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Gravely Tractor
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1911
Benjamin Franklin Gravely began designing a power-driven plow Other events that happened on or around 1911 Bill to create the Department of Agriculture and Commissioner of Agriculture was passed Alderson Academy's name was changed to Alderson Baptist Academy (now part of Alderson Broaddus University) Walter Barnes received an M.A. from Harvard Van Bittner joined the UMWA The Board of Control was given responsibility to manage the state tuberculosis sanitarium at Terra Alta and the West Virginia Colored Orphans Home in Huntington A. B. Brooks wrote Forestry and Wood Industries Fire destroyed the Mountain House 155,092 pounds of chestnuts shipped from one railroad station in West Virginia William Edwin Chilton was elected U.S. senator by state legislature Goff Building was finished in Clarksburg Danske Dandridge wrote American Prisoners of the Revolution The elective Office of Agriculture Commissioner was created Population of postal communities on Flat Top Mountain was 300 Reported 83 band mills and 900 circular mills in operation Thaddeus Fowler returned to West Virginia Berkeley Glass Sand Company was incorporated After changing to Lewisburg Female Institute the name changed to Lewisburg Seminary (later Greenbrier College for Women) The citizens of Guyandotte voted to become part of Huntington A new courthouse in Hamlin was constructed The Anti-Tuberculosis League of West Virginia lobbied a bill through legislature to build a sanitarium Charles Laws graduated from Leonard Medical College in North Carolina Governor Glasscock gave Joseph Long the title colonel Minnie Lowther published The History of Ritchie County The earliest known road map of West Virginia was produced by a state agency The Marlinton Opera House began use Frank McEnteer moved to Clarksburg Rufus G. Meador constructed a hotel at Mercer Healing Springs Explosion at No. 20 Mine in Elk Garden killed 23 miners Congress enacted the Weeks law which authorized the federal government to cooperate with the various states to purchase land for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams The name of the Morgantown newspaper was changed to Weekly New Dominion The Blue Creek oil field was discovered along the Elk River Matthew M. Neely was elected clerk of the House of Delegates Paden City Pottery was established Pre-engineering and agriculture programs were added at West Virginia Preparatory School (now Potomac State) The legislature approved the submission of another prohibition amendment to the people The Story of a Song: What It Means to Belong to the King was published. Rat Rodgers started at Bethany College A streetcar line extension from Charleston to St. Albans was established A deadlock occurred in the senate when members had to chose the U.S. Senators The Seneca Glass Company opened a second factory in Star City The Pythians erected an obelisk at Samuel W. Starks's grave in Spring Hill Cemetery Clarence W. Watson began serving in the U.S. Senate Fairview changed its name to Wayne The West Virginia Press Association became inactive Wings were added to Woodburn Hall at WVU Westover was incorporated Widen was built as a coal company town Willard Hotel was built in Grafton Vernon Johnson began serving in the House of Delegates
Dec 05, 1916
A patent was issued for the Gravely Motor Plow
1922
Benjamin Gravely started his own business, The Gravely Motor Plow and Cultivator Company in Dunbar Other events that happened on or around 1922 A black man, Leroy Williams, was hung for the rape of a woman when evidence showed otherwise. Four of Mary Atkeson's plays were published First Morgantown airport built R. D. Bailey moved to Pineville Field of 64 high school basketball teams was broken into "A" and "B" divisions based on team strength West Virginia was 35% forested John Peale Bishop married Izetta Brown was first woman south of the Mason-Dixon line to run for U.S. Senate Cut-over land at present Calvin W. Price State Forest was sold by Maryland Lumber Company Camp Caesar began Brandon Hass purchased the old forest at present Cathedral State Park A second series of treason trials of West Virginia Mine Wars was held in Charles Town William E. "Ned" Chilton Jr. became president of the Daily Gazette Co. Charleston Ordnance Center closed Almost 80% of miners lived in company towns John W. Davis became president of the American Bar association Julia Davis received B.A. from Barnard College Clarence Shirley Donnelly accepted the pastorate at Oak Hill Baptist Church Capt. Annis Boggs was commissioned Ward Engineering of