Changes in Logan during the year 1912

By Dwight Williamson

It was 1912 in Logan County, and even though they were not allowed to vote, women had already started making a difference for the town of Logan, which was well on its way to becoming a true and bustling city. Thanks to the rapidly growing coal industry, Logan would become an enlightened and progressive locality, yet neither polished nor refined.

By 1912, the Logan Mercantile Co. – the first floor of which is now judicially utilized as Family Court – had been opened for barely a year by owner B.C Harris, who also conducted embalming and other undertaker procedures on the upper floor of the Main Street structure that featured an elevator.

Logan was growing quickly. The longtime former Indian burial grounds that existed under nearly all of the town even had its own Kroger’s on Main Street directly across from the courthouse. The word Kroger’s can still be seen painted on that particular building.

While men were probably hustling to open such businesses as pool halls, barber shops, retail stores and restaurants to take advantage of the growing population, and to cater to the coal camp folks who were pouring into Logan every weekend, many women saw the need for other things, so the group organized as the Woman’s Civic League.

The objective of the league was to improve the conditions of the community, and its first move was to approach Logan City Council, after organizing and electing officers Feb. 3, 1912. It was reported that “every lady, married or single, over the age of 18 years, who has the interest of the city of Logan at heart” was invited to become a member. The initiation fee was $1 and included the first year’s dues.

At a time when chewing tobacco was a popular item chewed inside and outside of the coal mines by both males and females, the Women’s League wanted a halt put to spitting in public places. It convinced the council to pass an “anti-spitting ordinance.”

Spitting on the sidewalks, walls or floors of public buildings, or in other places where the public might be in Logan called for the offender to be liable for a fine of from one to 10 dollars. Still, that wasn’t all the ladies got accomplished in creating a better health environment.

Through their efforts with the council, the beginning of proper garbage disposal became a reality for the first time in Logan as the street commissioner was ordered to collect and dispose of all accumulated garbage on Monday of each week. To facilitate the effort, all residents were requested to maintain a barrel or “other suitable receptacle for waste matter” and to have it in a convenient place for removal each Monday.

The Logan Woman’s Club would some years later come into existence, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution, both of which accomplished many outstanding civic endeavors – but it was these “feminine pioneers” who were not even allowed to vote in an election until 1920 who made the early difference in helping Logan government in matters such as the sale of sewer and paving bonds, the location of the first bridges across the Guyandotte River into Logan, the blocking of railroad tracks by trains, and even the restoration of the evening passenger train to Holden.

It being Mother’s Day, I thought it only deserving that I relay the above story.

Happy Mother’s Day to all appropriate “Earthlings” and to those now in Heaven, which includes my own mother, Ethel Williamson.

Dwight Williamson is a retired magistrate in Logan County. He writes a weekly column for HD Media.

Published with permission.

Changes in Logan during the year 1912

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