Friday, February 24, 2006

Orlando Businesses Over the Years

The following is an inventory of businesses that have served Orlando. The earliest was established around 1835 (John Riffle’s grist mill) and the last was the general store owned and operated into the 1970s by (my aunt) Juanita (Stutler) Burgett.
It would be great to get more information on Orlando Businesses.

~ John Riffle’s grist mill (built about 1835) 2.
~ Hickory Mill (opened in 1905 by Coal & Coke) 1.
~ Charles and Maggie (Cosner) Skinner's gristmill 2.
~ Wade Mick’s mill and feed store 2.
~ a restaurant owned by the Coal & Coke 1.
~ Dick Skinner’s Wagon Restaurant 1,4.
~ Lee Morrison’s restaurant 1.
~ Glen Skinner’s barber shop 4.
~ Dolan Hotel 1,2,4.
~ Rush Hotel 1.
~ Kelly Hotel 5.
~ general stores owned by
Pete Kennedy,
Rush,
Dolan,
Mike Moran,
Adblake’s,
Charles and Maggie (Cosner) Skinner,
Bill Foster then Bill Conrad, then Dexter & Lela Brown, then Juanita (Stutler) Burgett. 1,2,4.
~ Mike Moran’s mortuary 1,4.
~ Cecily Tulley Brice’s millinery shop 1.
~ C.Z. Ruth wholesale house 1.
~ Mike Moran’s skating rink (replaced the wholesale house) 1.
~ Hole in the Hill, a bootleg saloon 1.
~ Mike Moran’s feed store 1.
~ Bill Foster’s feed store 1.
~ Nathan Parmer, Blacksmith 1.
~ Jake Queen, Blacksmith 1.

David Parmer reports the following:
Orlando as reported in the Burnsville Kanawha Banner.
~ In August 1912, O. E. Hollister opened a five lane pin bowling alley.
~ On March 22, 1911 Dr. Stanton Trimble moved into the Sandy Tulley house.
~ In 1913 the Oldaker Mercantile Company was bought out by G. F. Bennett.
~ In 1914, W. B. Foster bought out Bennett.

Photos:
upper right The Wagon Restaurant
middle right Former Dolan Hotel in the 1970s. It had been a private residence for many years. The landscaping had changed, but there had been no external architectural changes.
lower left Mike Moran, mortician and entrepreneur

1. Orlando:Cinderella City... Weston Democrat Wed, Nov 2, 1977. Cited as sources History of West Virginia by J.M Callihan and Orlando residents Macel Parmer Bennett, Martin Sweeney and Edith Blake.
2. A Pictoral History of Old Lewis County: The Crossroads of Central West Virginia by Joy Gilchrist Stalnacker, published by Walsworth Publishing Company
3. Lewis County, West Virginia: Her People and Places by Joy Gilchrist Stalnacker, published by Walsworth Publishing Companyin 2000.
4. My own experience in Orlando in the 1950s through 1980s

5. Newspaper ad: see Nov 30, '06 entry Hotel Kelly

1 comment:

  1. My grandfather, William Hays Riffle, was a blacksmith in Orlando from approximately 1917 to 1950. He was the son of Draper Riffle and lived his entire life in Braxton County until approximately 1960 when he came to Ohio to live with his son in Dalton, Ohio. He passed away in Hocking County, Ohio, around 1965.

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