Charleston to build floating dance hall, the Edwards Moonlight Morrow Hall began occupancy at Fairmont State First steel fire tower was built on Backbone Mountain by Emory N. "Pop" Wriston Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler died Donald Gaudineer graduated from New York State Ranger College East-west routes were assigned odd numbers and north-south routes were assigned even numbers Bill Blizzard and others were tried for treason at the Jefferson County courthouse No one was convicted of treason in the Blair Mountain trials Frank Keeney agreed to temporary wage cuts for UMWA members Charles Laws relocated to Hinton to replace a local doctor who had died Hamlin High School was built in Hamlin Minnie Lowther wrote Mount Vernon, Arlington and Woodlawn A church was built for the Lebanese Christians in Wheeling The Leadclad Wire Company was established by Wheeling Metal John Matheus began teaching foreign languages at West Virginia State College A disastrous fire completely destroyed the Mercer Healing Springs Hotel The Mine Wars ended The B&O absorbed the Morgantown & Kingwood The Mount St. George mansion was acquired by the Catholic Knights of St. George The Norwalk Motor Car Company closed The State Industrial School for Colored Boys opened at Lakin, Mason County William Revercomb relocated to Charleston to practice law Leonard Riggleman earned a bachelor's degree at Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) Rev. Patrick J. Donahue died John J. Swint became Bishop of Catholic Diocese Catholic population in West Virginia was 63,000 Clint Thomas joined the Detroit Stars baseball team There was a Washington exposition of Vitrolite A hospital proved vital during an influenza epidemic The Shott brothers made initial efforts at radio Leased wildlife refuges on privately owned land were established First large mine in Wyoming County was opened by Raleigh-Wyoming Coal Company Gurnett “Cap” Ferguson built the 72-room Ferguson Hotel Hack Wilson hit 30 homers and hit .362, leading the Class D Blue Ridge League in both categories.
1937
The Model L Gravely tractor was introduced Other events that happened on or around 1937 Turquoise color was introduced for Fiestaware Louis W. Chappell began field recording of folksongs Garnet was classified as first-class high school Glenville State College received admission to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education "Biggie" Goldberg lead University of Pittsburgh to the national football championship Benjamin Gravely retired from the day-to-day management of the company The National Park Service conducted a survey of the Jefferson County site for the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park The U.S. Department of Agriculture began purchasing property in Randolph County to reforest the land and reclaim streams to create Holly River State Park U.S. Army Corp of Engineers constructed a floodwall to protect Huntington from the Ohio The Huttonsville Correctional Center was founded as part of the West Virginia penitentiary system Monsignor Thomas Quirk died Louis Johnson served in the Roosevelt Administration as assistant secretary of war Kenova experienced a disastrous flood The State Labor Federation joined the CIO's new West Virginia state organization Blanche Lazzell returned to Provincetown to study with Hans Hofmann Pare Lorentz shot and edited The River Lost River State Park opened Sam Mallison was hired as head of public relations for the Benedum-Trees Company The Marshall College centennial brought descendants of John Marshall to the campus for the unveiling of a bust of the chief justice Walter Martens completed the Riverview Terrace apartments in Charleston The Appalachian Trail was established The Reber Radio Telescope was originally built by Grote Reber The PSC was given jurisdiction over motor carriers of goods and passengers. Walter Reuther represented 30,000 workers in 76 shops for the United Auto Workers The original 440 sites designated by the Commission on Historic and Scenic Highway Markers were erected The Harrison Rural Electrification Association was established Recreation facilities were opened to the public in Seneca State Forest Flood waters rose in the lower section of the Smoot Theater Sam Snead joined the Professional Golf Association tour Harley Staggers was elected Mineral County sheriff The National Labor Relations Board charged Weirton Steel with unfair labor practices The United Steelworks signed a contract at Wheeling Steel Joe Stydahar was first named to the All-National Football League team DuPont's Belle Works began world production of nylon A large wood mill was built in the Tygart Valley