Overlooking Pullman is this log house and pond
Pullman had a number of mansion houses, this one still standing from about 120 years ago
A large number of stores, specialty shops and services surfaced in the community, this among the last such buildings
Structures reminders of what once was
By Bob Weaver 2021
The coming of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike in 1835 through Ritchie County and the B&O railroad in 1857 put the area on the map with the industrial revolution, spurring the development of a number of Ritchie communities, said former president David Scott of the Ritchie County Historical Society.
Those communities spiked with population and enterprise, including Pullman, which once had a population of 230.
A number of the town's illustrious houses were called "mansions."
It was enlightening, spending the day there and feeling the long-gone spirits.
EARLY STREET LANDSCAPE
In 2021, there are a few remaining structures of boisterous Pullman in the faded town, put on the map by a seven mile Lorma Railroad spur-line built from Pennsboro to Pullman.
Pullman began much earlier, but was platted in 1883 by Hunter Hall and named after George Pullman, a national businessperson in the rail industry.
LORAMA RAILROAD HISTORY
See  www.taplines.net
There was a blacksmith and hardware business in 1883.
Early on you could find the Pullman, Loudin and Wilson hotels
with the erection of the first church in 1850, long
designated as "Old Slab." The first church was destroyed by the hand of
an incendiary during the Civil war, but was rebuilt in 1868 and 1899.
The original school-house and mill came many years before the town's charter, including a post office, the town's first physician being Dr. A. D. Summers, and a host of others, few of which had medical school training.
The bank of 1902
The town has had dozens of stores, including specialty outlets, with the bank established in 1902, and later a high school and telephone company.
Historian Bob Bonar says Pullman High School opened in 1916 and closed in 1944. It published a yearbook at least two years.
Pullman H. S. played football in 1921, 1924, 1925, and 1934-43. The field was at the foot of the hill below the school. They played some home games in Pullman, but several in Harrisville. The school did not have a gym ,so no basketball. They may have had boxing.
The Maccabees Lodge was organized during the autumn of 1904, with twenty-six
charter members. It later had a membership of one hundred seventy-five and
enjoyed the distinction of being the largest lodge of this order in the
state. "It had a neat and comfortable hall, which was valued at two thousand
dollars. There was a Ladies Auxiliary."
Bethel Methodist Church with nearby cemetery was first built in 1850
The Ritchie County history book is still available on CD, with Information on ordering the book and other publications can be found under Historical Society's website: Â ritchiehistoricalsociety.com
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