Shinn Building 1892

Shinn Building 1892. . This is one of the oldest buildings in the Downtown Historic District. Luther P. Shinn purchased this land from Leonard S. Farnsworth in 1891 and completed the construction of this building in 1892. During a recent restoration, a brick with 1892 decoratively carved in it was found at the top right of the far left, upper story window. Luther P. Shinn was born near Shinnston, WV in 1850, upon moving to Buckhannon he operated a store and the old Phillips Hotel on North Kanawha Street. He became one of the leading merchants in town, operating his dry goods store on the first floor of this building with a photo and printing studio on the second floor. After selling this building in 1903, he partnered with French Sexton to create The Shinn and Sexton Store down the block. In 1916 A.K. Watkins moved his store into this building and operated it until 1928, when the G.C. Murphy Company took over this building and the adjoining building to the west, for their department store. G.C. Murphy operated a successful department store for decades until finally closing in 1997 as commercial development outside of historic downtown reduced their volume of business. Doug and Yvonne Stewart purchased this property in 1998 and operated Main Street Antiques for 10 years before moving across the street to their current location. A distinctive characteristic of this building is that it is one of only three buildings in the Historic Downtown District where the upper façade of the building is made of pressed metal. It would have been ordered from a catalog, shipped in crates to be assembled along the top of the building. The leading manufacturer was Geo. L. Mesker and Company of Evansville, Louisiana. Mesker's 1911 catalog map shows 158 storefronts had sold in the state of West Virginia up to that time. The lasting beauty of this metalwork was brought out with the recent restoration for the Chamber and Visitors Center.