FOW Tour – 1410 Main Street

On September 21, 2022 Friends of Wheeling toured 1410 Main Street. Previously location of Goodwin Drug Company, future home of the Smart Centre.
On May 18, 2024 Friends of Wheeling got an "after" tour of the first floor. They hope to open by June 2024.

History:
1410 Main Street – Goodwin Drug Company
This area of Wheeling has been commercial for decades. The 1870 “Birds Eye” view shows a row of buildings along the east side of Main Street, south of 14th (then named Quincy Street). The map shows a small, one- or two-story building that might have stood on the site (1410 Main) at that time.
The first Wheeling City Directory that was found for 1410 Main Street was in 1882-1883 for the George S. Feeny Company, wholesale confectioner and fancy grocery. That listing is consistent with the 1884 Sanborn map that indicates a narrow, three-story, brick “wholesale candy” store at that address.
The following biography of Feeny (1841-1915) was found on FindaGrave.com:
Son of Hugh Fitzgerald Feeny and Mary Steenrod. George was born in Wheeling in 1841. When the civil war broke out, George enlisted in the fall of 1861 in Co. G, Stonewall Brigade as a private.

During his service he contracted typhoid fever which rendered him unable to perform active duty. Approximately three months later, George was able to accept a staff position with Maj. J.C. Johnson and was promoted to First Lieutenant for gallant and meritorious service. He served the remainder of the war and was surrendered with the army of General Johnson. He was paroled at Augusta, Georgia.

George engaged in the battles of Shenandoah Valley, Kernstown, Port Republic, Cross Keys, Winchester, Front Royal and also the Seven Days' fighting before Richmond.

George was twice captured, once near Bristol, Tennessee and the second time near Jonesboro, Georgia, all within a week's time.

After the war, George returned to Wheeling and began a wholesale grocery business.
[Lieut George Steenrod Feeny (1841-1915) - Find a Grave Memorial]

The 1898-1899 City Directory shows that the property was then the location of Harper and Brother, Wholesale Hats, operated by Samuel W. Harper and his mother, Marion L. Harper, the widow of Henry M. Harper. The firm advertised as “wholesalers of hats, caps, and gloves, manufacturers of the celebrated Eagles Brand Hat, fur, flanges and stiff hats; also, a complete line of straw goods; office and salesroom 1410 Main.”
The 1902 Sanborn maps shows a four-story, brick building at this address and labeled “wholesale hats” and thus agreeing with the City Directory listing.
In 1901, Harper (1874-1950) married Lillie Edgerton Vance (1874-1935), a daughter of James Nelson Vance, well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist who funded the building of Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church.

While Harper moved on from the hat business to other interests, the property became the home of Miller Furniture and Storage, owned by George H. Miller and advertising “general storage and household goods packed for shipment.” The first City Directory found with the Miller company was the one from 1917-1918. The 1921 Sanborn map shows the Miller property, 1410 Main. with the adjacent property (1412 Main) listed as “ruins of fire, no floors, wall still standing 28 feet high.” That building, which had housed a wholesale grocery business in an earlier map, was apparently demolished; it is now a parking lot.

By the time of the 1923-1924 City Directory and the 1921 Sanborn map, Goodwin Drug Company occupied 1410 Main Street. Goodwin Drug was founded June 27, 1904 according to bizapedia.com [Note: According to the 1898 through 1903 City Directories, J T Goodwin & Louis Schrader, wholesale dealer in drugs was located at 1227 Main Street, by 1905 - 1921 City Directories same address but now Goodwin Drug Company]. Company president was James Thomas Goodwin (1851-1925). By around the turn of the century, Goodwin had retired from the business but was still listed as its president until his death in 1925. During the 1920’s, the wholesale drug company was operated by Goodwin’s former business partners, John M. McDonald and John T. Reed. It remained in business until 2017, with the company name still visible on the window.

Robert & Libby Strong have recently purchased the property and plan to use it for their SMART Center business.

Additional photos by Tom Rownd, great grandson of Samuel W. Harper.

Video Tour 2022: youtu.be/JritybiHwdE
Video Tour 2024: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9KFd5ljQ-4