HINTON W.Va. (Hinton News) – I found this 1929 Ford Motor Company letterhead and envelope in an antique store in Nitro, WV, years ago with my Grandfather, Bernard Thompson. My grandparents are where I got my passion for all things old and historic, especially “automobilia.” Or as my family calls it, “hoarding”, but “it is what it is.” Ha
This was the first Ford dealership in Hinton, West Virginia, which later became Garten Motors Ford. The photo you see is of the early days of this Ford dealership. The original owner was W. Shad Peck.
“W. Shad Peck, has been for the past ten years the progressive and successful local agent for the Ford automobiles at Hinton, the judicial center of Summers County, West Virginia, and here, in 1918, he erected his modern garage, with an attractive sales and display room and well equipped repair department, this building occupying the site of the home in which Mr. Peck was born, the date of his nativity having been June 1, 1892.”
This dealership existed from 1918 to the start of WWII; at this point, it ceased operation. It was then acquired by new owners and moved to Avis in 1946. The West Virginia Secretary of State lists its incorporators as Carlos B. Garten and Ned C. Garten. Its effective date was 1/18/1946, and then its name was officially changed to Garten Motors, Inc.
I am not sure when it closed its operation, but it had to be sometime in the 1970s because my father can remember going there when he was a young teenager. Somewhere in my large collection, I have several advertising yardsticks and a license plate topper from Garten Motors. This was one of the car dealerships that operated in Hinton over the years.