Homesteads The trade center building in Tygart Valley Homesteads was completed The women of Friendly seated an all-female municipal government CCC Camps Seebert and Will Rogers were closed Volkmar Wentzel became a writer and photographer for National Geographic Phil Conley sold the West Virginia Review Harrison Ferrell became dean of West Virginia State College (now University) West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company built a bleached paperboard mill in South Carolina Wheeling Downs opened for harness racing Patty Willis exhibited her work at the Society of International Artists in New York Carter G. Woodson began the publication of The Negro History Bulletin Joseph Newman Alderson became the national WPA director Grote Reber built a telescope with a 31.4-foot diameter parabolic dish in his backyard Katherine Johnson graduated from West Virginia State College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and French Sam Jones won the state marble-shooting championship
1960
Partner D. Ray Hall sold Gravely Motor Plow and Cultivator Company to Studebaker Other events that happened on or around 1960 Chauncey H. Browning's unexpired term in the Supreme Court ended The Conference of Appalachian Governors was formed The President's Appalachian Regional Commission, PARC created, led by FDR Jr. The position of state archeologist was created by state legislature Tony Boyle became vice president of the UMWA Chauncey H. Browning was Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court Clay County was producing 900,000 tons of coal Jack Fleming became general manager of WAJR radio in Morgantown Construction on the Summersville Lake and Dam began. Construction on the Summersville Lake and Dam began Greer Lime Company was formed The Greer Lime Company began production at Key The Glen Rogers Mine was closed by the Old Ben Coal Corporation Weirton had highest population in Hancock County at 28,201 Vera Andrews Harvey replaced Roy Lee Harmon as poet laureate The campus of Storer College was added to the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park The United Hospital Center was erected The state population fell to 1,860,421 Frank Hutchison's "Alabama" became a major county hit for Cowboy Copas Storer College buildings were added to the Harpers Ferry National Park Kanawha County peak population at 252,925 Governor Smith was the Democratic state chairman Tom Kromer returned to Huntington from Albuquerque John L. Lewis retired as the president of the UMWA Arden Cogar Sr. started the Webster County Wood Chopping Festival D. K. Shroyer became president of Beckley College (now Mountain State University The City-County Building in Ohio County was dedicated Plum Orchard Lake Wildlife Management Area purchased by the West Virginia Conservation Commission The N&W operated its last steam equipment The Chesapeake & Ohio and the Baltimore & Ohio began a gradual consolidation that eventually included Western Maryland Otis Rice received a Ph.D. in history at Univ. of Kentucky Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company was sold to the Georgia-Pacific Corporation Jay Rockefeller returned from the International Christian University in Tokyo Rocket boys Homer Hickam, Roy Lee Cooke, Willie Rose, Jim O'Dell Carroll, Quentin Wilson and Sherman Siers won top prize at the National Science Fair for their exhibit "A Study of Amateur Rocketry Techniques" Reported 110,000 Catholics in West Virginia St. Marys population peaked at 2,442 Fred Schaus left as basketball coach at WVU Mary Lee Settle wrote Know Nothing The Preston Railroad line was abandoned South Charleston's population peaked at 19,180 Weirton population peaked at 28,201 Jerry West was unanimous choice for first-team All-American Jerry West co-captained the undefeated U.S. Olympic team West Liberty State College enrollment exceeded 1,000 for the first time The West Virginia Music Educators Association began the movement to adopt "The West Virginia Hills" as the state song Wheeling Steel plants stretched for 30 miles along the Ohio River Henry Aaron was appointed conductor of the Wheeling Symphony There were 1,000 students enrolled at West Virginia Institute of Technology Patrice Harris was born in Bluefield John McKay became head coach at University of Southern California
1968
