Tag: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Centennial Train Concludes Tour of State: Sept. 2, 1963

On September 2, 1963, the Centennial exhibits train wrapped up its tour of West Virginia with a stop in South Charleston.

During the summer of 1963, the nine-car train had reached more West Virginians than any other part of our state’s Centennial celebration.

It was a collaboration among the Centennial Commission and leading railroads, including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio, Norfolk & Western, New York Central, and the Pennsylvania.

Former baggage cars were outfitted with exhibits depicting West Virginia history, tourism, agriculture, resources, industry, arts and crafts, folklore, and education.

Starting at Washington on Memorial Day weekend, the train traveled to every region of West Virginia by Labor Day. More than 300,000 visitors took in the exhibits, with a one-day record of nearly 6,000 in Huntington.

The most famous—and controversial—piece of art on board was West Virginia Moon by WVU art professor Joe Moss. Made from weathered boards, an old screen door, and some leftover paint, Moss’s work won first prize for a painting by a West Virginia artist. You can now see West Virginia Moon on display in the West Virginia State Museum.

James Edward Watson Born: August 2, 1926

Businessman James Edwin Watson died in Fairmont on August 2, 1926, at age 67. He was the son of James Otis Watson, one of the first coal operators in northern West Virginia.

In 1852, James Otis Watson and future West Virginia founder Francis Pierpont opened a mine near Fairmont and shipped the first coal from Western Virginia on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

James Edwin Watson took over his father’s coal interests in 1885, at age 26. Over the next decade, he and his in-laws from the Fleming family acquired several more coal companies and renamed the enterprise Fairmont Coal Company.

In 1903, Fairmont Coal was bought out by the Consolidation Coal Company. The Watson and Fleming families soon acquired a majority interest in Consolidation Coal, which became one of the nation’s largest corporations. James Edwin Watson is also remembered for building High Gate in Fairmont. Erected in 1910, it’s one of West Virginia’s largest and most luxurious mansions. The house was sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph after Watson’s death to be used as a nursing home, and it was later a funeral home.

Exit mobile version