Man & Triadelphia District

This is a collection of photos of the town of Man and some of the other communities located in the Triadelphia District of Logan County, West Virginia.

1970s Man, WV
1970s Man, WV courtesy of Linda Gibson.

A bit of history: Before being called “Man”, it was called “Buffalo City”.

The Logan Banner, 15 February 1924
Man, Fastest Growing Town In Logan County Elects F. M. Burgess As President C. of C.
– History of How It Was Named

Man, WV, Logan Banner, 15 February 1924
Clipping courtesy of Brandon Ray Kirk.

This is an excerpt from this article: “The name is unique by its very simplicity and how it got tagged so is the result of a blunder on the part of the government’s official post office namer. Perhaps it was a bold stroke prompted by inspiration – Anyway, this is how it came about:

A few years ago the matter of naming the clump of houses, store and mine fell to the namer’s lot of task. He was told that the place was located at the junction of Buffalo creek and the Guyan river. He wished to verify the information so he took his map in hand. There was indeed a spot in the point designated.

Nothing phases a man who has named some of the places in this county and the patient, uninspired plodder, we presume, thought of his thankless labor, to moll, toil and tediousness of it, his thoughts turned inward and he stuck his pen deep into the ink and scratched out the name Man.

So it was not in the anticipation of a full grown, lusty city that the man gave the dot on the map the Man, his actions being nothing more than the result of following the course of least resistance. It was a good stroke and the people of the little city are proud of the name because of its very significance.”

Everyone is welcome to share our images on Facebook, etc., but please use the Share Button. Share don’t take.

Triadelphia District Photo Gallery


You can help preserve a bit of Logan County history by sharing your vintage photos with us. To share a photo, please email it to the admin at loganwv.us@gmail.com. Please note that you must own the photo you are submitting or ensure that no one has a copyright claim on it.

Related links:

50 thoughts on “Man & Triadelphia District”

  1. I enjoyed this so much, My parents were Walter and Delma Hall….I was born in 1957 in the Man hospital and my parents moved from Lorado to Lundale a year later, I got to go to the wooden School House my first year in 1963 my teacher was Mrs Ramey (Otis Ramey was her husband), Goldie Griffith was the 2nd grade teacher across the hall there in 1963, it was the last year Lundale school was open…My parents and I went to the Saunders FWB church that sat under the Dam that broke in 1972…..The day before it broke our entire family drove up to Saunders and cleaned the little Church from top to bottom…it was the first thing destroyed when the Dam broke the next day,…we ran for our lives to the hillside crawling under the Coal Cars, …..The Buffalo Creek I grew up in was forever gone nor is there a single surviving picture of the house I grew up in

    1. Douglas Dempsey

      Robert, In the early 50’s I went to Lundale for 4th and 5th grade. Mr. Ramey was my 5th grade teacher and he was our next door neighbor at Latrobe. When the Boy Scout camp was built, the company moved a couple of old coal camp houses from the scout camp area across the creek and located them below the 2 houses that were already there between the creek and the highway. Mr. Ramey’s house was next to ours and he fixed it up very nicely.

      Mr. Ramey was quite artistic and a craftsman. I recall he showed some of us boys how to make our own bows out of hickory saplings. Among other things, he showed us how to use pieces of broken glass to shave off the wood to make the curved shapes of the bow.

      He was a WWII vet and I seem to recall his tales of using a flame thrower fighting Japanese in the South Pacific.

      I recall that he had earned awards (perhaps national championship) at typing speed.

      In late 40’s-early 50’s I went to the Crites school 1st thru 3rd. At that time, we lived in the large two-story house across the creek up on the hill just below Crites. That house is still there. I and/or a couple of my sisters have visited it a few times over the years and the current residents are very hospitable in allowing us to visit and pleased we do.

      Having spent the idyllic days of my youth at Latrobe, I was extremely saddened by the destruction by the flood which pretty much obliterated the sights all along Buffalo Creek that were my world.

      In latter years I worked and lived at Dehue on Rum Creek and, alas, all vestiges of that coal town has been obliterated by its demolition after the mine closed there. Buffalo Creek and Dehue are twin tragedies, invoking melancholy sadness and memories.

    2. Timothy,

      Apologies for incorrectly addressing my previous response to your post to “Robert” instead of you.

    3. Patricia McLain Fields

      Timothy, I enjoyed reading your post. I went to the “wooden school house” at Lundale from 1941-47. The teachers you mention were not there then…Mrs. Dean was the principal, and among my memories of the school were playing at recess on a “red dog” covered playground surface (why that stuff was used, I’ll never know!). There were many bleeding knees and elbows by the end of recess.
      I didn’t know the school closed in 1963….where did the elementary school children go after that?

