UPDATED: 10-25-2023 |
PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA: A VINTAGE PORTRAIT
![]() ![]() Welcome to a collection of old photos taken on the streets of Parkersburg, West Virginia. ![]() |
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Photo above was taken from Fort Boreman Hill, looking north, in the 1920s. Market Street runs straight up the center. Marked locations are (1) the Wood County Courthouse, (2) the City Building at 5th Street & Market, (3) St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Church between 5th & 6th Streets, (4) First Baptist Church at 9th & Market, (5) First Methodist Episcopal on Juliana Street, (6) Parkersburg High School, (7) West Virginia Route 2 heading north out of town, (8) the city reservoir, and (9) Washington Junior High School (formerly Parkersburg High). As of this writing in 2001, these sites still survive except for the City Building, which was torn down in the 1970s, and Washington Junior High, razed in the mid-'60s.
INDEX
* = UPDATED RECENTLY
The postcard at the top of this page is ultra scarce if it was mailed and has an 1899 postmark. It's probably worth $200 -$300 today...maybe more. Smith Jewelry on Market Street ordered those cards from Germany in 1899 (three different cards, possibly) and the German company sent them to Parkersburg with printed postcard backs, even though they were supposed to be trade cards with no postcard markings. A few of them got out and were mailed before the Post Office Department forced Smith to counterstamp them with a design that obliterated the "Post Card" markings. Probably several were never counterstamped and also never mailed. Picture postcards in 1899 were not legal. (Thanks to Patrick Cummings) |
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Greetings from the turn of the last century. |
RELATED LINKS:
Wood County Historical and Preservation Society
Early Parkersburg WV & surrounding area [Facebook group]
Parkersburg by Robert Anderson and Aaron Crites (Arcadia Publishing)
1907 Parkersburg Directory (Full Text)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia [click on map to enlarge]
The Parkersburg News & The Parkersburg Sentinel
WTAP-TV Facebook Page
Parkersburg Radio History: WCEF/WADC and WCEF-FM/WIBZ/WMGP
Parkersburg Radio History: WPAR/WIKS/WLTP
Blackwood Associates, Inc. - West Virginia Postcards: PARKERSBURG [archived copy of defunct site]
Parkerburg Viscose Plant
Cemeteries of Wood County [archived copy of defunct site]
Parkersburg's Top 20 One-Hit Wonder
Parkersburg WV History & Industrial & Commercial Businesses
Famous West Virginians [archived copy of defunct site]
Jewish Parkersburg [archived copy of defunct site]
The Jackson Family of Parkersburg
The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
Oil and Gas Museum [archived copy of defunct site]
A View of Washington Bottom (A Glance at Blennerhassett Island) [archived copy of defunct site]
Marietta Flood of 2004 [archived copy of defunct site]
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Most of the early 1900s houses in Parkersburg were ordered from companies like Sears, Roebuck,
and delivered by train cars in sections, which were then assembled at the destination lots.
If you have an old postcard or photo of a Parkersburg street you'd like to see in these pages, please scan it and send to jimddddd@aol.com |
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