Wv Est. 1863.

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Who was murdered in lock 4?

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I read about a murder in the area the other night that really piqued my interest and I went down the rabbit hole. The murder was in 1858 and led to the first white man being legally hanged in Kanawha County. Late in the evening of Wednesday, January 20th, 1858 or early in the morning of Thursday, 21st, Mary Susan Turley was murdered by her husband Preston S. Turley. The couple were residents of the neighborhood around lock 4 in what is now Alum Creek, this was way before Alum Creek or even Rome, wv. Susan was found the following Monday night about midnight, which was almost ten years exactly since her and Preston were married. The river had been dragged for quite a distance from their house, which sat almost directly on the riverbank. Preston, who was in bed at his father's house, about a mile away, was immediately arrested.It was said that he left his house when they started dragging the river. His initial claim that she drowned herself was disproved by the 69-pound rock that...
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Capitol Plaza Theater

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                                                  A picture my mom took of the Capitol Plaza Theater when we we're walking along Summers street last month.                            I figured today would be a good day to end my nearly one-year hiatus from blogging (my last post was in October 2024). The dreary weather today has me in the mood to tell a good ghost story. Everybody who knows me knows I love a good ghost story.       This is probably one of the most told and re-told stories around the Charleston area. This is the story of the Capitol Plaza Theater on Summers Street in downtown Charleston, WV. It is said that the site was formally occupied by the Welch mansion. The Welch family mansion was built in the latter part of the 1700's ...
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The Mohler house AKA Hill Grove

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This house has always intrigued me, but I didn’t know exactly what to call it or much else about it until a couple years ago when I was looking at some articles another historian posted on his Facebook page. Not everyone knows the name of this house, but it is a landmark in St. Albans, West Virginia. I’m of course talking about the Mohler house AKA “Hill Grove” This mansion on Pennsylvania Ave. is considered by many to be the best, or at least one of the best, examples of Victorian Queen Anne Architecture in the state. This house had a twin in Charleston, but it was demolished. It was built for William Mohler in approx. 1900 William Mohler Mr. Mohler was an impressive man. He owned 13 other houses in St. Albans and was a very successful businessman. He owned Mohler lumber company, sat on the board of several banks and was president of the St. Albans electric and water company. He was also a stockholder of the Boone County Bank in Madison and stockholder of Panaguio Mine co. in Me...
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