HINTON (Hinton News) – It is time for another edition of A Peek into Summers County’s Past. A local history collector, William Jones, provides information surrounding pieces from his collection each week. All of the items hold ties to the area’s history. In this edition, we are talking about Hinton Marble & Granite Works.
To begin the discussion, Jones said, “Over the years, Hinton has had numerous successful businesses. The list includes previously mentioned pharmacies, department stores, mechanics, etc. All of which is indicative of a successful railroad town like Hinton, West Virginia. However, one business sticks out to me because it is so different from the others, Hinton Marble & Granite Works, which was on Maple Street.”
According to Jones, “Hinton Marble & Granite Works was created when R. E. Noel, Jr. and C. G. McLaughlin bought out the Loomis Monument Works from the widow of Mr. Loomis in 1939. An advertisement from the Independent Herald May 24, 1939 reads ‘I have recently disposed of the business known as Loomis Monument Works to R. E. Noel and C G. McLaughlin, who will continue business at the same location, 218 Maple Street, Hinton, W.Va., and will be known as the Hinton Marble & Granite Works.'”
“Loomis’ business was formed in 1898. He carved most of the headstones for pioneer railroaders that had settled in Hinton. He came to Hinton in 1872 before the town had even been incorporated. I have read numerous historic accounts of the work and the carvings that Loomis did regarding many of the headstones in Hilltop Cemetery. Loomis having arrived in Hinton from the Vermont memorial industry, which was well advanced for its design traits at that time.”
Jones noted the professional regard held for Loomis. He said, “He attended the 1922 convention of the Memorial Craftsmen of America, a leading professional organization that was indicative of his master level of expertise needed to produce memorials of the likes of Lawrence and Rose-Van Zandt sepulchers. It should be noted; the Lawrence family were the largest stockholders in the Hinton Construction Company, so it can be surmised that the Lawrence family had access to expertise other than Loomis for a monument of the Lawrence Sepulcher statue. The great quality of the marble used in the sculptures points to the involvement of the Hinton Marble Works, which likely had the largest stock of marble on hand in the Hinton area during that time.”
“I digress and refer back to R. E. Noel, Jr. and C. G. McLaughlin, the owners of Hinton Marble & Granite Works. This week’s piece is a little odd in that it is an advertisement piece for this business but doesn’t go along with what work we know they did on headstones. This little black box was gifted to me by Gemma Leftwich in 2014 or so. She had received it from Hume Knowlan, who was a very successful business man in Hinton in his own right.”
Speaking about this week’s item, Jones said, “This box contains 10 boxes of little jigsaw puzzles that would have been given out as an advertising promotion. This is pure speculation, but since the companies only business up until this point in 1946, which is the date inside the little puzzle box, you wouldn’t have had to advertise in this manner to have sold a headstone.”
Jones continued, “I am surmising that Noel and McLaughlin were trying to break into other areas of marble and granite work than just headstones. Because at that time, you were seeing a shift from the more elaborate carved markers from the Victorian and more ornate style to the more standard, plain, mass-produced headstones like the ones used today. I feel they were using these puzzles that were catered to dads, with a construction twist to it, to draw men into their shop in hopes to sell other products to them for their homes.”
To conclude, Jones stated, “The text on the inside of the individual puzzle boxes reads ‘1946 Compliments of Hinton Marble & Granite Works R.E. Noel, Prop. Hinton, West Virginia. If you can’t solve it, bring it in, and we will show you how it can be done.’ Seems like a pretty clever way to entice people into your store. It draws in the dads of the community; you are throwing a seemingly unsolvable puzzle at them; you further draw them into your store by saying to them if you can’t solve it bring it into our store to let us show you how, and lastly; it is not costing you a penny other then the initial cost of having the puzzle made because you are not giving them a promotional product per se. You bring them into your shop to solve the puzzle. With the hopes of upselling them on other products, you have to offer. Pretty ingenious marketing gimmick at that time.”
This brings us to the end of another edition of A Peek into Summers County’s Past. Did you know about Hinton Marble & Granite Works?
If you have a story about Summers County’s history to share, email us at news@hintonnews.com.
