854  moved to Upshur in 1886 (Morgan 176)  September 23, 1877 married Hannah “Pooce” Bailey  Went into the lumber business with brothers WORKS CITED Buckhannon Record newspaper. Buckhannon, WV, November 18, 1955. Chace, Jacob. Gray’s New Map of Buckhannon Upshur Co. West Virginia, 1879. Upshur County Historical Society. Cutright, William B. The History of Upshur County, West Virginia. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Company, 1977 reprint of 1907 original. Pgs. 441, 576 Heavner, J. Lee. Memories of a Barefooted Boy, Buckhannon From the Year 1865 to 1870 and Later. Buckhannon, WV: Upshur County Historical Society, 1998 List of Businesses. Business Files, Upshur County Historical Society. Morgan, French. Recollections of Buckhannon, West Virginia 1888-1958. Buckhannon, WV: Upshur County Historical Society, unpublished. Pg. 176 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Buckhannon West Virginia. Pelham, NY: Sanborn Map Company, 1894, 1898, 1904, 1908, 1913, 1923, 1930. Upshur County Deeds.
Subject	Historic buildings
Date Original	2013
Date Digital	2013-08-09
Publisher of Original	Buckhannon Historic Landmarks Commission
Publisher	Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library
Rights	The images in Pages In Time may be used 'for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including PowerPoint presentations for classroom use), scholarship, and research' but not for commercial purposes (17 U.S. Code Section 107). All historical image rights reserved by the Upshur County Historical Society. Please contact society for use permission.
Format	image/pdf
Format Original	PDF file
Type	Image
File Size	503542 Bytes
Language	English
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