Cattle Barn Remains

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.; from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr.)

In my previous blog entry, I posted this image of Rock Springs Park owner – C.A. Smith’s cattle barn. The image is from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr. and was shared by his son, Sayre, Jr.

Curious about the location of the barn in what had been the Hill Crest Farms property along Smith Road in New Cumberland, WV, I made an attempt to locate the only remains of the barn, its silo, using Google Maps’ satellite feature. Unfortunately, I was not able to zoom in enough to make out the silo from Google, but Sayre, Jr., who still lives in the area, went to the site and took this terrific shot of the silo this week.

He wrote, “I took a ride over Smith Road on the way home today. I've seen this silo many times but I never knew about the Smith barn.”

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.)

I mistakenly referred to the original image above as a postcard, but Sayre, Jr. pointed out that it is one of many promotional photographs taken of structures built by the Finley Brothers Construction Company of Chester, WV, of which Sayre W. Graham, Sr. was a trusted employee for many years. Finley Bros. constructed many buildings in the area, including several structures in Rock Springs Park, the City Hall, and Chester High School. After Bob Finley retired, Sayre Graham, Sr. started Graham Construction and built the IGA and the VFW in town. Bob then came out of retirement and worked for Graham.

It is interesting to note that the roof of the barn did not have any supports, but was “a clear span from end to the other,” according to one-time Chester resident Barry Smith on Facebook’s “You grew up in Chester or Lawrenceville if you remember...” page.