I was out and about in the coalfields of WV friday , and I have literally p***ed this old dealership 1000's of tyimes , it has been closed everysince I can remember and I'm 41 , but , for some reason , it has never housed any other buisness , Must be from the coalfields buisness being long gone as far as prosperity , I wonder if , since it has been closed for so long and no other buisness has been in it , if there's any older dealership stuff left in there? , If you have any old dealership pics post them up , love to see this kinda stuff. BTW , this dealership was "***berland Cadillac , Chevrolet , and Oldmobile" , can anyone here find out anything about this dealership? , years of buisness , etc? , would really like to know more about this place.
On rt. 52 in Northfork , WV. , Can't miss it , the road I took the pic on is rt. 52 , runs within feet of the front of the bldg.
More old building in W.Va. Old abandoned Ford Tractor dealership(check out the neat old pocelin sign) and a still in use general store than looks right out of the Waltons.
I'd love to tour the inside upstairs parts dep't. A friend in Merced got a tour of the old Ford store between owners and got a N.O.S. '38 Ford tube axle! There just might be some old bins with Cad/LaSalle gears and bearings lurking in the spider webs...
There is an old Chevy dealership in the town our other house is in up north. The wife wants to buy it and put some sort of business in it. I'll have to snap a pic next time I'm up. It can be had for 18K. I'm with A****er Mike here would love to go for a trip around the inside of that place.
These buildings are what inspire the building of dioramas! But imagine renting the Ford Tractors building...complete with the sign. What a rod shop! I'd be tempted to renovate the upstairs and live in it!
Hey Ratroddude, That reminds me of the old GM dealership in Alderson, WV that I got permission to explore several years ago (they tore it down shortly after my visit). Lots of cool architectural details as the buildiing was built in the 1920's. I got a few small signs from the building before my exploration was cut short by the presence of a six-foot rattlesnake in the dool, damp confines of the parts department! I was afraid that he might have "friends", so I called it a day and never returned. Jim
That makes 3 of us. When I was in the Navy in the '70s I had a part time job at an auto parts store. The owner, coincidentally from West Virginia, had been in business since right after WWII. He had a building in another town that had stuff dating back at least to the '40s and probably further back. I can remember coming across a set of pistons for a hemi, not sure which vintage but the valve reliefs were 180 degrees out from each other, he had the old teapot Holleys still in the box and all kinds of stuff. I had no idea at the time that I was in the midst of automotive gold. I can just imagine what might be in the old dealership. Ratrodude if you ever get access please take pics! Americana like that is fading fast.
Cool Americana. Sadly, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an abandoned dealership around here. Lots of them stay empty because of EPA issues that buyers don't want to deal with (asbestos, oil tanks underground, etc.)
Not a dealership , but toocool all the same this is the Pocahontas Fuel Company building , it is dated at the top 1917 , this was the main office of the coal company ran by the Pocahontas Fuel company if I'm not mistaken , across the road is another building , which I should've took a pic of , which was the payroll building , both of these buildings are abandoned now with little access to the place , nothing left but these two buildings to mark a gigantic empire that is now nothing but a haven for trash and rats...
I live in South Bend, IN.... and the city has just about finished demolishing ALL of the old STUDEBAKER factory buildings. They say it was nessecary because the buildings were in such a bad state of disrepair.. Yet one building (housed the ENGINNEERING dept) was renovated and being used as (I believe) a warehouse/business for a gentleman that was cataloging and selling NOS Stude parts. I dispise the local government for basically erasing the very thing that helped to build our city.. Sadly there will never be another STUDEBAKER and if our elected officials have thier way, no more cars in general.... I wish they would realize that Car people are some of the best RECYCLERS and HISTORIANS in the land.
there were 2 locations in Alderson. i'm guessing you are talking about the old one that was at the base of the hill called Alderson Chevrolet, they moved it from that building/location to the other end along the river and called it Godbeys Chevrolet. they left the garage and office from the old dealer up after they tore the rest down, i'm sure its gone now. your definition of several years is way longer than mine. there used to be a ford dealer in alderson too. hard to beleive that a town so small it took out its only stoplight cuz it didnt need it used to have 2 dealerships.
As an aside, Ford Tractor dealer signage went to "Ford Blue" around 1961. I'm amazed that some tweeker ain't managed to rip off the sign and sell it to "American Pickers".
My great-uncle Walt Duncan owned a Dodge dealership in Beckley, WV, called Duncan-Catron Motors. Long gone. I had two awesome shop coats from there, one never used, that my dad got when he worked for his uncle briefly after WWII. They were stolen from me about 30 years ago. If any of you WV guys ever run across an item from Walt's dealership, I'd be interested in purchasing it.
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