      1. Connie Beth Baldwin

        I went to 5th & 6th grade in that school. Mrs dean taught 6th and believe my 5th grade teacher was mrs. Owens. Knew Pat McLain, Betty Dempsey.. my Mother, Mrs. Baldwin, taught 4th grade. We lived at Stowe. Was a fun time when growing up on Buffalo Creek. This was probably 1945/46. Graduated Man High in 1953

  2. Dilford Meadows, (Huffman family)

    I love the old pics and
    the one of the guys standing
    In front of the gas station looks
    a lot like my grandfather he
    would hang out there all the
    time when I was growing up
    his name is Freeland Huffman,
    my mother was Bernice Huffman
    not for sure so I’m going to have
    my aunt Doris to check this site out
    thank you really enjoy.!!

  3. Connie Baldwin Trent

    In response Douglas Dempsey’s guestion regarding Crites drive in – I remember thr drive in and think was just known as Crites drive in. Also remember just had curb service as was a small building. Hot hogs were good as had beans in the chili sauce.

    1. Try as I might, I can’t remember a drive-in at Crites. I only recall the famous Morrison’s Drive-in at Stollings, which had most delicious fried chicken (and curb service!)

      1. Connie Baldwin trent

        The drive-in was just on the right before crossing the bridge and close to the railroad. Stowe was on the right side of the creek and slate dump. I also remember Cliff-Side drive-in as well as Morrison’s. After Stowe was another bridge crossing the creek into Lundale

  4. Hi Pat McLain and Douglas Dempsey, I graduated with Betty & you Pat in 1953 and. Ruth Baldwin was my Mother! Cannot believe I just happen to see this on FB. Remember we used to exchange Nancy Drew books. My Dad used to drive Betty & me to the movies on Wednesday night in Amhesrtdale. I lived at Stowe at that time. Later moved to Robinette

    1. Hey, Connie Beth down in sunny Florida!
      We had a darned good childhood in this place without cell phones and TV, didn’t we?
      We shared Nancy Drew books and Girl Scouts, and your mother was my favorite teacher of all. I recall those days with pleasure now, although the area itself has completely changed.
      Best to you and Harry…

      1. Patricia and Connie,

        Well, I have often wondered where all those Nancy Drew books came from that I read in the early 50’s.

        I called sister Betty and told her to jump in on “gossiping” on this website. She got on it but hasn’t “learned” how to respond yet. (She is using a cell phone.)

        I don’t do Facebook so I don’t know how much detailed discussion goes on there compared to the discussions on this website. I hope this website is a better documentation of the “good old days” and I urge everyone to participate in it, especially those of older generations.

        I have a bunch of questions for you both and I’ll start asking when I get organized. As a beginning I’ll ask you: “What was the name of the drive-in restaurant place in the upper end of Crites just below Stowe?” Did it have curb service?

        (P.S. I started writing up an “anthology” of my father’s coal mining experiences, a sort of “documentation” for the benefit of family members. It turned out to be over 40 pages long.)

  5. Patricia McLain Fields

    I can’t express how much these old pictures mean to me. I was born in Lundale in 1935, and graduated from Man High in 1953. I remember so many of these scenes. Many thanks from an old lady!

    1. Patricia,there is a 1947 Man Cemetery photo
      on this website. Last year a friend of mine
      who lives outside of Man found that the
      cemetery is located right behind MJHS that
      has now been torn down. Do you recall anything
      about the cemetery? Today its in bad shape as
      the citizens of Man haven’t taken care of it.

      1. Patricia McLain Fields

        I recall seeing that cemetery when I was in high school, and it was well kept then. So sad to know it has been abandoned. It seems that some civic group in Man, Boy Scouts or Rotary Club, would take it on as a project to restore.

        1. Patricia, thanks for your comments.
          Maybe the groups will do this with
          the Man town Mayor during their
          100th Birthday Celebration this
          year.
          A letter & e-mails were sent to
          Logan Banner reporter Bill Lusk
          asking him to do a story about
          the destruction of Man Cemetery,.
          He hasn’t replied back.

  6. I’m trying to find out some information about my grandfather. He was a doctor in Lundale in the early to mid 1900s, leaving around 1944. They say he started the hospital there in Lundale for the coal miners of the town. Is there any way I can verify this? His name was Rupert W. Quaintance, Sr.

    1. Nancy, you can find him in the 1930 census
      at familysearch.org.His middle name was
      Wilson, wife was Bessie.Shows all
      family members.You have to read the
      census record.

    2. Patricia McLain Fields

      Absolutely remember Doc Quaintance…his family lived next door to us in Lundale.
      His two sons were Rupert and Buddy, I think, and his wife was a sweet lady. He made house calls, and gave me those pink and black pills many times…I just loved him!
      I was nine years old when they moved away.

      1. Douglas Dempsey

        Patricia, I Iived at Latrobe from 1945 until-1954 when I finished 5th grade at Lundale. My 5th grade teacher (and neighbor) was Otis Ramey.