The last Gravely tractor rolled off the Dunbar assembly line Other events that happened on or around 1968 Frederick M. Staunton, publisher of the Charleston Daily Mail, retired Chief Logan State Park gained state park status Denomination adopted the name Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Orval Brown was released from the state mental hospital at Weston Stephen Coonts earned a B.A. at WVU George Crumb was award the Pulitzer Prize for Echoes of Time and the River: Four Processionals for Orchestra Phyllis Curtin sang with the Charleston Symphony Opera Phyllis Curtin was named West Virginian of the year with George Crumb by the Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail Home Demonstration clubs changed name to Extension Homemaker Clubs National attention was brought to the issue of mine safety Fesenmeier sold its brewery to Little Switzerland Brewing Company Two-year associate degree in forestry was developed at Glenville State College Five high schools were consolidated into Gilmer County High School Charles Haden served on the Monongalia County Board of Education Roy Lee Harmon wrote Rhymes of a Mountaineer The Modern Budget Amendment made the governor responsible for preparation of the state budget West Virginia's first spring gobbler season began Sonny Hyde transferred to the state Department of Natural Resources to work on Outdoor West Virginia (now Wild Wonderful West Virginia) The Jones Diamond left the Smithsonian to be on exhibition at the State Fair Linsly School relocated to Banes Hall in Wheeling The present entrance to the Lost World Cavers was dug through a hill Joe Manchin's family shoe store burned A new academic building was constructed at Marshall University Enrollment at Marshall University reached 8,177 Irene McKinney received her bachelor's from West Virginia Wesleyan College M. Blane Michael graduated from New York University M. Blane Michael began working at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York R. E. Fisher died leaving the Moorefield paper to Pheobe Fisher Heishman and husband David Mountain Artisans was founded John W. Saunders became president of Beckley College (now Mountain State University) replacing D. K. Shroyer The National Bank of Commerce built a new building known as Commerce Square in Charleston New Vrindaban began as a project of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness The New York Central System merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to create the ill-fated Penn Central The annual Nature Wonder Weekend was first held in North Bend State Park Nylon precursor chemical stopped being produced at Belle Works Logging on Otter Creek began again Pilgrim Glass Corporation plant manager Karel Konrad introduced cranberry glass Radio station WVWC, licensed to West Virginia Wesleyan College, went on air The last case of polio in West Virginia was reported James Rexrode's works were displayed at the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society at the Harrisonburg Arts and Crafts Festival Spanky Roberts retired from McClellan Air Force Base The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey conducted another extensive excavation on the St. Albans archeological site David Selby appeared in Dark Shadows James A Butcher became president of Shepherd College (now University) Governor Hulett Smith proposed $150 million bond issue for school construction and state facilities improvement. Grace Martin Taylor retired from Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) Norman L. Fagan suggested a Theater West Virginia show based on the Hatfield-McCoy Feud The Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodists forming the United Methodists, becoming West Virginia's biggest denomination There were 240 Evangelical United Brethren Churches in West Virginia, at the time of their merger with the Methodists Kendall Vintroux retired from the Charleston Gazette VISTA volunteers had streamed into rural and hard-pressed areas of West Virginia The WAJR facilities moved to the Greer Building West Virginia counties reasserted their control over economic opportunity commissions and community action programs, as local officials react to War on Poverty WesBanco was incorporated Wheeling Downs reopened Jon Dragan founded Wildwater Expedition Unlimited at Thurmond Bill Withers was discharged from the U.S. Navy in San Jose Runway expansion for jet airliners began at Kanawha Airport Chuck Yeager became a brigadier general Keith Ham leased 130 acres in Marshall County for the establishment of a rural retreat Nick Saban led the Monongah High School football team to a state championship victory over Paden City High Helen Chilton graduated from Denison University Charleston Section of the National Council of Jewish Women undertook “Appalachian Corridors,” the first exhibition to expressly curate the work of Appalachian artists View Articles by Existing Key Dates or Specify Your Own Date Range |
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