(Photo by Calvin Shepherd - Use By Permission)
Alderson West Virginia - A History
Utilities - Page Two
The
corporate
chart
of
Virginia-Western
Power
Company
shows
that
that
company
combined
several
small
companies
purchased
in
1913
and
formed
the
corporation
May,
1913.
Greenbrier
Milling
Company
franchise
was
purchased
December
18,
1913.
Virginia-Western
manufactured
electricity
at
Ronceverte.
The
much
larger
corporation,
Virginia
Public
Service
Company,
bought
Virginia-Western
Power
Company
February
26,
1926.
Virginia
Public
Service
Company
had
an
office
in
Alderson
for
years.
Some
of
their
local
employees
in
Alderson
in
the
1920’s
and
30’s
were,
George
Altare,
Harold
Copeland,
Ralph
Walthall,
and
Carrie
M.
Swope.
In
1944
Virginia
Public
Service
Company
was
acquired
by
Virginia
Electric
and Power Company which presently has a fifty year franchise in Alderson.
The
electricity
used
in
Alderson
is
manufactured
at
plants
in
Charlottesville,
Chesterfield,
Portsmouth,
Yorktown
and
Possum
Point,
Virginia,
with
interconnections
with
Appalachian
Electric
Power
Company
at
four
points.
Changeover
from
one
plant
to
an-
other
is
instantaneous
as
demand
fluctuates.
At
present,
the
company
has
973
customers
in
the
corporate
limits
of
Alderson
with
an
annual
revenue
of
$98,000.00.
The
Federal
Reformatory’s
annual
bill
is
about
$23,500.00,
so
the
company
has
a
local
annual
revenue
totaling
about
$121,00000.
The
annual
residential
usage
per customer has risen from 838 kwh in 1945 to 3214 in 1963.
The increase for all types of customers per year has risen from 2323 kwh in 1945 to 5475 kwh in 1963.
Virginia Electric and Power Company estimates an annual increase of 200 kwh per year per customer.
Ref: Alderson Town Council Minutes Virginia Electric and Power C0., Officials and Records
The
sewer
system
in
Alderson
just
sort
of
grew
up;
added
here
and
there,
and
pieced
together.
In
the
first
bond
issue
election
of
August
24,
1905,
for
the first water works, $1,000 of the bond issue was for a sewerage system. That was far too little.
The
town
started
furnishing
water
but
had
no
sewerage
system,
and
when
the
happy
water
users
began
to
empty
their
bathtubs
and
flush
their
new-
fangled
commodes,
they
had
no
place
to
run
the
sewage.
Some
just
ran
it
into
the
river,
or
the
small
creek
on
the
south
side
or
into
a
handy
alley.
The
sanitation
problem
was
acute
and
Town
Council
had
a
new
problem
to
contend
with.
The
Greenbrier
was
handy
and
the
new
sewers
as
they
were built were just drained into the river.
By
1911
the
town
had
built
some
sewers
but
modern
progress
ran
ahead
of
the
sewer
system.
The
washing
machine
had
appeared
and
the
additional
water
used
caused
trouble.
The
town
added
a
$3.00
per
year
charge
to
the
water
bill
for
each
family
who
owned
a
washing
machine.
During the years, additions and improvements have been made as the town could finance them.
The
State
of
West
Virginia,
by
new
statutes
over
the
years,
has
compelled
many
municipalities
to
install
expensive
sewage
treatment
plants.
Alderson
will
some
day
have
to
stop
the
present
practice
of
polluting
the
Greenbrier.
The
estimate
for
such
a
plant
is
$350,000.00.
The
Town
is
trying
to
obtain
a Federal grant under an Accelerated Works Program to finance two-thirds of the cost.
Over
the
years,
Town
Council
Minutes
show
that
city
streets
have
been
a
major
topic.
Nothing
caused
so
much
trouble,
cost
so
much
money
and
aroused
so
much
contention.
For
a
long
period
after
the
town
was
incorporated,
every
male
citizen
under
fifty
years
of
age
had
to
work
on
the
streets
a
set
period
of
time.
The
only
excuse
was
physical
disability,
and
the
names
of
those
excused
were
entered
in
the
minutes.
In
the
bond
issue
election
of April 1905, $1,500.00 was voted to macadamize the main business streets.
In
1924-25,
a
large
street
improvement
program
was
finished.
Echols
Construction
Company
was
building
the
new
Wolf
Creek
road,
and
had
a
contract to pave Alderson’s streets. During the WPA days of the late 1930’s, three—fourths of a mile of streets were paved and some resurfaced.
The town hopes for a grant from the Federal government of $44,880.00 to attempt to pave every street in town.
Alderson
is
not
served
by
natural
gas,
yet
at
one
time
United
Fuel
Gas
Company,
the
same
utility
serving
Ronceverte,
Lewisburg
and
White
Sulphur
Springs,
had
a
franchise.
On
January
10,
1930,
Town
Council
granted
a
franchise
to
United
Fuel
Gas
which
the
company
accepted
February
2,
1930,
agreeing
to
furnish
gas
within
two
years.
There
was
a
$2,000.00
bond
furnished
by
the
gas
company
and
Southern
Surety
Company,
New
York,
guaranteeing
the
fulfillment
of
the
franchise.
Two
years
passed
and
United
Fuel
Gas
Company
had
done
nothing
and
Council
could
get
no
satisfaction from the company.
The
town
sued
the
gas
company
and
the
Southern
Surety
Company
in
Monroe
Circuit
Court
in
October,
1932
for
the
amount
of
the
$2,000.00
bond.
The
case
was
dismissed
in
November,
1932,
as
Alder-
son
and
the
utility
company
had
settled
out
of
court.
The
court
record
does
not
show
the
amount
of
the
settlement
or
the
reason
the
United
Fuel
Gas
did
not
fulfill
its
obligation
under
the
franchise.
Informed
Alderson
sources
say
the
utility
thought
the
Federal
Reformatory
would
become
its
biggest
customer
if
they
ran
gas
from
its
big
pipe
line
into
the
Pickaway
vicinity
to
Alderson.
In
the
meantime,
the
Reformatory,
then
only
three
years
old,
had
installed
a
fine
coal-fired
steam
heating
plant
and
did
not
see
any
reason
to
change
to
gas. When United Fuel Gas lost its biggest prospective customer, they say, it backed out.
The
Monroe
Watchman
of
November
10,
1932,
gives
the
settlement
to
have
been
$1,150.00.
The
largest
possible
sum
which
could
have
been
gained
by
the
suit
was
$2,000.00,
the
amount
of
the
surety
bond.
That
year,
1932,
was
the
bottom
of
the
great
Depression,
and
$1,150.00
was
a
substantial sum for the Town.
Ref: Case 7706, Monroe County Circuit Court
The contents contained in this series is copyrighted and the sole property of The Greenbrier Historical Society - Lewisburg, WV Used by permission - November 18, 2008
Main Index
The History of Alderson, West Virginia
From The Journal Of The Greenbrier Historical Society On Alderson, West Virginia
Written by Kenneth D. Swope - Compiled and Transcribed by Barry Worrell
