Contributed PRESERVING HISTORY — The West Virginia Municipal League has named Beech Bottom an All-Star Community in recognition of the efforts of village officials and others to preserve the history of Power, a community that once existed south of it. On hand for the presentation were, from left: Kevin Knowles, the league’s immediate past president; Beech Bottom Recorder Linda Dowell; Beech Bottom Council members Greg Sheperd, Sharon Jordan and Debbie Murdock; and Chris Tatum, the league’s current president.

BEECH BOTTOM — The efforts by many in Beech Bottom to make others aware of two key local sites were acknowledged by a statewide organization of municipal leaders.

At its recent state convention at Oglebay Park, the West Virginia Municipal League named the village an All-Star Community in the category of enrichment-historical preservation for its work in establishing a roadside park at the former site of Power, a community that sprung from one of the largest power plants of its day.

Built on Aug. 17,1917, by the American Gas and Electrical System’s Central Power Co. and West Penn and Central Power Co., the plant served 1.2 million customers in the Northern Panhandle, Western Pennsylvania and as far as Canton in Eastern Ohio.

At its peak of operation, the plant employed about 330 people, many of whom lived in houses built for them nearby.

In 1973, the plant was closed, having been replaced by other facilities, and the many buildings in Power that had received electricity from it were razed.

The community included a post office, doctor’s office, restaurant and bowling alley.

A group of former residents, called the People of the Village of Power, had approached Beech Bottom Council about the project because they wanted future generations to know about their childhood home.

At a dedication for the park in August 2020, former residents recalled playing at the local baseball field, dancing at a hall there and buying candy at general store called Wickham’s.

The park was established at the store’s former site with permission from FirstEnergy, the property’s current owner.

Through the efforts of the village and the citizens group, a bench was put in and a monument to Power’s military veterans was recreated using its original plaque. With the cooperation of the West Virginia Division of Highways, a historic marker was posted there.

There had been talk of adding lighting, but Mayor Rebecca Uhlly said council instead is pursuing the addition of a streetlight and others to that area of the highway to improve safety there.

Uhlly said she’s especially proud of Beech Bottom receiving the award because it was the only village among the municipalities to receive one.

She noted it’s the second time the village has been honored by the municipal league for its efforts in historical preservation.

In 2019, Beech Bottom received the same award for establishing Lambert Memorial Park, another park along state Route 2 that marks the site of the state’s first military airfield in 1917.

Located just south of the current site of the Apostolics of the Ohio Valley Church, it was occupied by a 5,250-square-foot hangar and other buildings constructed by state and private funds secured by Louis Bennett Jr. of Weston, W.Va.

An aviation enthusiast, Bennett hoped to form the nation’s first air corps for World War I but failed to persuade national leaders to accept the group into the military at a time when the cost of planes was very high and President Woodrow Wilson and others were reluctant to enter the war.

Among Bennett’s civilian recruits was Courtney Lambert, who was 25 when he was killed in a training accident there.

Bennett would go on to join the British Royal Air Force in Canada, for which he flew many successful combat missions before he died when his plane was shot down above France.

The park is on land donated by Wheeling Island Casino and Racetrack and leased by the West Virginia Division of Highways.

It includes a display case for materials related to the airfield built by resident Steve Murdock, a flagpole, picnic table and wooden bridge leading to the nearby Brooke County Pioneer Trail.

Earlier this year crews with the state Division of Highways posted a historical marker at the park.

The project was launched after Charles Dusch, deputy command historian for the U.S. Air Force Academy, approached village officials who, like many others, weren’t aware of the airfield’s existence.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)