        I seem to recall the doctor was named “Rutkay” which I assume was spelled Hrutkay. Do you recall that doctor?

        My sister may have graduated with you. Her name was Betty Dempsey

        1. Patricia McLain Fields

          Of course, Douglas…I’ve known your sister, Betty, since we were in 4th grade and Mrs. Baldwin was our teacher at Lundale Grade School. Betty was new to our class and sat in front of me. We were classmates all through high school, and i saw her often at the 1953 reunions in Huntington. We still email occasionally.
          Yes, I remember Dr. Hrudka (sp?) who was the doctor there after Dr. Quaintance, and Dr. Scott after him.

          1. Douglas Dempsey

            Patricia,

            I called Betty and she confirmed what I thought. It has now dawned on me that you are the classmate she has spoken so highly of over the years. Whenever I’ve had questions over the years about old times on Buffalo Creek she said she would ask you about it. She furnished me your Email so perhaps I can ask you directly henceforth. Glad to meet you!

            Please remain active on this site.

    3. Jewell Phillips Wood

      Nancy, my late husband was named after your grandfather! Rupert Wilson Phillips, my son carries his name today! Rupert Wilson Phillips, Jr

  7. I think my mother and father lived there, maybe around 1936 when I was born. Chester and Helen McClure. Is there any way to find if this is true. I believe he was associated with the mines. My mother was a nurse.

  8. First of all, thanks for sharing these photos. We lived in Lundale in the Fifties in Tin Can Alley. Our oldest son went to Lundale Grade school in First grade, had Mrs. Goldie Ramey. Also my husband went through Lundale Grade school and Graduated at Man High in 1955. Betty and Denver Merritt.

  9. The Hospital in Man was called Man Appalachian Regional Hospital.
    Man Appalachian Regional Hospital was built in 1954 by the Miners Memorial Hospital Association. This hospital was used by southern West Virginia and some of Eastern Kentucky. However, it was built on an Indian burial ground and had to close because of insufficient funds. Miners and people all over southern West Virginia fought for years to keep it open, but their case was overthrown. This hospital was closed in 2001 and never opened again. Furthermore, the employees of that hospital walked out and locked the doors behind them and never looked back. With that being said, they left all medical equipment, patient files, machines, scans, medications, etc. in the hospital to rot until the hospital was finally tore down in 2012.

    1. The Logan County Commission gave permission for the local college to salvage equipment and supplies that they could use in the health care programs. The hospital was vandalized prior to any recovery. However, there was still a significant amount of equipment and some supplies that the local college recovered.

      1. Arlene Esque Rounce

        What about the medical files? Were those saved? My uncle died at Man Hospital after a mining accident. Carmel Esque. around 1956. I hope the records were salvaged.

    1. Violet Solar is my Aunt. The photo you are talking about was taken in 1950, the year my mother Irene Langdon (on the left) graduated. If the girl in the middle is Helen Imes, I wonder if they could have been just cutting up and she put the cap on. Notice the girl on the right does not have a cap on. Maybe it was her cap….

      1. Pamela Salasek

        Thank you. One of my uncles thinks it’s my mom, but we’re still not positive. So the young lady on the right is still unidentified?

  10. Enjoyed looking at the pictures of home. I grew up in Man, but lived on Buffalo Creek when the dam broke. My dad, grandfathers and uncles were all coal miners on Buffalo Creek. My grandfather, Harvey B. Ferguson, Sr. Was the Superintendent at Island Creek mine #1 at Amherstdale

  11. Loved this!!! So sad the way everything has changed and that people will never recover from all that has taken place.Before long there won’t be anything but memories and photos of our old,wonderful place we were reared-when values and morals were so different.

  12. Images 76, 77, 78 make reference to the “big house” The big house was a boarding house located in Riley Camp. It burned down prior to 1960. The gas station operated by Charlie Cowens was located on that area prior to 1960 till just after the Buffalo Creek flood in 1972. During the road construction the gas station and store building were torn down. The Hensley family relocated the gas station just up the road at Becco where it stands today.

    1. Steven, would you happen to know how
      close Riley Camp in Man is to Kistler WV.
      My GG Rebeka Lipcsak ran a boarding
      house somewhere in the area. She died
      in 1919 in Kistler where she lived.

      1. Kistler and Riley Camp are less than 2 miles apart. Riley Camp isn’t an actual community but just a cluster of houses.

        1. Paula, thanks for the info.
          Wonder if anyone has a photo
          of any of the boarding houses
          since they housed the coal miners.
          Time period from 1910-1920.

  13. The picture of employees from the Man Dairy Queen has my grandmother Ellen Miller and two of my aunts Thelma & Mary Toth. Priceless. Thank You!

  14. My oldest went to Man High School and I have his year book. I forget the year but will pull it out and post the year later. It was about 65-70 yrs ago.

Comment